Phinney Leads His Bike Team to 2nd Sweep

Davis Phinney led his 7-Eleven teammates to a second consecutive sweep in the Coors International Bicycle race in Sunday’s 60-mile race through the streets of this posh resort.

It was the 12th stage for the men, who began the series in Hawaii on Aug. 5, and the second stage for the women, who began on Saturday.

“We really wanted to demoralize everybody,” said Phinney, of Boulder, Colo. “It was like riding with a train.”

Meanwhile, Jeannie Longo of France kept her lead in the women’s division by finishing second to Madonna Harris in a 36-mile road race to the Maroon Bells Wilderness Area and back to Aspen.

Phinney, Jeff Pierce and Raul Alcala sprinted to the front in the first lap of the circuit race and never yielded.

Along with Antonio Santaromita of Italy, the lead group lapped the main field of racers halfway through.

But 7-Eleven, riding with only five racers following Doug Shapiro’s injury in Reno, didn’t give Santaromita a chance.

Andy Hampsten and Ron Kiefel, riding with the pack, boxed in Santaromita on the final lap to set up Phinney for the victory, Alcala for second place and Pierce for third.

On Saturday in the 83-mile “Tour of the Moon” road race through the Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction, Hampsten won the race with Pierce finishing second and Alcala third. Pierce extended his overall race lead to 4:38 over second-place Alcala and 9:26 over Hampsten. Roy Knickman of team Gore-Tex is fourth, 16:48 behind Pierce.

The men’s team race is even more lopsided. The 7-Eleven team holds a commanding one hour, 17-minute lead over Schwinn-Icy Hot.

In the women’s race Sunday morning, Harris capitalized on excellent teamwork to defeat Longo.