Racing News:

Bowe Is Surprise Winner in Seoul
Switzerland's Iten Wins Men's Race

By Robert "Just the Factoids" Burnson
Sunday, April 8, 2007

Hyper USA's Brittany Bowe was no one's favorite to win today's World Inline Cup in Seoul, South Korea — not after taking the winter off to play college basketball.

But the slow pace of today's women's race allowed the talented sprinter to save herself for the finish. And when it came, she weaved her way through the crowded field and found an opening, just in time to stick her foot over the finish line for the win.

It was the first World Cup victory for Bowe, a 19-year-old former junior world champion from Florida.

Today also marked the first World Cup victory for Switzerland's Nicolas Iten, who won the men's race.

A member of the Sportvital Rollerblade team, Iten was one of ten skaters who broke away from the lead pack about 20 kilometers from the finish.

Later, a member of the splinter group, World Inline Center's D.J. Nation, took off on his own. At first no one wanted to follow. But when Nation's lead grew to 30 or 40 meters, Powerslide's Fabio Francolini and Iten gave chase.

After they caught him, the three stayed together, trading leads for the remaining three kilometers of the race.

About 150 meters from the finish, Francolini started his sprint. Iten caught him about 50 meters out and finished ahead of him by several yards, his arms raised in victory.

Nation, a 17-year-old New Zealander making his first appearance in the World Cup, was third.

Iten earned $6300 (USD) for the win. His time for the 40K race was 1 hour, 1 minute and 6 seconds.

The second group of men, lead by Powerslide's Kalon Dobbin, rolled across the line three seconds later. The main pack didn't arrive for another 1 minute and 18 seconds.

Women's Race

The women's race proved to be a waiting game with the top skaters saving their legs for what they expected to be a furious sprint.

Hyper USA's Jessica Smith, who won the event last year, said the pace was slow. "I kept expecting someone to take off. But nobody did."

There were a few small breakaways, but no skaters could get far ahead before the pack reeled them in.

About a kilometer from the finish, a group of Korean women took the lead and started their surge toward the finish line.

The powerful Jesa Bont team, which includes World Champion Nicole Begg, stayed right behind them, expecting to be able to go around them in the sprint. But traffic was thick as the racecourse narrowed toward the finish line, and before the Jesa Bont women could make their move, they were stalled when one of the Korean leaders lost her balance and nearly fell. In the end, the best finish for the Jesa Bont team was 12th place (Andrea Gonzalez).

The Hyper women had better luck. "After the Korean women took off, we just relaxed in the middle of the pack, and then slowly made our way to the front," Smith said.

But with all 50 of the elite women finishing in one mass, there was lots of traffic. Smith and Bowe were on the far right side of the racecourse at the beginning of the field sprint. But there were skaters in front of them, so Bowe cut a path sideways across the racecourse to find an opening. "There was no where to go. So we just snuck our way through," she said. "I don't know how."

Finally, just yards before the finish, she found a clear path to the finish line on the far left side of the racecourse. The pre-race plan was for Smith to go ahead of Bowe in the sprint. "But there was no room to get around and the finish line was right there," Smith said. "So I just yelled at her to hawk and she won."

It was a photo finish with no one certain of the winner until race officials announced the results an hour later. A time-lapse photo showed Bowe winning by a little more than a skate. Her time was 1 hour, 20 minutes and 33 seconds.

"It was a pretty slow pace today all the way," she said. "And I just knew that if it came down to the sprint, I could depend on my sprinting instincts."

Allessi Powerslide's Sandra Gomez was second; Sportvital Rollerblade's Laura Lardani, third. Jessica Smith was fifth.

Bowe earned $4800 for the win. She also grabbed an early lead in the World Inline Cup individual rankings, although that lead is unlikely to hold since the Hyper USA team is only expected to appear at a few World Cup events this year.

This year's Seoul World Inline Cup, the fifth annual, drew 6200 skaters, down a little from last year. Aside from the 40K marathon, the event included a half marathon, 6K fitness race and 2K kid's race.

The event is held on a one-of-a-kind racecourse. It starts on a broad boulevard in the city's bustling business district. From there, it crosses the half-mile long Mapo Bridge over the River Han. Then it makes a loop on a 5-lane elevated freeway, which is closed to traffic for the event. Finally, it heads back across the bridge to the finish line.

After the race, thousands of skaters and spectators attended a large expo and awards ceremony at Yeouido Park. Dozens of vendors and skate team booths circled the expo grounds. Fans lined up for autographs from World Cup skaters and looked at the latest skates and fitness products. At the Hyper booth there was a run on the U.S. company's new Strada outdoor wheels, which Bowe used for her win. (She was wearing two firm and two extra firm 100mm Stradas on each skate.)

The event was organized by Munhwa newspaper, one of 10 daily newspapers in Seoul, and the Korean Rollersports Federation. It was sponsored by the Korean car maker Kia.

The World Inline Cup continues May 5 in Basel, Switzerland.

• Related reading:

• Full results (WIC site)