World Cycling Championships : East German Men, Soviet Women Win Gold Medals

East Germany and the Soviet Union won the team time trials Wednesday at the World Cycling Championships.

It was the fourth gold medal for each country. The Soviets have nine medals overall. East Germany and Italy are tied with eight apiece.

On a hot day in the mountains that resulted in many riders dropping out, East Germany, the Olympic champion, won the men’s event for 100 kilometers.

The East Germans were reduced to three riders over the final 15 kilometers when Falk Boden dropped out, exhausted. Mario Kummer, Jan Schur and Maik Landsmann carried on and won. Only three finishers are required in the competition.

The trio’s time was 2 hours 2 minutes 36.29 seconds, defeating second-place Poland, which also was reduced to three when one of its cyclists dropped out of the race.

Poland finished in 2:03:19.35. The Soviet Union was third in 2:03:37. The fourth-place U.S. team, with Mike McCarthy, Jim Copeland, John Stenner and John Frey, was timed in 2:04:54.

Earlier, the Soviets won the women’s event in 1:08:05.02.

Only 0.87 of a second behind were the Italians, who led by less than a second at the midpoint but faltered in the final stretch when they had to slow down so that one of their cyclists could keep up.

Third was France in 1:08:35.72.

The U.S. team of Betsy Davis, Maureen Manley, Linda Brenneman and Marge Maass finished fifth in 1:09:42.80.

The professional men’s event is set for Sunday. Tour de France winner Greg LeMond hopes to regain the title he won in 1983 but will be challenged again by France’s Laurent Fignon.