CanSport

Bessette Leads Canadian Team At World Cycling Championships

October 04, 1999
TREVISO, Italy -- For years Canada's top road cyclist has been Ottawa's Linda Jackson, whose brief but brilliant career may be on the wane at age 40. But Canada's "new" kid on block, Lyne Bessette of Knowlton, Que., will be carrying the Canadian team's best hope for a medal at this years' world championships in Italy October 4-10.

With Jackson, the 1996 bronze medalist, sidelined by injuries, Bessette, 24, has clearly established herself as Canada's top international rider this season on the road.

She won the prestigious Tour de l'Aude and posted three other international wins along with a second place finish at a World Cup in Montreal. In September Bessette placed seventh overall at the four-stage Tour de Suisse with two top-three finishes and the jersey as the Tour's top climber.

"The Tour de Suisse really gave me an indication that I'm in top form at this point in the season," said Bessette. "I feel I'll be able to provide my best possible performance and that's my goal. The best thing I did this year was take a one-week break after the Pan Am Games."

Winnipeg's Clara Hughes, the double Olympic bronze medallist in Atlanta and a silver medallist at the 1995 worlds, is also primed to chase a medal. Hughes made a strong return to competition this season after spending nearly two years out of action due to a heel injury. She swept both road events at the Canadian championships in June but struggled at the Pan Am Games.

"It's been an up and down year but I only began training in January so I can't complain" said Hughes, 27. "I'm hoping for a top performance here. My goal is, and always will be, to win a world title. The time trial course is very well suited for me. It's flat as a pancake with an excellent road surface. I'm pretty motivated."

Bessette and Hughes are scheduled to ride in both the time trial and road race. Also in the road race are World Cup mountain bike champion and 1991 world road championship bronze medallist Alison Sydor of North Vancouver B.C., veteran Anne Samplonius of Toronto and Annie Gariepy of Bromont, Que. Alternates are Leigh Hobson of Waterloo, Ont., and Canadian mountain bike champion Chrissy Redden of Campbellville, Ont.

World Cup champion Anna Wilson of Australia is a threat for double gold along with Hanka Kupfernagel of Germany and Diana Ziliute of Lithuania currently 1-2 in the world rankings.

In men's competition, Pan Am Games and Commonwealth Games champion Eric Wohlberg of Levack, Ont., will race in the individual time trial, Canada's only entry at the elite level.

Medal contenders are world number-two Michael Boogerd of the Netherlands and World Cup leader Andrei Tchmil of Belgium. Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong of the U.S., and France's Laurent Jalabert, ranked number-one in the world, are not on the participants list.

In other cycling news, the International Cycling Union has awarded the 2003 world road race championship to Hamilton, Ont. It will be the first time in eight years that the championships are held outside Europe.

Back to Lyne Bessette's 1999 home page

This page of Lyne Bessette's www site (a part of VELOPTIMUM), was updated on
October 22, 1999 by