Double Rainbow for Van Dyk, More medals for U.S. Handcyclists
on 08-29-2007 18:57
South African Ernst Van Dyk traveled to Florida in late July following his 2nd-placed finish to Alejandro Albor at the Sadler’s Ultra Challenge. Van Dyk spent four days working with his sponsor, Invacare Top End product designer, Chris Peterson, on a top secret handcycle to give him the best chance possible at the World Championships August 24-26 in Bordeaux, France. The trip ended-up being well worth it as Van Dyk pulled off a rare, back-to-back victory by winning Sunday’s road race in a thrilling sprint in Bordeaux…just two days after winning the time trial by a huge margin. This puts Van Dyk in elite company with Hans Mayrhoeffer and Scott McNeice as one of three World Champions to win both the road race and time trial in the same year.
McNeice, also an Invacare-sponsored athlete, was the first World Handcycling Champion in 1998 where he dominated the event in Colorado Springs. He has attempted somehwat of a comeback this year, and rode very well in Bordeaux….finishing 8th in both the time trial and road race, ~ 1:30 back from the winner in both races. His U.S. teammate, Alejandro Albor was the favorite at this year’s worlds coming off of his victory at the Sadler’s Ultra Challenge. Van Dyk however, focused specifically on the shorter distances for the World Championships and has incredible finishing power on his new bike, leaving Albor to sprint for the bronze. Also in the mix in the final sprint was American Oz Sanchez. Sanchez has steadily improved at every race since he began competing seriously in 2005. Bordeaux showcased his potential, and Sanchez came in a very respectable 5th in the road race, :02 behind Spanish sensation, Vicente Arzo.
The HCB race on Sunday was as nuclear as ever, and featured Americans Matt Updike and [Friday’s bronze medallist] David Lee, as well as Todd Richardson who finally made the start line after being ill all week. Lee couldn’t hang with the furious pace set by the front group on the rolling course and was dropped midway through the event. Richardson’s woes continued when he broke a footrest and had to abandon. So it was left to Updike to fight it out for a medal in the large field sprint. “The Europeans race very tough, and I ended-up getting squeezed to the side in the final 200m and had to get around a bunch of slower guys….I was a little disappointed” said Updike following the race. He ended-up 10th overall.
After a wild weekend of racing that saw pure dominance from Van Dyk, three medals from the American Team, the new format of running the World Championsips every year seems to be creating a great deal of excitement for the sport, and the Americans also showed that they are a force to be reckoned with.
There are some great photos from the event on Christian Kolb’s website, HERE.
Posted by Wolfgang Schattauer, on 02-12-2008 05:38, , Guest
Hallo! I have just read the above article. Please correct this article that not only McNiece , Mayerhofer and Van Dyk have won both WC(ITT+RR) in 1 one year but also Andrea Eskau from Germany and I, Wolfgang Schattauer(HCA)from Austria have won those 2WC in one year also. I am, as far as I know, the only handcyclist of any category, who have won in 1 year both official-WC titles, the EHC-overall title, the HCT-overall title and both national titles(=2007). Ok, thank you. Kind regards from Vienna Wolfgang Schattauer
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