Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Ab ove) The Eng lish team was Jed by Wo rld Cha mpion Doug Lampkin. Despite th ei r be st efforts, the Brits we ren't ab le to top the Spaniards. (Above right) Ray Peters ended up as t he to p- sco r ing American in Ita ly . Here, he is be ing helped by team manager Mart in Belair . (Right ) Veteran Geo ff Aaron also had a good trial and en ded up as th e second -best A m'er ican o n th e day. in g to World C ha m pi o n Lam pkin , it took him months to adjust to th e new rul es. . The Am er ican team was led by top sco rers Ra y P et ers of New Yo r k (68 po ints) and Geoff Aar o n of Ca lifo rnia (69 poi nts), followed by Matt Moore of O klaho ma and Denn is Sweeten of Orego n. The Ame ricans started ou t stro ng by going 0-0-1 on th e firs t sectio n, w hic h was laid ou t in a rocky strea m bed. Sectio n two s to p ped m ost o f the B class w it h a rocky bo neyard fo llowed by a hu ge hillclimb w ith a 2-foot vertical lip at the top . It was here that Aaron pulled off one of th e da y' s most spectac u lar r ides . A fter cle a ni ng th e bo neya r d, Aaron laun ched him self at th e hill and chose what mo st pe opl e would cons ider th e tou ghest line. A hu ge 3-foo t boulder lay imb ed ded in the hill abou t halfw ay up and righ t" in his lin e. No p roblem: Just tear up th e fir s t p art , th en pull a major unweight to land o n top of th e bo ulder, an d then ro ost th e rest of the wa y up. Te am USA rode s trong as th e loop ran across the va lley, bu t the Americans ran into trouble at sec tio ns 11 th rough 14. Set on a shady, roc ky hillside, th is g ro u p o f sec tions d re w m a jo r poi nts from most teams. It was so slippery that two com petitors we re injured by slippi ng a nd fall in g whi le insp ecting the sec tions on foo t. The rid e across the va lley on public roads had warmed up th e tires enoug h to raise the pressure from 1 to 2 psi. After racking u p fives on bo th sec tion 11 and sec tion 12 d ue to severe w heelspin, tire pressure was reset , but th es e sli p pe ry sec tio ns ha d a lrea dy taken the ir toll. It was on la p two in this . same grou p that Ray Peters showed his stuff. Usi ng su pe rb th rottle control and excelle nt line cho ice, Pe ters pu lled off scores o f 5-3-2- 1 in t he d ays mos t dema nd ing g roup. Ma tt Moore and Briefly.~..---,---,----,----,--~ Te'am U S A arrived in the pits the morning of the trial only to find ,that they had been visited by thieves during the night. The visitors took the front master cylinder off one of the minder bikes and all the spare bars that were attached to the other minder bikes . Den n is Swee te n both ma d e essen tia l contributions to th e effor t by pull ing off critical rides at key m om ent s. Wi nners of the "Trop hy d es Na tions" for th e th ird s traig h t year, wit h 144 poin ts, was Te a m Germany, led b y Andreas Letten bich ler. "Le tter Opener," as he is known by the America ns, had the o nly "one" o n the g reasy roc ks of trou s co nsequences. This ye ar . Team USA used a new method to draw its start time. Minder Gary ,. Lucky " Jackson of Houston. Texas. was chosen to drawthe start number due to the fact that his fortunes of late had been good , It worked . Jack son drew number g, right in the middle of the pack. and the U:S. team was off to a good start . Wh ile being followed by two members of the Australian team. U.S. team manager M a rti n Belai r overs hot a tum and found his bike flying into a 3-foot ·deep concrete culvert that paralleled the loop. W hile Belair was The A mericans were the o nly tea m wi th their own tea m doctor. Dr. Rick - able to avoid Injury . and even keep his feet. ,he was 'not able to escape the Hill of Houston. Texas..and his wife. Cindy; accompanied the .tearn for howls of.lauqhter coming from his Australian pursuers. . the seco nd stra ight year . Dr . Hill also serves ' as team doc tor for the A merican ISDE teams . . ' . . . '. Ray P';ters arrived in Italy to F that the bike being loaned to him by ind the Gas Gas factory was a 270. not a 320 as he is accusto med to riding. -The Americans wer e treate dto a tou r of the Ac erb is . factory .d unng Regardless. Peters went on to be top American. their visit to Italy. Following the tour, the severely jet-lagged group was fed in' the Company cafeteria and given some very nice gifts to help them remember their visit, . Picking a good .st a rt t ime in the TdN ,is cru cial-to a good finish. Last year. the U .S. 'drew number one- the first team out - and this had disas- Spanish rider Jordi Pasquet had a dream' week-.The weekend before. the TdN .he clinched the European C hampionship; then. when Spanish star David Cobos inj u~ his wrist before the start: Pasquet, the alternate ' .for the Span ish team, was throw n into the fra~ and .onto .the w inning t~am. section 11. Most rid ers fived 'it. In fact, no one else d id bet ter than a thr ee. Seco nd- placed H oll an d , w ith 170 poi nts, was le d by top m a n A lex Van d en Broek, fo llowed b y Sweden w it h 177 poi nts . Aus tra lia had its best-ever finish wi th a fou rth pla ce, beating Team USA by a single pa inful point, 209-210. Tea m USA's effort wou ld no t ha ve been possible without stro ng su pport bo th a broad and fro m ho m e . Fu nd s raised by Sou the rn Ca lifo rn ia's A meri ca n Tria ls Associa tion th rou gh th e El Tria l d e Espa na fu nd raise r are th e p rimary so u rce of fin a-n cial su pport for Tea m USA. Coun tless ot her ind iv id ua ls a nd clubs across the co un try co ntribute time a nd money to m ak e 't his 00 all happen. No other coun try fina nces 0\ th eir te am through suc h a grass -ro o ts ' ~ effort. . '~ Trial des Nati o ns Chiesa in ValmaJenco, Ita ly Results: Sept em ber 20, 1998 GRO UP A: 1. Spain (128); 2. England (139); 3. Hilly (161); 4. Finland (270); 5. Fran ce (281); 6. Czech Republi c (417) . GROUl' 8 : 1. Germa ny (144); 2. Holla nd (70); 3. Sweden (177); 4. Aus tra lia (209); 5. Un ited Sta tes (210); 6. Ireland (213); 7. Belgium (225); 8. New Zealand (245); 9. Austria (245); 10. Sw itzerla nd (277).

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