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Oklahoma's Cate Captures National Road Cycling Championship
NATCHEZ, Miss. (May 21, 2000) - Steve Cate (Norman, Okla.) won the 2000 United States Cycling Federation national elite men's road race championship in Natchez, Miss. Sunday. The 120-mile race went through downtown Natchez, which is located along the Mississippi River, in addition to outlying areas of Natchez.
For Cate this marked his second national cycling title after he collected the USCF Espoir National road race crown in 1997. Cate made his move late in the final lap and held of Shawn McCormack of Plymouth, Mass. to win the race. McCormack is the younger brother of Frank (Leicester, Mass.) and Mark McCormack (N. Easton, Mass.), who finished fourth and ninth, respectively at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Road Cycling Saturday in Jackson, Miss.
"Early on in the race, there was a group of four cyclists who broke away from the field. The pack of cyclists did not seemed too concerned. But when some of the name cyclists took off to make it eight cyclists in the lead pack that is when we decided to make our move.
"I pushed my final attack with about 200 meters remaining and had a sizable gap to catch McCormack. He held the lead for a long time, but I think I was fresher and stronger at the end."
Cate, who attends Oklahoma City Community College, rode for the U.S. national team in 1997 and 1998 and plans to compete more during the summer of 2000.
McCormack made his move with approximately one kilometer remaining in the race, and started his sprint with about 600 meters from the finish line.
"When in doubt, take it out," said McCormack. "I took my chance and just fell short. I rode a few laps in Saturday's Olympic trials and then went back to the hotel to rest and watch the rest of the race."
Jonathan Wirsing (Glen Allen, Va.) and Shawn Willard (Charlotte, N.C.) finished third and fourth, respectively in this national championship event. Defending national champion Danny Pate (Colorado Springs, Colo.) did not compete, as he is now a professional cyclist for Saeco/Villi & Villi in Italy. Pate garnered xxth-place honors at the U.S. Olympic Trials road race.
Among the past national elite men's road race champions during the past decade are 1999 Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong (1991), Chann McRae (1992, 1995) and one of Armstrong's 1999 Tour de France teammates Kevin Livingston (1994).
This concluded a week of cycling competition in the state of Mississippi. On Thursday, Mari Holden (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Adham Sbeih (Granite Bay, Calif.) captured the national individual time trial championships. Meanwhile, Nicole Freedman (Stanford, Calif.) and Antonio Cruz (Long Beach, Calif.) earned berths on the 2000 U.S. Olympic Cycling Team with victories in the road race at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Road Cycling in Jackson, Miss.
The remainder of the five-member men's Olympic road squad and three-member women's Olympic road cycling team will be announced later this summer.
The next national championship cycling event is slated for Sunday, June 4 in Philadelphia with the First Union USPRO Championship. The winner of that event will be the men's national professional road race champion.
U.S CYCLING FEDERATION NATIONAL ROAD CYCLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
NATCHEZ, MISS.
ELITE MEN'S ROAD RACE (120 miles)
1, Steve Cate, Norman, Okla., Mercy Cycling Team, four minutes, 26.59 seconds
2, Shawn McCormack, Plymouth, Mass., CCB/Volkswagen, same time
3, Jonathan Wirsing, Glen Allen, Va., Team Snow Valley, same time
4, Shawn Willard, Charlotte, N.C., Defeet/Lemond, same time
5, Matthew Svatek, Carlisle, Mass., unattached, same time
6, Alex Candelario, Boulder, Colo., Boulder Chaos, same time
7, Damon Kluck, Santa Cruz, Calif., The Spokesman, 4:27:01
8, Chris Frederick, Pembrokes Pines, Fla., Jamis-Columbus Group, same time
9, Patrick O'Donnell, Indianapolis, Children First, same time
10, John Green, Atlanta, Atlanta Cycling, same time
11, Dean Meyer, Monterey, Calif., GS Lombardi, same time
12, Skip Menard, York, Pa., Team Snow Valley, same time
13, Steve Mlujeak, Pembroke Pines, Fla., same time
14, Ernie Lechuga, Los Angeles, Mercury Cycling Team, same time
15, John Walrod, Flagstaff, Ariz., L'Equipe Cheval, 4:27:02
16, Sean Nealy, Pittsfield, Mass., Kissena Cycling Club, same time
17, Mark Southard, Boulder, Colo., FRCR/New Belgian-Trek, same time
18, Kenny Williams, Tacoma, Wash., Nutra-Fig, same time
19, Christopher Peck, Southbury, Conn., Wheelworks/Cannondale, same time
20, James Mattis, Sunnyvale, Calif., Alto Velo, same time
21, Peter Mutuc, Boulder, Colo., Planet Outdoors.com, 4:27:03
22, Andre Bajadali, Boulder, Colo., Boulder Chaos/Rocky Mountain, same time
23, Nathaniel Hammond, Dover, N.H., Excite-Smartfuel, same time
24, Brian Fagan, Kingsville, Texas, Mercy Cycling Team, same time
25, Christopher McDonald, Northampton, Mass., Excite-Smartfuel, same time |
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