The Spaniard is hot in the cold
STORY AND PHOTOS BY MARIO CANDEUONE
I'
~I.
oto Club Monza, the organizer
o f the Two Days o f Br ianza,
braved terrible weather and the
attendant diffi culty of changing
all the sec tions, but t he show
went on, and Marc Colomer was the star.
In his first attempt at the event, Colomer,
Spain's 1996 World Champion, en joyed the kind
of success that could give him more confi dence
and trust in himself for the upcoming outdoor
World C hampionship. Smoot h on Saturday,
Colomer further rose to the occas ion on Sunday,
where sections became more difficult as is trad ition in this event .
Event runne r-up Amos Bilbao fi nished second , just one point ahead of Fabio Lenzi. Italian
Champion Lenzi came in third, able to put
behind the other Spanish star, Jose p Manzano.
M
42 MA RCH 10, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS
DAY ONE
The sta rt was postponed by 30 minutes because
during the night the snow had dropped heavily
,
and all the sections needed to be revisited and
simplified. The formu la of the competition was
as follows: It is one very long loop each day,
mostly o n roads, with 20 sect ions on the fi rst
day and 30 on the second one . On each day
there is a stop point halfway th rough the sections where all the riders change the ir card s and
can refuel their bikes.
The first section and the last one were featured near the start and had big logs, indoor
style. It was really in sect ion one where Co lomer
took a consistent advantage, havingbeen the only
o ne to overtake the high ste p in front of an
o blique log. In section four, six-time Italian champion Diego Bosis felldown in the cold water! The
40th Anniversary
