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Recap
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The Greatest Week in Deaf Cycling History
As Terence Parkin of South Africa raised his arms in triumph after crossing the line during the 120km Road Race, It was a perfect ending to the greatest week in the deaf cycling history with a first time winner. Over the week long event, a total of 4 road race events were held in various locations, Pescadero, Livermore, San Jose and Fremont. A total of 12 nations participated in the 12th World Deaf Cycling Championships presented by San Francisco Club for the Deaf.
Firsts:
- A total of 11 medals were awarded to cyclists for the first time signaling a youth movement. Few examples were Terence Parkin of South Africa at 26 years old, Luis Carlos Sanchez of Colombia at 22 years old, Johan Reyneke of South Africa at 22 years old and Kiril Pestov of Russia at 23 years old.
- 12 nations participated in the World Deaf Cycling Championships which is the largest number ever.
- 50 cyclists participated in the World Deaf Cycling Championships which easily beat the total of 31 cyclists at Melbourne Deaflympics in 2005.
- Mountain Bike Events were added to the program for the first time as demonstration events and proved to be very successful.
- Hellyer Park Velodrome was used for the 1000m Sprint and 40km Points Race instead of a regular and traditional criterium type with streets.
- 300 and 450 fans were on hand to witness the best racing ever at Hellyer Park Velodrome on Monday and Thursday evenings respectively.
Recap:
Monday, June 19, 2006 – 1000m Sprints presented by Nextweb.net
The evening started off with 200m sprints and we all saw some blistering times by Luis Carlos Sanchez (Colombia), Terence Parkin (South Africa), Nick Schreiber (USA), Scott Staubach (USA) and Paul Wood (USA). As the evening went on, there were some thrilling racing going on between 2 cyclists on the track at the same time. In the end, Paul Wood emerged victorious for the 10th time and possibly his final, Nick Schreiber came behind. Luis Carlos Sanchez worked hard to prevent an all American podium and barely beat Scott Staubach of USA to claim the Bronze Medal, a first for Colombia.
To read more: http://www.usdeafsports.org/2006cycling/race_sprints.html
| Gold: |
Paul Wood, USA |
| Silver: |
Nick Schreiber, USA |
| Bronze: |
Luis Carlos Sanchez, COL |
Tuesday, June 20, 2006 – Short Course Mountain Bike Race presented by Hands On Video Relay Service
Luigi Cucco (Italy) captured gold for Short Track Mountain Bike event. Terence Parkin (So. Africa) and Wayne Langbein (United States) walked away with Silver and Bronze, respectively. The first mountain bike event of 2006 World Deaf Cycling Championship proved to be challenging and successful for some of the elite racers under the scorching sun at California School for the Deaf, Fremont. During 45-minute time elapsed short track race with the crowd watching on, many riders had dynamic start, but most faltered away after the first few laps while a few maintained a steady pace throughout the race. Matovcik Jr (Slovenkia) showed some dominance in the beginning, pushing the pace in the front but it was not for long before he lost the lead to Cucco (Italy) for good. Cucco, who benefited from a brilliant tactical move in the early midway to close the gap on the rest of the riders, took advantage of Matovciks sign of difficulty to maintain the lead after a few laps and sealed the lead for the rest of the race.
To read more: http://www.usdeafsports.org/2006cycling/race_SCMtnbike.html
| Gold: |
Luigi Cucco, ITA |
| Silver: |
Terence Parkin, RSA |
| Bronze: |
Wayne Langbein, USA |
Wednesday, June 21, 2006 – 34 km Individual Time Trial presented by Sprint Relay
High up on San Antonio Valley Road at 2,900 feet, between the Livermore Hills and Mt. Hamilton, under the scorching California sun, 20 Deaf cyclists went one by one onto a brutal 20-mile time trial ride as part of World Deaf Cycling Championships' week-long event. It was successful for 25-year-old American cyclist Nick Schreiber! He was one of the riders to "watch" before the start of the event. He won by at least a minute ahead of the second place finisher, at 50 minutes and 16 seconds. It was also a first for American Deaf cycling, as there has never been an USA gold medal finisher before.
Czech Republic's Pavel Pastrnek and Josef Merunka made a very surprising appearance in 2nd and 3rd place, respectively. Pastrnek came in at 51 minutes and 35 seconds, and Merunka was only 6 seconds behind him. Their teammate, Jan Capek, was one of the favored riders to place in the top three but he came up short. The Czech Republic head coach remarked, "I'm happy, but I'm more relieved that my boys were able to medal! The government will not sponsor our athletes for the 2009 Deaflympics unless they medal in this event. Now we have 3 of our cyclists who will be able to go to Taipei.
To read more: http://www.usdeafsports.org/2006cycling/race_timetrials.html
| Gold: |
Nick Schreiber, USA |
| Silver: |
Pavel Pastrnek, CZE |
| Bronze: |
Josef Merunka, CZE |
Thursday, June 22, 2006- 40km Points Race presented by Cannondale
With the temperatures climbing into the high nineties, hundreds of fans still turned out for what promised to be an exciting evening at Hellyer Park Velodrome for the 40km Points Race.
Every 6 laps, the riders need to do a sprint, where they will have to compete in order to receive points in subsequent order of 5 points to first, 3 points to second, 2 points to third, and 1 point to fourth. Culmination of the most points throughout the race wins the match. To open the event, two preliminary heats were done. The preliminary heats lasted 30 laps long. Two group heats paced the top 20 riders out of 33 riders, and the 20 riders went into the actual race, this time going for 120 laps - or 40 kilometers. Fans continued to be amazed at the riders' sheer endurance and energy for riding so many laps.
The star of the evening, Nick Schreiber, looked genuinely happy when he was interviewed. "I can't really begin to think how I feel about this medal. I'm happy, I guess. This race was so tough, and definitely the hardest race so far this week." When Jarrod Denman of Australia was close to lapping the main pack, Nick Schreiber without any help, decided to pull the pack back to the leaders like a freight train. It was so devastating that the leaders decided to slow down when they saw Nick Schreiber within ¼ of a lap of them to begin their recovery process before the next sprint.
Australia's Denman made a surprise break from the pack and rode solo for approximately 12 laps, and continued to stay in the lead for 10 more laps afterwards. All of a sudden, he was in first place. Denman remarked later, "I just kept my legs moving. I forced myself not to look back, because I knew I would become weak if I knew where everyone else was. I worked so hard to stay focused."
Throughout the race, Russia's Pestov kept pumping away, and made a solid, steady showing that put him with a bronze medal. "I was so surprised when I found out I had placed third," Pestov said. "I completely did not expect to medal in this event. I have made Russia proud, and now I will be able to go to Taipei in 2009." Russia is yet another country whose government will grant sponsorship money for cyclists who have medaled in this week's events.
To read more: http://www.usdeafsports.org/2006cycling/race_points.html
| Gold: |
Nick Schreiber, USA |
| Silver: |
Jarrod Denman, AUS |
| Bronze: |
Kiril Pestov, RUS |
Friday, June 23, 2006 – Long Course Mountain Bike Race presented by Clifbar
Johan Reyneke of South Africa could not believe his luck when he cycled past the fallen rider of Czech Republic, Pavel Pastrnek. A folded wheel rim had befallen Pavel Pastrnek and Johan Reyneke was able to hold off Julius Matovich Jr of Slovakia to the victory. South Africa was a first time entry into the World Deaf Cycling Championships and they had very realistic expectations however Johan Reyneke was able to time his surge to the front correctly and win the gold medal for South Africa which sent the whole team cheering wildly when he crossed the finish line.
To read more: http://www.usdeafsports.org/2006cycling/race_LCMtnbike.html
| Gold: |
Johan Reyneke, RSA |
| Silver: |
Julius Matovich, Jr., SVK |
| Bronze: |
Michael Isara, ITA |
Saturday, June 24, 2006 – 120km Road Race at Pescadero presented by IP-Relay.com
Under a thick fog at approximately 8:50 in the morning, 35 World Deaf Cycling Championships riders started a grueling 75-mile road race that would eventually test who was the best road race riders. In the end, only about 15 cyclists finished, and the top three finishers were not who everyone expected to finish. At the feeding station, the reporters learned that on the first loop, three riders from France, Italy and Czech Republic were leading, with the first part of the pack not far behind from them. Coaches from different countries were interviewed, and many of them said they had no idea who would win the race, and would have to wait to see. A Czech Republic coach said, "This race is tough. Whoever wins will be commended."
Then Parkin came into sight, and almost everyone overlooked him as one of the hearing riders, as Schreiber and Cloux was heavily favored to win. Suddenly, right before the finish line, Parkin raised his arms in victory and everyone went, "What? He won!" Before everyone could absorb the shock, Colombia's lone representative, Luis Carlos Sanchez, burst onto the scene and skated through to get a second place finish. Czech Republic's Frantisek Kocourek was not far behind from Sanchez, and placed third. Cloux was behind Kocourek, and he looked extremely disappointed at not being able to place in the top three. He later commented, "I was very frustrated during the race. It was a great course, and I had no problems with the hills, but I was always the leader. Everyone stayed behind me to draft. I tried to wave other riders in front of me, but no one would do that! Eventually I got too tired!" Schreiber eventually showed up in 6th place, and when he passed the finish line, he grinned, gave everyone a thumbs-up and continued down the road. Kosa also finished well, much to the surprise of others.
Back at the high school, a score of interviews were done. Of course, one of the first was done with Terence Parkin. He admitted that he had cried tears of joy for winning the race, because he had waited all week to do this race. "I wanted so badly to win this race, and especially to get a medal in America!"
To read more: http://www.usdeafsports.org/2006cycling/race_pescadero.html
| Gold: |
Terence Parkin, RSA |
| Silver: |
Luis Carlos Sanchez, COL |
| Bronze: |
Frantisek Kocourek , CZE |
General Classification: (Yellow Jersey) by San Francisco Club for the Deaf
Terence Parkin of South Africa and Nick Schreiber of USA were tied after one week with 105 points and the tiebreaker was the number of victories. Nick Schreiber came ahead with two 1’s compared to Terence Parkin’s 1 victory. This also was a first time the World Deaf Cycling Championships had the General Classification also. Daniel Carruthers of New Zealand came in 3rd , getting a first medal ever for New Zealand also.
| Gold: |
Nick Schreiber, USA |
| Silver: |
Terence Parkin, RSA |
| Bronze: |
Daniel Carruthers, NZ |
For more information, go to http://www.usdeafsports.org/2006cycling
Robin Horwitz
World Deaf Cycling Championships Director
http://www.usdeafsports.org/2006cycling
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