Canada's Lyne Bessette rolls out of the starting ramp during Pan American women's individual time trial cycling competition Sunday, July 25, 1999, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
(AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

THE GLOBE AND MAIL (Toronto)

Bessette's life cycle continues with silver

Former runner outrides Canadian star Hughes three years after taking up bike racing

BEVERLEY SMITH
Sports Reporter
Monday, July 26, 1999

Winnipeg -- Cycling into the wind is hard. It takes away your breath and throws a challenge to every muscle. But fast-rising cyclist Lyne Bessette of Knowlton, Que., battled through it yesterday like a gnat in a tornado and came away with a Pan American silver medal.

The wind played a major role in the women's individual time trial, creating different conditions for cyclists who rode first and last. Top cyclist Elizabeth Emery of the United States won the gold medal. She rode early in the event, when the wind wasn't ripping.

Clara Hughes, an Olympic bronze medalist at the event in 1996, rode last, when the wind was at its worst. In front of her home crowd, Hughes finished fourth.

Bessette, who rode third, is a willowy 5-foot-10 former track athlete who took up cycling the same year Hughes was winning Olympic medals. She hadn't expected to defeat Hughes, who dominated the event at the national championships two weeks ago.

"In Canada, Clara Hughes is the best," said Pierre Hutsebaut, national cycling team leader.

Bessette was thinking more of finishing second behind Hughes, although a bronze medal would have been a fine effort at her first Pan American Games.

But Hughes did not have a good day. The wind wasn't her only problem. She has long suffered from a gimpy Achilles' tendon in her right ankle, but two years ago it got so bad she missed two seasons of racing. She returned to competition only this season.

"She's coming back slowly," Hutsebaut said. "She's doing well, but she's not at the level she hopes for yet."

Even though Bessette rode early in the event, the wind still howled. "I thought we would have a tail wind, not a side wind," she said. "The last part we had the wind, and we were going uphill. So you really had to stay focused the last part. It was really hard. I suffered."

Bessette finished the 27.5-kilometre race 19.92 seconds behind Emery, who won in 37 minutes 39.84 seconds.

Bessette, 24, didn't start out her sporting life as a cyclist. Her elementary school teacher coaxed her into getting into track because tests showed she could be a good long-distance runner. For 11 years, she ran a variety of distances: 800 metres, 1,500 metres, five-kilometre road races and cross-country runs.

Then she injured the long muscle running down the front of her thigh and had to quit running. A friend lent her a bike to keep up her fitness levels while she was recovering; cycling didn't hurt the injured muscle.

Late in 1996, Bessette tried one race, with a borrowed bike and helmet, and did well. So about the time Hughes was hobbled by injury, Bessette was forging a new career.

This season, Bessette has had a streak of impressive wins in road races around the world. Last year, she won the gold medal in the road race at the Commonwealth Games. This year, she tackled the Tour de l'Aude, one of the premier races for female cyclists in Europe. She competed against some of the best, including Canadian veteran Linda Jackson of Nepean, Ont., who won the race in 1997.

Bessette staged a major upset to win the race.

"I didn't expect to win that race," she said yesterday. "I was hoping for top 10."

She finished fifth in the prologue, and as the race proceeded, she kept getting closer to the front. On one leg, during a hilly section, Bessette got to nine seconds behind the woman wearing the leader's yellow jersey.

The race gave her confidence. There's no telling how far Bessette can go. She doesn't know whether she'll ride in the time trial at the world championships in the fall, but the road race is in her sights.

Lyne Bessette of Knowlton, Que. powers her way to the silver medal in the Pan Am Games women's cycling individual time trial at Bird's Hill Provincial Park near Winnipeg, Man. on Sunday July 25, 1999. (CP PHOTO/Frank Gunn)

By JIM BENDER, Winnipeg Sun, July 26

BIRDS HILL PARK - In the women's time trial, Quebec's Lyne Bessette took a toe-hold as a top international competitor in her new sport thanks, in part, to a healthier big toe.

With most of the attention on Manitoba's Clara Hughes, Bessette surprised the field when she earned a silver medal.

"I'm really happy because the time trial is not my thing," said Bessette, who finished 19.92 seconds off the pace. "This (time) was more than I could expect."

Elizabeth Emery of the U.S. captured the gold medal, finishing the 27.5-km course in 37:39.840. Her victory secures an Olympic spot for the U.S. in the individual time trial. Her teammate, Mari Holden, took the bronze. Hughes finished fourth.

Bessette, 24, underwent surgery to repair an in-grown toenail on her right foot just last week, a bothersome problem that had been interrupting her pedaling. And it hasn't healed yet.

Bessette hopped into a bike saddle when she recently gave up her dream of qualifying for the Olympics through track (800 and 1,500-metre races).

"I didn't think I'd make my goal of making it to the Olympics through track and field, so I started cycling when my ex-boy friend suggested it," said Bessette, who won the gold medal in road racing at the 1998 Commonwealth Games.

"Last year, I was ranked 132nd, so I've really jumped."

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