Muddy Criterium
Monterey, California: Crit, March 19, 1999
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The Sea Otter Classic continued its crazy weekend of cycling fun on Saturday with two more elite pro events – the dirt crit and dual slalom. While morning crit action produced two European winners in Gunn-Rita Dahle and Jerome Chiotti, the afternoon’s dual slalom event was won by an Australian and American, as Katrina Miller and Mike King made their mark between the gates.

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Gunn-Rita Dahle of Norway was the first winner of the day, dominating a muddy criterium loop in 24 minutes, 13 seconds — 1.74 seconds faster than Canadian Chrissy Redden, in a mass-start event. The women raced for six laps in a muddy bog that caused several crashes and produced a very dirty winner in Dahle.

"I’ve been riding on the road for weeks, and this is my first time on a mountain bike for some time," she smiled. "I’m very happy to win this event."

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Dahle had sat back in the race’s early minutes as Alison Sydor and Alison Dunlap battled for the lead. But Dahle showed that she’s ready for the season, taking over the lead in her stylish black uniform and hammered home a convincing win.

Men’s crit racing was an exciting seven-lap event which saw several lead changes and incredible bike handling. France’s Jerome Chiotti, who is the 1996 World Champion, took the race in a last-lap surge. "It was very hard," he commented afterward. "I rode easy with no risk until the last lap – then I took some chances."

"With his win today, Chiotti overtook the GC lead with the slimmest of leads; 1.7 seconds ahead of Evans..."

Chiotti beat Cadel Evans of Australia after several riders crashed in the slippery mud near the end of the race. Thomas Frischknecht looked like a race favorite when he made a powerful move on the course’s paved back stretch, but he crashed hard minutes later, allowing Chiotti (who was the only rider to clear the double jumps) to take over the lead.

The Sea Otter stage race continues Sunday with a third and final stage, the 30-plus mile cross-country event. The cumulative times of the competitors will determine the overall, or GC winner. With his win today, Chiotti overtook the GC lead with the slimmest of leads; 1.7 seconds ahead of Evans. In the women’s overall, Redden leads Dahle by nine-tenths of a second. Whomever wins Sunday’s final XC event will win the GC overall. Racing for the downhill athletes wrapped up on Saturday with the Dual Slalom.

—Rich Neare, making the Spring transition for The Mountain Zone