Monz.. ltety . Febf"luery 1 9-20. 2000
Due Glorni Internazionale della Brianza
national-level riders; blue flags
showed the Senior and Junior routes
(in Italy Senior and Junior indicates
skill level - not age); green was for
the novices; and no flags (only tape)
represented the beginner and veteran
path. On the day two the start order
was the reverse of the first day.
Saturday's loop was 40 miles long,
with 20 sections, and the first rider
started at 10:00 a.m. Sunday's circuit
was 66 miles long, with 30 sections,
and the first rider starting at 8:30.
On Saturday's loop, Alcaraz was
ahead after losing a total of only eight
marks, and notching just one more
point were Lenzi and Gandine.
Kuroyama was in fourth, with Donato
Miglio in fifth.
By
MARIO CANDELLONE
paniard Jose' Manuel Alcaraz,
1999 European champion, won
the first International outdoor trials
event of the season, held in the north
of Italy. Alcaraz's win came at the
expense of Japan's Kenichi Kuroyama, who was giving the Y2K Beta its
first competitive ride, and who was
only one point behind Alcaraz after
two days and 50 sections.
The event was similar to a Scottish
trials, with only a single loop per day.
Saturday featured 20 zones - none
overly difficult - and Sunday brought
30 harder sections. The two stars
each won a day, but the total points
were in favor of the day-one-winning
Catalan.
Home-country hopes rested on
Italian champion Donato Miglio,
Fabio Lenzi - motivated by a new
bike and strong crowd support (his
home is nearby) - and Dario Re Delle
Gandine. All these three were able to
stay just behind the two world stars.
The weather was quite good overall, if a bit on the chilly side, and
there were 130 riders in attendance
(divided into several classes). Each
section featured four different ways:
Red flags indicated the route for inter-
S
24
MARCH 8, 2000'
cue
•
Spain's Jose Manuel
Alcaraz labovel got
the Intemational
Irtals season off to a
good start at the
traditional pre-series
contest In Monza,
Italy, wh.... he won
by just a single
point.
It appears that the
late-2Oth-century
trend of strong
Japa_ riders will
continue Into the
new millennium.
Kenlchl Kuroyama
(rightl rode his Beta
to a close runn....up
result.
•
n
........ s