Selection troubles continue in Australian CyclingThe other day we reported that our best pursuiter Bradley McGee who is riding as a professional with La Francaise des Jeux was unlikely to ride in any representative teams for Australia because he had missed a special selection trial in January. Last week National Track Coach Charlie Walsh and Cycling Australia President Ray Godkin both indicated in the public arena that they were not in favour of selecting McGee because he had chosen not to travel to Adelaide in January for the qualifying meeting.
A report by Peter Krupka in the national daily, The Australian (15/3/98) said: "McGee has pleaded with Godkin to be selected in the teams, to be named after this week's national track titles in Adelaide, but national coach Charlie Walsh made it clear he was not impressed with McGee's failure to turn up for a special trial in Adelaide in January."
Godkin was reported by Krupka as saying: "It's very difficult for Bradley at this present stage but what we're going to do with it we are not quite sure. Because of the amount of riders that have qualified it has made it difficult for Brad. He was supposed to come here and ride a trial like everyone else but he chose not to."
So it seemed to be simple enough. The selection scandals in the past demanded some coherent rules. The selection trial in January was required, a rider didn't choose to go, and so the rider should miss out irrespective of whether he is the best or not. Rules are rules and if applied consistently provide everybody with certainty.
Nobody will therefore be surprised to learn that Bradley McGee has been selected despite missing both the required trial in January and also the National Championships.
How this can be is anyone's guess. Back to normal.
Why does all this matter?
Well you also would have reasonably thought that the current Australian Madison Champion (won in February this year) who performed well in the National Titles over the past week (coming second on the last night in the 40 kms points race behind AIS rider Brett Aitken) - would expect to represent Australia in the World Championships in Bordeaux in August. He would also expect to ride for Australia in the Commonwealth Games in Malaysia in September.
Think again. Wrong. Stephen Pate was not selected in either track squad in what has been described on the radio last night as a "shock omission".
Aah, the selection disputes in Australian cycling. What would we do without them?
Pate, not unreasonably it would seem, is livid. He has launched a broadside at the the National Coach Charlie Walsh and has accused him of conducting a vendetta against him. He was quoted in a radio news report a few minutes ago as saying that it is "criminal" that he has not been selected.
AAP journalist, Roger Vaughan reports that Pate has alleged that Walsh instructed the Australian Institute of Sport track riders to "work against him" during the National Championships this week. Pate is reported as saying: "It's not fair one man can be able to ruin someone's cycling career, and that's what has happened."
It is not the first time that riders from outside of the AIS squad have alleged that the selectors have been biased in favour of riders in the AIS squad.
So now they have to explain how Bradley McGee (an AIS rider until he went to France) gets around the selection trial and doesn't ride at the Nationals and gets a jersey, and the National Madison Champion (definitely not an AIS rider) does not.
Stay tuned. If I receive an explanation I will have it up. But don't wait around for it.
Sea Otter Road Race, Monterey, California, March 21Gord Fraser (Mercury) and Nicole Freedman (Shaklee) each took the stage victory and moved into the respective leader’s jerseys capping the first full day of racing at the Mavic Elite Road Stage Race, part of the SRAM Sea Otter Classic. The classic includes all disciplines of cycling -- road racing, mountain biking, BMX and track racing.
Fraser, Ottawa, Ont., Canada, took advantage of an impressive team lead-out to win the 40.5-mile circuit race. No less than five Mercury teammates paved the way for Fraser on the final lap.
"The guys are really clicking," Fraser said. "They don’t mind investing a lot of work in the finishes, because we come out on top more often than not."
It is Fraser’s third win in U.S. National Racing Calendar events this season. His teammate, Julian Dean, Hamilton, New Zealand, was second after giving Fraser a final lead-out.
"He easily could have won," Fraser said. "It was better for me to get the time bonus."
Fraser earned a 20-second bonus for winning the stage, which moved him into a 13-second lead in the overall standings over Trent Klasna (Navigators), Pine Valley, Calif. Klasna, who was third in the stage, won the prologue earlier today.
"I was 20 guys back with 300 meters to go," Klasna said. "I was just a little late."
Freedman, Palo Alto, Calif., also won a sprint finish, topping three riders -- Marie Holjer (Jane’s Cosmetics), Sweden; Joan Wilson (Ralph’s-Klein), Palo Alto, Calif.; and Karen Kurreck (Saturn), Cupertino, Calif.
"I practiced sprints all winter," said Freedman, who also won the women’s points race on the track during the opening event of the Sea Otter Classic Wednesday.
Kurreck had a lead at the top of the final climb of the 14-lap, 31.5-mile race, but Wilson, Holjer and Freedman caught her with 100 meters to go. Freedman easily won the sprint and assumed the overall leader’s jersey.
Not known as a climber, Freedman was able to stay with climbers like Kurreck and Linda Jackson (Saeco-Timex), Napean, Ont., Canada, up the two-tier, 300-foot climb each lap in order to claim her biggest U.S. win to date.
"I never beaten the ‘Saturns’ before," Freedman said.
Heading into the final stage, the 54-mile Vredestein Road Race, Freedman leads Kurreck by 10 seconds. The race should be wide open, with 20 riders within one minute of the lead.
Men, 66 kms: 1. Gord Fraser (Can) Mercury 1.32.12 2. Julian Dean (NZ) Mercury s.t. 3. Trent Klasna (US) Navigators 0.01 4. Chris Fisher (US) OilMe-Klein s.t. 5. Harm Jensen (Ned) No Team 0.02 Men's Overall after 2 Rounds: 1. Gord Fraser (Can) Mercury 1.36.35 2. Trent Klasna (US) Navigators 0.14 3. Julian Dean (NZ) Mercury 0.21 Women, 51 kms: 1. Nicole Freedman (US) Shaklee 1.28.28 2. Marie Holjer (Swe) Jane’s Cosmetics s.t. 3. Joan Wilson (US) Ralph’s-Klein s.t. 4. Karen Kurreck (US) Saturn s.t. 5. Laura Mullen (US) Safeway 0.11 Women's Overall after 2 Rounds: 1. Nicole Freedman (US) Shaklee 1.33.47 2. Karen Kurreck (US) Saturn 0.10 3. Marie Holjer (Swe) Jane’s Cosmetics 0.12 4. Hughes 0.19 5. Joan Wilson (US) Ralph’s-Klein 0.26