Cycling Roundup : French Sweep Their Way to Tandem Title

France’s Frederic Magne and Fabrice Colas won the tandem sprint title for the third consecutive time Sunday as the World Cycling Championships ended its track portion at Lyon, France.

The scene shifts to Chambery, where the road races start Wednesday with the amateur men and women’s team time trials.

Magne and Colas beat Czechoslovakia’s Jiri Illak and Lobumir Harcas in two straight of the best-of-three sprints. Italy’s Federico Paris and Andrea Faccini took third.

In other finals, the Soviet Union’s Marat Satybaldiev won the amateur points race and Urs Freuler of Switzerland took the professional title.

Fabio Baldato of Italy and Leo Peelen of the Netherlands won the other two medals in the amateur race. Garry Sutton of Australia and Martin Penc of Czechoslovakia were second and third, respectively, in the pro event.

The weeklong competition at the 333.33-meter velodrome at the Tete d’Or Park ended with East Germany, the Soviet Union, France and Italy each winning three gold medals. Italy finished with eight total medals.

Canada’s Steve Bauer broke away in the last mile to win the 255.5-kilometer Zurich World Cup race, the last major road cycling test before the world championships in Chambery, France.

Portugal’s Acacio da Silva was second, followed by Rolf Goelz of West Germany and Rolf Soerensen of Denmark.

Tour de France winner Greg LeMond of the United States abandoned the race 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the finish, apparently to conserve his strength for the title race in Chambery.

France’s Laurent Fignon, who was defeated by the American in a dramatic Tour de France finish, withdrew midway through the race.

It was the first victory for the 30-year-old Bauer this season. He finished 10th in the Tour of Flanders and third in the Amstel Gold race. Besides the $18,300 he won, he earned 14 World Cup points. He has 23 after nine of 12 races.

Ireland’s Sean Kelly retained the standings lead with 36 points, followed by Bauer and Frans Maassen of the Netherlands.

Swiss champion Pascal Richard mounted the first attack on an uphill stretch after about 140 kilometers. He was soon joined by Andrew Hampsten of the United States, and they opened a margin of almost a minute before being rejoined after about 50 kilometers.

More attacks kept livening the race, with the lead changing repeatedly. With 24 kilometers to go, Da Silva broke away, followed by eight others, including Bauer, Goelz and Soerensen. A solo effort by Goelz ended after a few kilometers, setting the stage for a finishing sprint.

Bauer was timed in 6 hours 45.11 minutes. Da Silva was four seconds behind, trailed by seven others all with same time.