Cass, Bill

you can ask her what "rook" means



just in case you haven't checked



from velo news



Dutch rider Suzanne De Goede sprinted her way to the gold medal in the

women's junior road race on a cold Friday morning in Zolder while American

Magen Long finished a strong fifth place.

Long started the sprint early, but De Goede came around to win in dominant

fashion in 1 hour, 59 minutes. German Claudia Stumpf took silver while Swede

Monica Holder hung on for the bronze.

Long was ecstatic with the solid finish, the best result so far by an

American at the 2002 world cycling championships. Long almost didn't come to

the world's because he mother is sick back home in the hospital, but decided

at the last minute to join the team in Zolder.

"I'm excited. It was a fun race compared to last year in Portugal when I got

sick and I was scared to death I was going to crash," said Long, after

finishing what will be her last world's as a junior. "I felt a lot more

comfortable in the group today."

Teammate Larssyn Staley came in with the main bunch for 20th.

"I'm satisfied with how things went. I'm just here to learn. This is my

first world's so I will be looking forward to Canada next year," Staley

said. "It was a good race. It was very fast and it just went by in a blur."

The two young Americans rode a smart race, staying in the front the leaders

and trying their luck in a couple of early moves. Both cleared the short

climb at Sterrenwacht with about three kilometers to go which split the main

bunch coming into the finish-line sprint.

Things were steady for the opening two laps for the 64 starters. Canada and

Holland were active with early attacks to check the strength of the field

while Americans Long and Staley were vigilant at the front of the group.

About three kilometers into the third lap, Holland's Loes Markerink was the

first escape the grip of the peloton. She attacked hard and opened a small

gap for about two kilometers before she was brought back. Then, German,

Dutch and French riders accelerated the bunch halfway through the third lap.

After three laps, the race was still together but the accelerations put the

average speed at 38.886 kph and it was starting to take its toll.

Going into the fourth lap, both Long and Staley were in good position near

the front of the main bunch, saving their legs for the decisive second half

of the race. With 32 km to go, rider after rider strung out the peloton. The

Dutch were active attacking and counter-attacking, trying to break the hold

of the peloton. Staley attacked halfway through the lap, but the move was

quickly checked. Markerink attacked again then teammate Marjon Spijkerman

countered. Each time, the German and French helped bring them back. Tatsiana

Sharakova of Belarussia opened a small five-second gap at the end of lap

four.

bill cass

designer

acg footwear

503-532-0239