World Wide Cycling
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Tour
de Korea, 2004 June 12 - 18 The
Marco Polo Cycling Team went with high ambitions to Korea. After the second
place for Michael Carter last year and Cory Lange's second place in 2002 the
team was ready for the victory. Program
Tour de Korea 2004 June
12 Prologue, 1,4 KM - Armed Forces Athletic Corps in Seoul June
13 Stage 1, 147 KM Seoul - Chun Chon June
14 Stage 2, 156 KM Chun Chon - Dae Kwan June
15 Stage 3, 86 KM Kyung Po Lake
Criterium in Kang Leung June
16 Stage 4, 149,5 KM Kang Leung - Yang Yang June
17 Stage 5, 136,2 KM Yang Yang - Yang Yang (Han Kye & Jin Boo Mountain) June
18 Stage 6 80 KM Yang Yang Criterium Total
Distance 756.20KM The
Marco Polo Cycling Team for the Tour de Korea 2004 was as follows: Michael
Carter (USA) Cory
Lang (Canada) Robin
Reid (New Zealand) Oggi:
Ulzii Orshikh Jamsran (Mongolia) Lionel
Syne (Belgium) Tim
Wilson (Australia) Teammanager:
Dirk van Hove from Belgium
The Marco Polo Cycling Team in the Tour de Korea 2004; from left to right, Michael Carter, Jamsran Ulzii-Orshikh, Cory Lange, Dirk van Hove, Robin Reid, Tim Wilson and Lionel Syne.
Here
follows a report by Michael Carter: Marco Polo rider, former top-pro,
professional cycling trainer in the USA at Echelon Sports. Check www.espcycling.com
Photos
by Dirk van Hove. June
12 - Prologue, 1.4 K Same
prologue as last year. Nearly the same result for me as well. I
made my third attempt at entering the "real working world" earlier
this year. Like my consistency here at the Tour De Korea, I have found that my
attempts at entering the "real world" have also been consistent. I
cannot seem to find a life of working 8 to 5 (or 6, or 7, or 8) desirable. Not
that I don't like to work, don't get me wrong. It is just that working for other
people is not my idea of living a life of contentment. I started working at the
University Of California - Davis, Sports Medicine January 1 this year. I was
working with fantastic people there, including the "Master" himself,
Dr. Massimo Testa, Dr. Eric Heiden, Judd Van Sicle who is a master biomechanical
engineer, one of the sweetest receptionists I have ever met, Rita Allison, my
other mom. Long
story short - I don't have the kilometres in the legs like I did last year when
I finished 2nd on G.C. and won the K.O.M. I
started off 2003, with Marco Polo at the Tour De Chile. That was one brutal
training camp! Worked wonders for the conditioning, brutal as it was. I
am entering the 2004 Tour De Korea with trepidation - and a big question mark.
Stage 1 and stage 2 look to be THE stages that will determine G.C.
A
typical Korean dinner you can bake meat at a kind of grill in the middle of the
table. Of course with some HOT sauce. From left to right, Robin Reid, Cory
Lange, Tim Wilson, Michael Carter and Simon. June
13 - Stage 1, 147 K Same
stage as last year - started the same too. Break went in the first 40 K. Only
this year, not only did I initiate the break but I then drove it hard to
establish the move. Unlike last year, the group ended up with 25 guys minus two
big threats, Aussie Glen Chadwick and the Iranian phenom, Ghader Mizbahni, both
from Team GIANT. Unfortunately, GIANT recruited the winner of this years Milk
Rass, Irishman Dave McCann. McCann made the move, sat on the group until the end
- so did 4 Japanese Shimano PRO Team riders. Thankfully, Cory Lange and Robin
Reid my teammates also made it into the break. This
stage is relatively flat for the first 115 K. There was a KOM at 101 K, but that
was really a non-event. We hit a wall of a climb first, short but it split the
field. Then a short decent, then another climb of about 7 K. That was a KOM. I
was starting to come unravelled due to the heat and humidity (and lack of
training). Group split down to 13 after that KOM. Then we had a fast decent, and
the last 27 K's were featured with one big roller after another. These rollers
were about 2-3 K's, making for perfect attacking terrain. I was completely blown
at 20 K to go - total survival mode. Cory and Robin looked great. I know they
were suffering too, but they looked good enough. Sure enough, attack after
attack went down. McCann finally got away with Rob, a Seoul City rider which was
a big surprise, and three others including Carl Menzies from the Aussie team of
MGZT, and a Japanese Shimano rider. Cory ended up with two others up the road, I
was with 4 others. We had 10 minutes on the chase behind at the finish - which
was amazing to me. McCann
wins the stage, Robin came 4th, Cory 7th, I limped in at 13th - NOT like last
year. Menzies takes the Yellow, due to his prologue. On
a side note, Mizbahni was hit head-on by a van that was coming down the hill on
the 2nd KOM. First reports coming in were that he was so bad off, that he may
not survive. Traffic control is a BIG issue at the Tour De Korea, so we were not
too surprised that some one was hit by a car, or van in this case. The good news
is that the rumours about his condition were greatly exaggerated. Not only was
he OK, but he started the next day as well! June
14 - Stage 2, 156 K This
stage is the same as stage 3 from last year. Big rollers the first 25-30 K, then
a big climb of 10 K, 8-10% which started at 95 K. For some asinine reason, this
climb was NOT a KOM. The smaller one just before was, and there was a second KOM
at 130 K. The finish was also on a nice climb. Like yesterday's stage, heat
played a significant role in sapping the field of strength. After the biggest
climb of the stage, the group split to 13, minus Menzies. GIANT had Chadwick,
McCann, and remarkably, Mizbahni. Indeed, the rumours of his demise were greatly
exaggerated! McCann
wins the stage but not before Cory makes a great move with 5 K to go, only to be
caught with 5 precious meters to go by McCann. Robin
was in 4th going into the stage, but blew on the last KOM and Rob had to chase
hard with Menzies, who blew on the big, non-KOM climb. Menzies is one tough
rider! He is not at all a climber - big heavy bones, and tall. But that guy can
motor. Impressive. I
blew again today, but this time with only 9 K to go. Better than stage 1, so
conditioning is coming.
The
Marco Polo Cycling Team at the podium for the team classification as 2nd team. June
15 - Stage 3, 80 K The
stage for the day was a circuit on a 4 K course around a lake. Problem was, the
circuit included a trip down a bike path that had bricks on half the path and a
rubber type material that ran the length of the path for runners. The problem
was that there was a lip of a few centimetres that separated the rubber portion
from the brick, as well as the pillars at the beginning of the path and at the
end. I rode around the course to warm up and could not believe how dangerous the
course was. Having raced as a Pro since 1984 (less the attempts at entering the
"real world") I had never seen such a precariously dangerous course. I
felt I needed to bring up the safety issue with the UCI Commissaire, Mr. Jose
Cruz. Mr. Cruz suggested that a letter of protest expressing the dangers of the
course, and a solution to the stage be written and to have the Directors of each
team sign it. So I grabbed out Director, Dirk Van Hove, the Director for the
American team, Betsy Davis and asked them to write the letter then to have the
other team's Director's sign it. Every team agreed that the course was too
dangerous. A meeting with the promoter, the Directors and Mr. Cruz convened with
"yours truly" present. R Cruz suggested that the race be neutral for
the first 15 of 20 laps, then race for the last 5. I pointed out that in that
case, the race would still be very dangerous. Two options were available. Either
just run the race and hope for the best, or run the stage for prize money but do
not count the results in the G.C. That way, the promoter would still have a
race, and the riders would not have to risk their safety. Mr. Cruz agreed to the
second option, thankfully! Most of us rode 5 laps then were pulled and we had a
rest day for most of the field today, which was welcome by nearly every rider
except of the six riders who contested the prize money. June
16 - Stage 4, 149 K This
stage is the flattest road stage of the tour. Same course as last year, but the
organization added a detour to a nasty 2 K climb of 12-14%, 17 K from the
finish. At first glance, this stage looked like an easy one for GIANT to control
and conserve their lead held by McCann. But, this is a bike race and anything
can happen, and it usually does! There
were a lot of attacks from the gun, which was not really surprising. After 50K,
Oggi noodled (pardon the pun - we are in Asia!) off the front with a Seoul City
rider. They had a small lead, but then five to six others bridged up to them,
then another 10, then five of the UPMC Team, from the States. Joe Papp organized
that team, brought along a few South Americans who are very good on the flats.
One of the guys, Alejandro can climb with the best of the field as well.
Chadwick also bridged up, along with one other GIANT rider. McCann was cruising
in the field, like a lot of the GC contenders. Cory however, always fighting,
made it in the break with Menzies and Shinri Suzuki from Shimano, who was
currently in 2nd. So
there goes the break, pulling away with 2nd, and 4th place on G.C. contained
within. The lead builds to over 3 minutes, then GIANT has Chadwick and the other
GIANT rider sit up, so they can help chase. Alas, it was all in vain - today in
any case. A UPMC rider, one of the South Americans wins, A Seoul City rider is
2nd (those guys are impressive this year!), Menzies 3rd, and Cory moves into 2nd
overall, Suzuki is now 1st on G.C. What
an ugly day for GIANT. What is a sort of "poetic justice" is that the
Director for GIANT told Oggi at the start of the race"....looks like
another easy win for us!" McCann is now 4th. Tomorrow
is going to be interesting. Shimano will certainly try to protect their lead,
but GIANT will be attacking like crazy! Should be fun. I
am feeling even better, so tomorrow ought to go well. But, it is a bike race,
and you know what that means.
The
Marco Polo Cycling Team was on all places of the podium, 3, 2 and 1 at the end! June
17 - Stage 5, 139 K As
predicted, GIANT was on the attack early. The first climb went from 100 meters
to 998 meters - but it was in 26 K. The rain made for an interesting ride too.
There was a lot of concern about the descents in the wet, especially since last
year when it was dry, 10 riders crashed on the first descent. McCann came up to
me and asked if we would chase if they attacked, or if we would let Shimano
chase. I told them we would only if our position was in jeopardy, but otherwise
of course not. Then he asked if we would attack with them. The
last 50 K of the stage were the same as yesterday - which meant that we would be
doing that nasty little climb in the end again. I told Cory that last climb was
THE place to go, and to chill until we got to it. Shimano will chase or do
tempo, didn't matter if a break was up the road or not. So Shimano would be
tired for that last bit. Cory said, "I am going to attack soo hard on that
climb!!!" I told him to do just that. Chadwick
ends up attacking on the first climb, hooks up with 3 others, two of the
Uruguayan Americans (Joe Papp's mercenaries), and a Seoul City rider. They get
up the road and build a lead of 4:30. Rob mentions that we may have our 2nd
place team GC position in jeopardy. So Tim and I go up to help Shimano chase. I
notice that Shimano is creeping! They don't look so good. Suzuki was dropped on
the climb, but the Shimano guys waited for him, stayed together. Smart move, as
there is always strength in numbers - of course the numbers better make a
stronger whole to be effective. Oggi
was dropped on the first climb, and we did not see him again until about 35 K's
to go. Then he makes it up to us, I have him help Tim and I out while Rob and
Cory sit in. We hit the bottom of the last climb, and Cory attacks. I watch the
Shimnao guys, in particular, Suzuki. He is creeping! Menzies is also struggling
- he was right next to me for the first 500 meters, but then he blew. I follow
Suzuki, and McCann is as well. We just about crest the top, and I throttle it
over the top. So does McCann - I don't look back until we hit the flat. We have
a few of us, and I see that we have a gap on Shimano. They all stayed together
on the descent. We rail on it, and our gap starts to grow. Rob makes it there,
Cory is up the road, and we close on Cory. I lead the charge to Cory and the
race is all on the line. Cory only needs 30-40 seconds to take yellow, so this
is IT! We drive hard, but our gap is not really growing too much. Then all of a
sudden, Menzies magically appears. He again is impressive with his power - he
jumped across to us solo. NOW we are fully loaded. A group of about 8 of us,
including an Uzbek who stands to move up a bit in GC as well. We end up giving
every ounce, and just about catch Chadwick and company, and put over 1 minute
into a hard chasing Team Shimano. Mission
accomplished! Cory is in yellow, and, Marco Polo is now 1st in team GC. All we
have to do is defend tomorrow. That is all - but this IS a bike race!
The
winning team in the Tour de Korea 2004. From left to right, Robin Reid (New
Zealand), Michael Carter (USA), teammanager Dirk van Hove (Belgium), in the
yellow jersey; Cory Lange (Canada), Jamsran Ulzii-Orshikh (Mongolia), Tim Wilson
(Australia) and Lionel Syne (Belgium). June
18 - Stage 6, 80 K Circuit. Race
is not yet over - still have to assert ourselves, defend the jersey. All we have
to do is keep it all together and Cory wins the whole thing. I talk to Menzies
at the start of the stage - he only needs 24 seconds to bump Shinriki from 2nd.
If anyone could do it, it is Menzies. That guy is incredibly strong. He tells me
he is not interested in attacking and that he is content with 3rd. In fact, he
offers to help us in the stage. That was huge - sure made our job easier! Tim,
Oggi and Lionel rode awesome - strong all day. I was up there with them as well
- Robin pulled through a bit, and Cory had the easy ride. A
group of 4 is off the front - 10-15 second gap for half the race, but they come
back in the end - group finish. Lionel ends up 3rd in the stage, Cory wins,
Marco Polo 1st on team GC, Rob is 8th, I am 10th, Oggi is 18th. Not bad! Up
next - the new and improved Qinghai Lake Tour, a 2.3 sure to have a lot of
excitement! Stay tuned!
Cory
Lange at the podium after winning the Tour de Korea 2004, second is Suzuki and
third Menzies.
Results: TOUR
DE KOREA 2004 1st.
STAGE RESULT (Seoul-Chun Chon) 1.
MCCANN DAVID (GIANT ASIA RACING TEAM) 3'54"07 2.
MENZIES KARL (TEAM MGZT) 3'54"07 3.
SUZUKI SHINRI (SHIMANO RACING TEAM) 3'54"07 GENERAL
INDIVIDUAL TIME CLASSIFICATION AFTER 1st. STAGE 1.
MENZIES KARL (TEAM MGZT) 3'54"07 2.
SUZUKI SHINRI (SHIMANO RACING TEAM) 3'54"07 3.
MCCANN DAVID(GIANT ASIA RACING TEAM) 3'54"07 1st.
STAGE TEAM CLASSIFICATION 1.
SHIMANO RACING TEAM 11'44"53 2.
MARCO POLO TEAM 11'45"00 3.
SEOUL CITY 11'46"42 GENERAL
TEAM TIME CLASSIFICATION AFTER 1st. STAGE 1.
SHIMANO RACING TEAM 11'49"51 2.
MARCO POLO TEAM 11'49"59 3.
SEOUL CITY 11'51"41 2nd
STAGE RESULT(Chun Chon-Dae Kwan Mountaine) 1.
MCCANN DAVID (GIANT ASIA RACING TEAM) 4.23'43"00 2.
LANGE CORY (MARCO POLO TEAM) 4.23'43"00 3.
PARK SUNG BACK (SEOUL CITY) 4.23'57"46 GENERAL
INDIVIDUAL TIME CLASSIFICATION AFTER 2ND. STAGE 1.
MCCANN DAVID (GIANT ASIA RACING TEAM) 8.19'14"28 2.
SUZUKI SHINRI (SHIMANO RACING TEAM) 8.19'37"95 3.
KHALMURATOV MURADJAN (UZBEKISTAN) 8.19'46"53 2nd
STAGE TEAM CLASSIFICATION 1.
SHIMANO RACING TEAM 2.
GIANT ASIA RACING TEAM 3.
MARCO POLO TEAM GENERAL
TEAM TIME CLASSIFICATION AFTER 2ND. STAGE 1.
SHIMANO RACING TEAM 2.
MARCO POLO TEAM 3.
SEOUL CITY TOUR
DE KOREA 2004 3rd. STAGE(Chun Chon Criterium) 1.
JANG SUN JAE (SEOUL CITY) 2.
MENZIES KARL (TEAM MGZT) 3.
PAPP JOSEPH (AMERICA-UPMC) 5th
STAGE RESULT(Yang Yang-Yang Yang) 1.
ACTON ALEJANDRO JOSE(AMERICA-UPMC)3.45'42"00 2.
SEO SEOK KYU1/41/4(r)±Ô(SEOUL CITY1/4¿ï1/2ÃÃ") 3.45'45"00 3.
TARDAGUILA ALVARO(AMERICA-UPMC)3.45'50"00 GENERAL
INDIVIDUAL TIME CLASSIFICATION AFTER 5th. STAGE 1.
LANGE CORY(MARCO POLO TEAM) 2.
SUZUKI SHINRI(SHIMANO RACING TEAM) 3.
MENZIES KARL(TEAM MGZT) 5th.
STAGE TEAM CLASSIFICATION 1.
AMERICA-UPMC 2.
MARCO POLO TEAM 3.
GIANT ASIA RACING TEAM GENERAL
TEAM TIME CLASSIFICATION AFTER 5th. STAGE 1.
MARCO POLO TEAM 2.
SHIMANO RACING TEAM 3.
SEOUL CITY 6th
STAGE RESULT(Yang Yang Criterium) 1.
ACTON ALEJANDRO JOSE(AMERICA-UPMC) 1.47'47"00 2.
JANG SUN JAEÀå1/4±Àç(SEOUL CITY1/4¿ï1/2ÃÃ") 1.47'47"00 3.
LIONEL SYNE(MARCO POLO TEAM) 1.47'47"00 FINAL
GENERAL INDIVIDUAL TIME CLASSIFICATION AFTER 6th. STAGE 1.
LANGE CORY(MARCO POLO TEAM) 17.11'34"63 2.
SUZUKI SHINRI(SHIMANO RACING TEAM) 17.11'55"95 3.
MENZIES KARI(TEAM MGZT) 17.12'11"62 6th.
STAGE TEAM CLASSIFICATION 1.
GIANT ASIA RACING TEAM 5.23'21"00 2.
SEOUL CITY 5.23'21"00 3.
UZBEKISTAN 5.23'21"00 FINAL
GENERAL TEAM TIME CLASSIFICATION AFTER 6th. STAGE 1.
MARCO POLO TEAM 51.41'04"60 2.
SHIMANO RACING TEAM 51.42'36"75 3.
SEOUL CITY 51.44'33"15 |
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