Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

. ..... (, ". Ht~ :·'.O S R ETrials Series · .. ': Round 3: Bilstain, Belgium B E V D IALS:·· JR World Championship A'v lawi s, G a arcia ed? (Abo ve) Winner Tomml . Ahvala was f lanked by runner-up and wou ld-bewinner Angel Garcia (left) and th lrd-placed Marc Colomer (ri ght) on the pod ium. (Left) Finn Tomml Ahvala enj oyed his first World Round win In nearly a year. The 1992 World Champ hopes to return to the top In '94. behin d was Garcia, and even he was surprised at hi s perf ormance. "I am h app y b ec au se u lti mately, I have im p rov ed, and am a lways am ong the lead ers," said Garcia. Wit h Sa tu rd a y ' s fi nishin g order reversed to determine Sunday's starting order, Colomer was last ou t of the gate. Holding only a one-point advantage over Garcia, Colo mer had little room to breathe, and his first loop score was one point better than Saturday's at 14. Amaz ing the field, however, was Ah vala. Af ter finishing w ith a disappointing 26 po in ts on Sa tu rd a y, he blazed the 12-section loop and carded an im pressi ve fou r-poin t scor e. Only Tarres with se ven , and Garcia w ith 9, would manage to sta y in single digits . After two laps, Garcia led the world wi th a combined score of only 25 marks . Tarr es w as second w ith 29, w hile Ahvala, Japanese rider Takumi Narita and the impressive Doug Lampkin followed close behind with scores of 30, 31 and 34, respectively. Garcia' s slim two-point lead saw him start the last loop witll. a chance to score h is first-ever World Ro u n d victory. Ahvala was not going to make it easy for Garcia, however, as he repeated his fantastic first-loop score of four. Only Spaniard Joan Pons was able to ma tch this incredible feat. Garcia improved his third-loop score with an eigh t-po int tally, but, sadly, saw his chances of the w in fade as he was slowed by the long lines at each of the sections. Garcia incurred time penalties, and Ahvala was awarded the ....'in. Garci a was card ed with second, while Colomer fin ished th ird, ga ining some points on series point leader Tarres. "Angel would have won if he had not been penalized on time," said a modest Ahvala. "My poor finish on Saturday gave me the advantage of starting early on Sunday, well ahead of the leaders , who were slowed by the many bottl enecks tha t ca used so many time penalties." "I co ul d ne ve r ima gi ne that thi s could happen to me," said Garcia, who still seemed pleased wi th second. "Saturday' s loop with 16 poi n ts was the beginning. I was only a sin gle p oint behind Colomer and ahea d of the rest. The best part was that I imp roved on the following laps on Sunday wi thout any trou ble. The tragedy was that in arriving late, 1 was deprived 'of what would have been my first World Round win . Having (Former Spanish National Champion) Luis Gallach as m y m inder has been very positive, now I feel very well-supported." '. Colomer was also disappointed with S tio ec ntime lim its? W By 19nasl Bertran and Geoff Meyer Translation by Martin Belair Photos by Michel d'Awans . ... ,-l 1 30 BnsrAIN, BELGIUM, MAY 14-15 ound three of the World Championship Trials series saw 1992 World Champion Tommi Ah vala retu rn to the top, but even he admits that his win was aided by a bit of luck. "This is my first victory since I won at Andorra last July, and I needed a result like this one," said R the likable Finn. Angel Ga rcia would have won, had he not been penalized on time. I was fortunate to get an early sta rt a nd avoid the bottlenecks that caused many riders to incur time pena lties." And so was the story in the hills of Bilstain. Things didn't look so good for the former Wo rld Champion on day one, however, as he dropped 26 points and sat in 10th place. Meanwhile, th e m an many dub as the next World Champion, Marc Colomer, headed the field with only 15 points. Only one point U ith each passing Championship round, it becomes more and more evident that a time limit is necessary in each section, and 1995 will see such a change in World Championship Competition, Such limits are already being used in the French National Championship Series. Many rid ers spend hu ge amoun ts of time in the sections, causing bottlenecks, whic h causes riders wh o would not otherwise incur time penalties to drop points. Some ride rs take up to seven minu tes to complete a section. Lately, tri a~ seems to have become a spo rt that lacks improvisation, spark and genius, as the rid ers all use the same .techniques and routines ~ advance, stop, po sition, rest which makes it difficult for the spectators to appreciate the difficulty of each section. Spectat ors often become bored when a rider balanceS and rests repeatedly and quite ? ften, they do not even clap when the rider has completed each chall~ge, The y do, however, respond when a rider tackles a section in a continuous and aggressive manner. This is a good measure of the sport's true appeal. Indoor trials has benefited from time limits, and such constraints have greatly im~ro,:ed the show. The time has come, and 1995 will see the World Championship Series unplement the greatest rule change since the inclusion of the two-point score.

• Cover