Tucson Bicycle Classic
Tucson, AZ, March 14-16, 2003
Six
members of the LeMond Fitness - Blender Magazine Team headed back to Tucson
Arizona this past weekend for one last romp in the desert before moving out to
California for the remainder of March and April.
Eneas Freyre, Nic Brown, Adrian Laidler, Peter Mazur, Joe Chapman and Leigh
Palmer were slated to take the line Tucson Bicycle Classic. The TBC is a 3-Day
stage race comprised of an uphill Prologue, Road Race and Circuit Race. The race
attracted an elite field including the Jelly Belly and Healthnet Pro Cycling
Teams.
The
Prologue saw Gord Fraser, hometown boy, continue where he left off last weekend
in Pomona by winning the prologue. Peter Mazur, suffering from a virus,
scratched from the race. The rest of the LeMond team finished with one minute
of Fraser’s time.
The
105 mile Gates Pass Road Race saw action all day with Nic Brown and Adrian
Laidler ending up in the lead group of 16 riders that finished 1 minute 40
seconds up on the shattered field. Nic sprinted to an excellent second place
with Adrian grabbing sixth.
Overshadowing all of the days exciting racing was a tragic event in the Cat 2
men’s race. KB Home rider Garrett Lemire lost his life in a crash while the
field descended the Gates Pass portion of the course. The thoughts and feelings
of our entire organization are with the friends, family and teammates of Mr.
Lemire.
Under the darkest of clouds, given Saturday’s tragic accident, the Circuit race
on Sunday was raced with heavy hearts. After a memorial lap in honor of Garrett,
the race pressed on with Jelly Belly rider Brent Dawson taking the win, and
teammate Cory Steinbrecher taking the overall for the race. Leigh and Joe both
fought hard for top 10 slots on the final stage and Adrian finished a very
respectable 10th overall on General Classification. The race seemed
meaningless compared to the tragedy.
TUCSON BICYCLE CLASSIC
Final Overall General Classification
1. Cory Stienbrecher (Jelly Belly)
10. Adrian Laidler
(LeMond Fitness/Blender Magazine) @ 38 sec
12. Nic Brown (LeMond Fitness/Blender Magazine) @ 46 seconds
15. Eneas Freyre (LeMond Fitness/Blender Magazine)
30. Joe Chapman (LeMond Fitness/Blender Magazine) @ 5:38
Artisan Prosthetics Circuit Race (50 miles), March 16
1. Brent Dawson (Jelly Belly) 2:03:13
6. Joe Chapman
(LeMond Fitness/Blender Magazine) same time
7. Nic Brown (LeMond Fitness/Blender Magazine) same time
17. Adrian Laidler (LeMond Fitness/Blender Magazine) same time
33. Eneas Freyre (LeMond Fitness/Blender Magazine) same time
Gates Pass Road Race (105 miles), March 15
1. Jacob Rubelt (Landis/Trek/VW) 4:06.43
2. Nic Brown (LeMond Fitness/Blender Magazine) same time
6. Adrian Laidler (LeMond Fitness/Blender Magazine) same time
18. Eneas Freyre (LeMond Fitness/Blender Magazine) @ 1:40
42 Leigh Palmer (LeMond Fitness/Blender Magazine) @ 5:00
47. Joe Chapman (LeMond Fitness/Blender Magazine) @ 5:00
Old Tucson/McCain Loop Time Trial (3 miles),
March 14
1. Gord Fraser (HealthNet) 7:09.29
32. Eneas Freyre (LeMond Fitness/Blender Magazine) @ 50 sec
36. Adrian Laidler (LeMond Fitness/Blender Magazine) @ 52 sec
38. Leigh Palmer (LeMond Fitness/Blender Magazine) @ 53 sec
45. Joe Chapman (LeMond Fitness/Blender Magazine) @ 59 sec
46. Nic Brown (LeMond Fitness/Blender Magazine) @ 1:00
