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European bicycle racing is on the minds of fans throughout the world, and northern Belgium was the destination for several locals who joined 125 members of Team USA during Memorial Day week.
Continuous French, German and Belgian broadcasts of the French Open from Roland Garros Stadium in Paris were briefly halted to provide live coverage of the ITU Duathlon World Championships, May 30-31 in Geel, near Antwerp.
The sport (run/bike/run) is hugely popular in Europe. The return of Belgian professional Benny Vansteelant, the defending champ, attracted busloads of spectators. Team USA members quickly found themselves surrounded with a warm welcome by fellow athletes from Canada, Great Britain, Italy, France and Belgium. With an atmosphere similar to Tour de France or the Ironman in Hawaii, the annual Belgium event is international in flavor and a strong camaraderie exists among the 1,000 competitors.
The Floridians enjoying their Belgian hosts included Miami's Lara Block, Celia Dubey of Tarpon Springs; Tampa's Lois Waite, Clermont's Linda Jacobson, Sarasota's Virginia Poyner, and Tampa's Wade Gunter, formerly stationed at MacDill AFB and now serving in Iraq.
One of the racing highlights was the ride on the 40-kilometer bike course. Europeans have a common practice of pre-riding courses with police escorts that lead the peloton through the towns. Floridians joined 450 cyclists, pedaling past Belgian fans who rang cowbells, cheered and waved flags and banners.
On Sunday, Vansteelant won the pro division in 1 hour, 44 minutes, 25 seconds. Hungary's Erika Csomor was the top female professional, 2:00:40.
Amateurs, age-group competitors, raced on Monday in a 10-kilometer run, 40K bike ride and 5K run. Floridians finished strongly in the cold, misty conditions, including Miami's Lara Block (35-39 division), fifth place, 2:14:20; Dubey (30-34), 12th, 2:17:09; Poyner (60-64), fifth, 2:49:20; and Waite (35-39), 11th, 2:18:20.
Gunter (45-49) finished 35th in 2:11:50. He said the highlight of his week was holding the American flag and leading Team USA in the Parade Of Nations. DUNEDIN TRIATHLON: Rookie race director Suzanne Henslee says she has the confidence to play host to more area events after the success of her inaugural Dunedin Race Through Xanadu Triathlon on Sunday. The race (0.25-mile swim, 12-mile bike ride and 3.1-mile run) was at Honeymoon Island State Park where 500 athletes had nearly perfect weather. Winning was Winter Garden's Marc Bonnet-Eymard, 54 minutes, 48 seconds. Tampa's Christina Noordstar, 28, used her strong cycling talent to take the women's overall victory (1:03:18). Following Noordstar was Dubey, 1:05:10. Dubey, 32, says she chose to remain in Europe a few days after the duathlon world championships to get in some extra training. "I can't say that I rested for this triathlon, because we did do lots of sightseeing over there in Europe," Dubey said. "The travel is sometimes tiring, but my main problem was having this big, oversized bike case, which my family and I pulled through the airport on wheels. It was so huge, I told some people in Italy that we were animal trainers with the circus and that there was a tiger inside. We got to go to the head of all the lines." Dunedin division winners included Eric Duepree, 14, Ozona, 1:13:08; Matthew Attal, 18, Tampa, 1:05:13; Eric Blicker, 24, Tampa, 1:04:20; Quint Noordstar, 27, Tampa, 1:00:43; Bob Wagoner, 31, Seminole, 58:27; John Macedo, 39, Clearwater, 1:05:27; James Thornton, 40, Tarpon Springs, 1:03:06; Ron Murawsky, 49, Clearwater, 59:42; Alan Smith, 52, Palm Harbor, 1:08:31; Mike Mabry, 59, Valrico, 1:07:15; Sam Nall, 60, St. Petersburg, 1:08:13; Bill Terlop, 66, Tampa, 1:21:17; Larry Yost, 74, Treasure Island, 1:25:24; Hal Cook, 77, Tarpon Springs, 1:47:55; and Carey Rowan, 35, Clearwater, Clydesdale, 1:02:18. Other winners were Bethany Saunders, 10, Treasure Island, 1:35:49; Alex Lechner, 16, Dunedin, 1:06:46; Faith Tarver, 23, Tampa, 1:20:16; Suzanne O'Neal, 28, Clearwater, 1:08:12; Gina Pastore, 33, Palm Harbor, 1:09:24; Patty Farese, 44, St. Petersburg, 1:05:59; Bev Buysse, 46, St. Petersburg, 1:09:29; Mary Pulaski, 52, Largo, 1:12:11; Bonnie Theall, 59, Dunedin, 1:19:28; Barbara Kotamaki, 60, New Port Richey, 1:37:28; Jackie Yost, 76, Treasure Island, 1:41:13; and Jennifer Cubito, 30, Clearwater, Athena, 1:13:24.