L'an dernier, c'était la victoire de Geneviève Jeanson dans le contre-la-montre à la Redlands qui avait enflammé des habitués du Forum de The Canadian Cyclist. Cette année, c'est sa totale domination au Tour of the Gila. (Pour ceux d’entre vous qui ne sont pas familiers avec les forums, il vous faut vous habituer avec certaines libertés prises par les auteurs sous le couvert de l’anonymat…)

Jeanson's domination at Gila
May 2, 2003 at 20:50
Well, as GJ destroys a weak field at Gila every day, the real stars of women's racing are recovering from a month's worth of World Cup racing, or they are currently racing in the Czech Republic, at the Gracia Orlova.

Jeanson will no doubt be a force at the Montreal World Cup, but she will likely end up burned out by mid-June. All this racing off the front at easy American races is not the recipe to make a World Champion. If she even makes it to Hamilton she's going to get beat by someone who has raced at a higher level (World Cups, Boucle, etc) for most of the season. It is a shame to see such obvious talent being destroyed by a marginal coach.

May 2, 2003 at 23:42
She's 21. Chill. Lotsa time.

May 3, 2003 at 11:06
If she's so good, what is she doing racing in North America ? Let's see her compete with the best in Europe.

May 3, 2003 at 12:05
Nobody can predict the future of an athlete's career with total certainty. Accident, illness, injury can all cause retirement earlier than desired. So better take advantage of ones powers while they are there. In this case while Nicole Cook (20 or 21 too) is busy in Europe troucing the very best at the 2 biggest one day races (Fleche and Amstel) - gaining confidence with every major victory, GJ is racing solo missions in domestic competitions. She may average a great speed while off on her own, but she is learning nothing about positioning or the rhythm of women pro racing at the top. There is no doubt that she is one of a kind, but is she doing the most optimal program to prep her to kit butt in Hamilton (which surely she is capable of doing) ?

Riders like Cook will feel fully at home in the craziness of the worlds race, she will know all the top riders well and their habits (like positions on the bike when they are suffering or bluffing), she will be used to making split second decisions on her own at the big moments. The Montreal race is not a full international field - though it is an excellent test, but it's not like a continental race. Anyway, GJ will just try to ride away from the field again.

What's going to happen when she can't do this in Hamilton when all the best in the world are there ? Even if she is the strongest, there will be some good team with some very strong girls leading those teams. Why was GJ not in Europe with the national team learning to work together in some cohesion with Lyne, Sue, et al. I guess that's also part of Andre's master plan.

May 4, 2003 at 19:21 by Nimrod
Jeanson is doing what any professional would do, getting maximum publicity for their sponsor. Rona pays the bucks, calls the tune and the riders play.

Wherever Rona does business so does GJ. When GJ rode away from the field at the last Montreal World Cup she was allowed to go because the event wasn't as important as the World Cup points that the rest of the field were riding for.

Certainly it was a tremendous achievement so far as the general public in Quebec were concerned and she earned her Rona bucks that day.

Unfortunately, like many great Quebec riders, she may not be comfortable riding in Europe. We will just have to wait and see.

page mise en ligne le 5 mai 2003 par SVP