Evans is 2 For 2
Dunlap Finally Wins Women’s GC
Monterey, California: Crit, March 19, 1999
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Cadel Evans (AUS, Volvo-Cannondale) took his time proving it, but poured on the speed when it counted Sunday to win the overall Sea Otter title in Monterey, Ca after Thomas Frischknecht (SUI, Ritchey/Yahoo!) won the final cross-country stage. Minutes later Alison Dunlap convincingly beat a world- class field to take the women’s GC as well as the day’s XC stage. After three days of rain and cold, the sun finally came out for a beautiful stage of racing in this first big race of the season.

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Six thousand athletes – both amateur and professional – entered at least one of the weekend’s bike races this weekend, but it was the pro race on Sunday that garnered the most attention. The cross-country race was the culmination of three stages as racers finished today’s race as fast as possible to improve their general classification positions. Conditions were nearly ideal for racing, with mostly sunny skies and cool breezes on the partly muddy course of Fort Ord.

Cadel Evans lined up for Sunday’s race 1.77 seconds behind Jerome Chiotti (FRA, GT) while Frischknecht was in 4th overall - more than 13 seconds away from the overall title. These three, plus several other men, rode in a fast lead pack for most of the race - a long line of 115 pro men chasing at full speed. By the race’s mid-point there were two groups able to separate themselves from the pack.

The front group stayed together until the last lap when Frischknecht – under pressure from Bas VanDooren (NED, Be One) – pushed the pace and made a move for the lead. This broke up the lead group and relegated Chiotti to a chase group. Evans then passed VanDooren in pursuit of Frischknecht in the closing minutes, the two speeding down the paved Laguna Seca racetrack for the finish.

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

"I knew Chiotti had dropped back, so I put the pressure on," Evans commented. With Chiotti now far behind Evans, the only contenders for the overall title were he and Frischknecht. Since Evans was able to keep within 13 seconds of the lead, he secured second place for the day – and the overall for the second consecutive year. "It was a tough race, and it’s still early in the season," he said.

The women’s race began just after the men and saw Alison Dunlap win with authority. She not only won the day’s race but the overall GC as well, exclaiming "I did it!" seconds after learning that her margin was big enough for the weekend’s title. An Olympic road racer who turned to mountain biking three seasons ago, Dunlap proved that she is able to ride both technical sections as well as fast, smooth sections. She was 4th overall going into today’s stage, and needed to beat 2nd-ranked Gunn-Rita Dahle (NOR, DBS) by nearly 28 seconds in order to secure the overall. After Dahle jammed her bike’s chain on the race’s final climb, Dunlap put enough distance on her to use her road skills and accelerate to the finish.

Racing returns to the Bay Area next weekend as the Diesel/UCI World Cup cross- country series begins in Napa Valley’s Skyline Park. Racing will take place on Saturday with a womens race, while Sunday features men’s racing.

Sea Otter General Classification Standings:
Women:
1. Alison Dunlap (USA, GT) at 0.00
2. Gunn-Rita Dahle (NOR, DBS) at 27.56 seconds back
3. Caroline Alexander (GBR, American Eagle) at :38.01

Men:
1. Cadel Evans (AUS, Volvo-Cannondale) at 0.00
2. Thomas Frischknecht (SUI, Ritchey/Yahoo!) at 11.62 seconds back
3. Jerome Chiotti (FRA, GT) at :58.16

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