September 27/99 7:40 am - Olympic MTB Qualifications, Ontario Hillclimb
Posted by Editor on 09/27/99
Olympic Qualifications
The UCI has announced preliminary country rankings for the Sydney Olympic mountain bike qualifications, and Canada is looking very good. The system is used to determine how many riders each country is allowed to send for the men's and women's cross-country races next September. It is based on a points system, with the top 100 men and top 60 women in UCI world rankings getting points (first man gets 100, second, 99, etc.). The totals are added up to give the country rankings.
Countries 1-5 in the mens rankings get 3 riders in the race (countries 1-3 for women), 6-15 (men) and 4-9 (women) get 2 positions, and 16-22 (men), 10-14 (women) each receive one place. There are also some positions based on Continental Championships (doesn't affect Canada, USA, Europe or Australia). Finally, there are reserve countries to take the place of those not using up their quotas. These are only current standings - the final year end standings on December 31, 1999 will be the ones from which the quotas will be determined. A total of 50 men and 30 women will compete.
Canada ranks number one in women, followed by the USA and Switzerland, receiving the maximum 3 spots. Canada is eighth in the men's ranking, good for 2 spots. France leads the men, followed by Switzerland and the Netherlands. The USA is 10th.
These positions are unlikely to change between now and the end of the year. There are very few UCI level events left, and the positions of most riders in the rankings are not going to change. So, now the question becomes: Who are the Canadian candidates for the 2 (total) positions?
The only clear favourites are Alison Sydor and Chrissy Redden. For the other woman's position, there is Lesley Tomlinson, Melanie Dorion, Melanie McQuaid, Amber Chorney and Trish Sinclair. In the men's category, it is going to be a real battle: Seamus McGrath and Chris Sheppard are the leaders, by virtue of high UCI and World Cup rankings, but Roland Green, Geoff Kabush and Andreas Hestler could also vault into contention with a good early season run.
Current Quotas
| Men | |||
| Rank | Country | Points | Rider Quota |
| 1 | France | 282 | 3 |
| 2 | Switzerland | 280 | 3 |
| 3 | Netherlands | 276 | 3 |
| 4 | Belgium | 261 | 3 |
| 5 | Italy | 236 | 3 |
| 6 | Australia | 226 | 2 |
| 7 | Denmark | 219 | 2 |
| 8 | Canada | 215 | 2 |
| 9 | Germany | 209 | 2 |
| 10 | USA | 183 | 2 |
| Women | |||
| Rank | Country | Points | Rider Quota |
| 1 | Canada | 158 | 3 |
| 2 | USA | 151 | 3 |
| 3 | Switzerland | 137 | 3 |
| 4 | Italy | 136 | 2 |
| 5 | France | 115 | 2 |
| 6 | Great Britain | 106 | 2 |
| 7 | Germany | 98 | 2 |
| 8 | Australia | 98 | 2 |
| 9 | Netherlands | 86 | 2 |
| 10 | Spain | 78 | 1 |
Provincial Hill Climb Championship
(courtesy Peter McCaffery)
Pelham, September 26th. 1999
Time Keeper: Al Norley
Jet Fuel's Matt Hansen showed his superiority by comfortably winning the 1999 Hill Climb Championship - his fifth straight year. Starting last, Hansen won both morning and afternoon stages, climbing Saylor's Hill significantly faster than the Tour Trans-Canada pack did two weeks ago.
It was great to see Matt supporting this event, the poorest-attended in recent years. Neither the gorgeous weather nor the fairly close location could explain the small number of entrants. The only bright spots were the number of entries from both Hamilton C.C. and D'Ornellas and the comparatively large number of cadets riding.
The Hill Climb never seems to draw the number of riders it should and the provincial time trial and track championships suffer from the same lack of entries. Perhaps it is time that the ORC considered giving 'O' Cup and Trillium points to these two worthwhile championships and making all three compulsory, thus making them an integral part of the season's activities.
| SENIOR | Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Overall | ||
| 1 | Matt Hansen | Jet Fuel Coffee | 2:51 | 5:51 | 8:42 |
| 2 | Terry Vaughan | D'Ornellas | 2:57 | 6:19 | 9:16 |
| 3 | Dave Connell | D'Ornellas | 3:01 | 6:22 | 9:23 |
| 4 | Fred Pepper | Hamilton C.C. | 3:18 | 6:47 | 10:05 |
| 5 | James Stinson | Independent | 3:28 | 6:55 | 10:23 |
| 6 | Joe Doria | D'Ornellas | 3:23 | 7:03 | 10:26 |
| WOMEN | |||||
| 1 | Jane Helf | D'Ornellas | 3:47 | 8:02 | 11:49 |
| JUNIOR | |||||
| 1 | Taras Kleban | Hamilton C.C. | 3:27 | 7:06 | 10:33 |
| MASTERS' B | |||||
| 1 | Rob Cheskey | Hamilton C.C. | 3:18 | 6:41 | 9:59 |
| 2 | Joe Marotta | D'Ornellas | 3:32 | 7:23 | 10:55 |
| CADETS | |||||
| 1 | Andrew Watson | Bike Depot | 3:19 | 6:34 | 9:53 |
| 2 | Justin Depoce | Bike Depot | 3:27 | 6:50 | 10:17 |
| 3 | Daniel Clarke | Newmarket Eagles | 3:35 | 7:17 | 10:52 |
| 4 | Ryan De Boer | Mississauga Volvic | 3:45 | 7:55 | 11:40 |
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