WIC Zug

After a week of rain and cold weather in Switzerland it was a nice change to arrive in Zug on Saturday to nice warm sunny weather. The first World Inline Cup race got underway at 5pm for the men and 5.02pm for the women. The course was one lap, 40km around Lake Zugersee starting and finishing at the same place. The course was undulating with a few resonable climbs but fast downhill stretches.

Since Iv'e been competing in the World Inline Cup (since 2004) the womens race has finished in a bunch sprint at Zug, but people still attacked and tried to escape. Tamara, Alexandra and I all tried to make a couple of breaks just to test the water, but nothing eventuated as we were quickly chased down. Other attacks were made by Sara Bak and Nadine Gloor (Rollerblade Austria), Liliana Holungin and Natalia Altero (World Inline Center Matter) and Elma De Vries (Cado Motus). This year with new skaters galore racing in the World Inline Cup and a lot more strong teams, the women's racing has changed a bit. There was more constant movement in the bunch with multiple trains always on the move. You could not stay in one postion too long otherwise you would soon end up at the back of the pack. Our whole team was constantly on the move jumping on trains and moving up the bunch so we wouldn't be caught at the back. Even though it's a long race you don't want to be caught at the back of the pack. The bad action usually happens at the back of the pack (e.g., crashes), the good action happens at the front (e.g., breakaways). If you get caught at the back and stuck behind less experienced skaters, gaps easily open up and then you are left having to chase. The race was not physically draining for me because the pace was more constant rather than yo-yoing.

With about 3km to go, everyone was fighting for positions, fighting to be on the right wheel. If you are not on the right team or skater's wheel at the end of the race, you can be swamped by the whole pack. Going into the sprint we were positioned behind Powerslide Alessi and they were behind Rollerblade MPC. The final 500 meters of the race was tricky because there were traffic islands all over the road. Bont Wheels followed Allessi and Rollerblade over to the right going under the bridge. The group then split with some skaters choosing to stay on the right and some moving into the left lane before the next traffic island. Bont Wheels continued on the right following Alessi and one Rollerblade skater. Alexandra led the team out followed by Tamara, Cecilia and myself. At the next traffic island, we split with Alexandra going left and the rest of the team right. Cecilia and myself took off with about 250 - 300 meters to go. The Bont Wheels Team crossed the line taking the first three places but later on Alexandra was relegated to 5th and Tamara finished 11th. I'm not too sure what exactly happened because I was at the back of the train and didn't see anything, I was focused on following and protecting Cecilia.

The presentations got underway quiet late at 10pm after the band finished playing and all the guys got to oogle at the Brazilian dancers. We arrived back to the house in Weinfelden at midnight and basically stumbled up the stairs and fell in to bed. It was a long drawn out day. We left Weinfelden at 1pm and arrived home at midnight.

We raced well together as a team and our strengths all complimented each other. Before this race we only had one short training session together but because we are all experienced skaters, we were able to get away with it and produce good results. Teams can look good on paper but it depends how everyone comes together and works as a team. The mix of strengths and weaknesses has to be right, and I think this Bont Wheels Team has the right mix.

Results: Women

1.  Baena Cecilia         Bont Wheels   1:08.36,85
2.  Begg Nicole           Bont Wheels            
3.  Gomez Sandra          Powerslide Alessi World
4.  Barbotin Nathalie     Powerslide Alessi World
5.  Vivas Alexandra       Bont Wheels            
6.  Haritchelhar Andrea   World Inlinecenter-Matter
7.  Ponzetti Cinzia       Powerslide Alessi World
8.  Martinez Kelly        Bont IDRD Bogota Positiva
9.  Holungin Liliana      World Inlinecenter-Matter
10. Kuhn India            X-tech-Crocs          
11. Tamara Llorens        Bont Wheels            
12. Bak Sara              Rollerblade I.P.U Speedod
13. Pachon Nino Kezia     Bont IDRD Bogota Positiva
14. Gloor Nadine          Rollerblade I.P.U Speedod
15. Erbiti Sara           Bont Bacata            
16. Strüver Tina          2008 Shankel World Team
17. Galvis Wanda          Bont Bacata            
18. Altero Natalia        World Inlinecenter-Matter
19. Howard Mclean Shaneen Bont IDRD Bogota Positiva
20. Salazar Deisy         Bont Bacata                 

Results: Men

1.  Mantia Joey           Luigino Answer Wheels   55.51,05   
2.  Saggiorato Luca       Rollerblade MPC World Tea    
3.  Presti Massimiliano   Luigino Answer Wheels         
4.  Munoz Andres          Matter Inline Center Worl    
5.  Zangarini Francesco   Rollerblade MPC World Tea      
6.  Rosero Jorge          Rollerblade MPC World Tea      
7.  Naselli Claudio       Luigino Answer Wheels        
8.  Guyader Yann          Powerslide Alessi World       
9.  Vogel Harry           Luigino Answer Wheels    
10. Ruales Ceron Antonio  Bont IDRD Bogota Positiva
11. Bugari Riccardo       Luigino Answer Wheels    
12. Puerto Canon Carlos   Bont IDRD Bogota Positiva
13. Amabili Matteo        Powerslide Alessi World  
14. Begg Wayne            World Inlinecenter-Spirot
15. Michael Peter         Matter Inline Center Worl
16. Dobbin Kalon          Matter Inline Center Worl
17. Bastidas Alexander    Bont Bacata             
17. Salazar Carlos        Bont Bacata              
19. Alchin Ben            World Inlinecenter-Spirot
20. Caballero Kepa        Powerslide Alessi Eurotea