HAVING THE TIMES OF HER LIFE.Byline: Tina Fisher Forde Special to the Daily News Professional cyclist Mari Holden Mari Holden (born March 30 1971) is a female American cycle racer who won the World Time Trial Championships in 2000 after winning a silver medal in the Olympic Games Time Trial in Sydney, Australia that same year. She also won six U.S. , winner of a bronze medal at the Pan American Games Pan American (Sports) Games Quadrennial sports festival. The games, conceived in 1940 as an event for the nations of the Western Hemisphere, were first held in 1951. on Sunday and the 1999 national road and time trial champion, will join her new team in Europe this week Europe This Week is a business show aired on CNBC Europe, presented by Guy Johnson, from 6pm to 6:30pm CET (5pm to 5:30pm WET) on Fridays. Europe This Week to compete in her fourth Women's Tour de France Tour de France World's most prestigious and difficult bicycle race. Staged for three weeks each July—usually in some 20 daylong stages—the Tour typically comprises 20 professional teams of nine riders each and covers some 3,600 km (2,235 miles) of flat and . Holden, of Ventura, rides for the Italy-based Dream Team. The Women's Tour de France is Aug. 8-22 and each stage is 70-80 miles. Six teams and 130 women will compete this year. Holden is not likely to wear the leader's yellow jersey. As a support rider, her job is to make sure that her leader, No. 1-ranked Diana Ziluite, wears the jersey. And she is right where she wants to be. Once the master of the solitary, rider-against-the-clock time trial discipline and holder of the 40km individual time trial record, Holden now thrives in rough traffic. Three years of racing in Europe have seen to that. Her accomplishments include significant finishes in such races as the Tour of Switzerland, the Tour of Mallorca, Fleche flèche n. A slender spire, especially one on a church above the intersection of the nave and transepts. [French, arrow, flèche, from Old French, arrow, of Germanic origin; see Wallone, the Tour of Italy and World Cup races. Holden has the versatility that U.S. coaches sought in 1996 when they decided not to include her on the Olympic cycling team A cycling team is a group of cyclists who join a team or are acquired and train together to compete in bicycle races of any kind - whether they are recreational or professional - and the supporting personnel. . With a small team, they needed riders who could do everything well. They decided she needed more experience in the tactics of road racing. Following this year's Tour, she will head for home in Cornuda, Italy, which she shares with three other women riders - two Lithuanians and a Belorussian. In October, she can commute from her doorstep to the World Championships, which are 15 miles away in Treviso and Verona. Her recent road and time trial victories at the National Road Cycling Championships in Cincinnati qualified her for both World Championship events. In the winter, she lives in Colorado Springs. She trains with her coach and boyfriend, Dean Golich, and her friend Alison Dunlap, who is ranked third in the world in mountain biking mountain biking Sports medicine A sport in which participants use specialized bicycles to navigate rough, steep trails covered with unforgiving rocks Injury risk Concussions, fractures, death. See Extreme sport, Novelty seeking behavior. . Holden graduated from the Ojai Valley School, where she preferred horses to bicycles. Like Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, she began cycling as a triathlete tri·ath·lete n. One who competes in a triathlon. . On Sunday, at the first cycling event of the Pan Am Games, the hot prairie wind could not dampen the spirit of the United States cycling camp. Elizabeth Emery of Albuquerque won the gold medal, completing the 17.4-mile course at Birds Hill Park in a time of 37:39.84. Canadian Lyne Bessette won the silver medal in 37:59.76. Holden finished third in 38:35.07. The gold medal assured the United States of a third spot on the World Championship women's time trial team. ``I'm happy to have a bronze,'' said Holden. ``It's my first Pan Am experience.'' U.S. women's coach Henny Top said that Holden's recent training has been more focused on climbing than on time trial work. Also, officials told her she had to make several changes just before her race. ``I had to change my helmet,'' she said. ``It's not legal in Canada. It's too flimsy. And I shortened my bars. They said my bike was too long. I thought I had my bike legal. It's legal for UCI UCI University of California, Irvine UCI Union Cycliste Internationale (International Cycling Union) UCI Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos UCI United Cinemas International (UK) (International Cycling Union) but not for Canada.'' CAPTION(S): box Box: Local athletes at the Pan Am games |
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