Shapiro Wins Confused, Shortened Mountain Race

Doug Shapiro overcame a last-minute course change and a traffic nightmare Thursday to win a mountain road race in the Coors International bicycle races, with officials abruptly ending the stage 2 1/2 miles early.

However, the confused racers kept going, with some having to weave their way through heavy late-afternoon traffic.

The confusion overshadowed Shapiro’s victory. He said the police stopping the race actually made it more dangerous.

“You’re not going to stop a bunch of riders after going 88 miles,” Shapiro said, adding that he kept going “just in case,” after being told the race was over.

Shapiro’s official time was 3 hours 11 minutes, while overall leader Greg LeMond finished second and Ronan Pensec was third. Both were credited with a time of 3:13:05.

In women’s racing, Corrie Timmermans of Holland won the 35-mile Boulder Mall Criterium, covering the course in an unofficial time of 1:16:41.

Timmermans took the lead in the last lap, edging second-place Peggy Maass and third-place Valerie Simonnet of France.

Jeannie Longo of France, the overall leader, finished sixth.

The men’s Golden-Boulder Mountain road race hit its first snag Thursday morning when, a half-hour before the start, the course was altered from Colorado 46 to Colorado 72 because of inadequate grading of a stretch of gravel road.

Then, police tried to stop the race 2 1/2 miles short of the traditional finish line in downtown Boulder, but many riders kept going.

As disappointed fans booed at the finish line at Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall, it was announced that Shapiro was the winner, but no second- or third-place finishers were announced until later.

The Golden-Boulder road race is one of the oldest stages and its route is a familier one to the community.