Come the final stage of the Tucson Classic on Sunday, Geneviève Jeanson and her Rona teammates didn’t rest on Jeanson’s laurels from the previous two days of racing. Though the powerful young Canadian held an insurmountable overall lead of more than 11 minutes, the squad dropped the hammer in the closing Speedway/Artisan Prosthetics Circuit Race, sweeping the top four spots on the day and finishing 1-2-3 on general classification.
Gord Fraser, meanwhile, had a sweep of his own going. Mercury’s very own quick Canadian won his third consecutive race on Sunday, ending as he began, in a battle
Come the final stage of the Tucson Classic on Sunday, Geneviève Jeanson and her Rona teammates didn’t rest on Jeanson’s laurels from the previous two days of racing. Though the powerful young Canadian held an insurmountable overall lead of more than 11 minutes, the squad dropped the hammer in the closing Speedway/Artisan Prosthetics Circuit Race, sweeping the top four spots on the day and finishing 1-2-3 on general classification.
Gord Fraser, meanwhile, had a sweep of his own going. Mercury’s very own quick Canadian won his third consecutive race on Sunday, ending as he began, in a battle with Mariano Friedick (Jelly Belly).
In the 45-mile Women’s I-III race, Gail Longenecker shot away from the field on the first lap, dogged by Patricia Choo (Helen’s-Trek-Volkswagen), but when Choo flatted, Jeanson quickly bridged to her teammate. The next Rona rider to leap the gap was Melissa Holt, and the trio concentrated on extending their lead until they crossed the line as one; the win went to Longenecker, with Holt and Jeanson second and third. Just for gravy, teammate Amy Jarvis outkicked the chasers for fourth when they crossed more than seven minutes down on the leaders.
When the minutes and seconds were tallied, Jeanson won the 17th annual Tucson Classic in four hours, 34 minutes and eight seconds, with Holt second at 11:33 and Longenecker third at 12:47. Jeannie Longo (Vitalli) was fourth at 19:15, followed by Susan Haywood (Trek-Volkswagen) at 19:21.
In the Pro/I-II men’s race, it was Fraser finishing first once again, though not by nearly as wide a margin. Not content with winning the opening prologue time trial and the second-stage road race, Fraser outfought Friedick in a 20-man field sprint after 56 miles of racing, with teammate Michael Sayers taking third.
With all said and done, Fraser took the overall in six hours, 42 minutes, while Friedick claimed the runner-up spot at just 42 seconds back. Adham Sbeih (Mercury) vaulted into third.