Event: Vuelta a Navarra Feminas, Spain (UCI 2.9.2)
Date: 21 – 23 April 2000

Symington Second in Spain

Sara Symington scored her best result of the season to date at the weekend,
finishing second overall to former world champion, Diana Ziliute (Lit) in
the Vuelta Navarra Feminas, a UCI 2.9.2 ranked three-day race, in Spain.
Solid support from the rest of the GB Team and a stunning second in the
individual time trial stage, ahead of the legendary Jeannie Longo, ensured
that the 30 year old from Aylestone in Leicestershire finished only 12
seconds down on winner Diana Ziliute. Megan Hughes also signalled a welcome
return to form after a long period blighted by a knee injury, taking second
in stage 2a.

Phil Jones, Team Manager was particularly pleased with the performances of
the GB Team on the last day:

„The last stage was a hard day‚s racing for the GB team, as they were
involved in four separate crashes. As a result of the first one, Megan
Hughes’ bike needed a new pedal. Yvonne McGregor and Louise Jones helped
Hughes to get back into the race, which was a very difficult task due to
severe crosswinds. The race had split into four groups, but they regained
the front.‰

„Sara Symington also crashed at about 35km and McGregor and Jones again
dropped back to assist and again regained the front group. A group of eight,
including Symington, escaped with 10km to go with Diana Ziliute, Team Acca
Due, winning the stage and Symington finishing fifth. McGregor still had
enough strength to finish in the next group with Susan Carter, 1’38” down,
but the hard work had taken its toll on Hughes and Jones who finished 9’59”
and 21’26” down respectively.‰

„Before the last stage, Great Britain were leading the team classification
and Hughes was lying fifth overall. But for the crashes, we had been
confident of holding on to the lead. As it was, we still finished third
overall at 1’59”, which was due to good teamwork by the riders and team
mechanic, Ernie Feargrieve.‰

„Sara rode well in all stages – particularly the TT where she surprised many
people. She defended her second place well, despite that crash on the last
stage – a welcome return to form. Megan also rode very well and would
probably have held on to her 5th overall if the crash on the last stage
hadn’t required the replacement of a pedal. Yvonne McGregor and Louise Jones
both worked hard for Symington and Hughes, particularly on the last stage.‰

What the riders had to say:
Sara Symington
“Training has been going well but I needed this result to move me towards my
main goal of the year – the Olympics Games. Before we left for Spain, I did
some work with Ken Matheson (National Road Coach) and it gave me the
confidence I needed. The team worked really hard for me on the last stage
and I’d like to thank Yvonne and Louise for getting me back to the front
after the crash.”

Megan Hughes
“I’m just getting back to form after recovering from a leg injury I‚ve had
for some time. The World Class Performance medical and coaching staff have
put a lot of time in on me and it’s paying off now.”

Full Results
Stage 1, Noain-Tudela 127 km
1 Diana Ziliute (Lit) Acca Due O Lorena 3.19.46
2 Sonja Van Kuit (Ned) Netherlands
3 Monica Valen (Nor) Norway
4 Ragnhild Kostøl (Nor) Norway
5 Diana Pérez (Cub) Cuba
31 Sara Symington (Gbr) Great Britain
36 Louise Jones (Gbr) Great Britain
39 Megan Hughes (Gbr) Great Britain
46 Susan Carter (Gbr) Great Britain
50 Yvonne McGregor (Gbr) Great Britain
83 Sally Boyden (Gbr) Pinturas Juno @ 5.30

DNF Geris Gilfillan (Gbr) Great Britain

Stage 2a, Olite-Tafalla 80 km
1 Diana Ziliute (Lit) Acca Due O-Lorena 2.22.29 (35.794 km/h)
2 Megan Hughes (Gbr) Great Britain
3 Tatiana Stiajkina (Ukr) Acca Due O-Lorena
4 Iryna Chuzhinova (Ukr) Ukraine
5 Diana Pérez (Cub) Cuba/Canada
11 Sara Symington (Gbr) Great Britain
36 Yvonne McGregor (Gbr) Great Britain
44 Louise Jones (Gbr) Great Britain
45 Susan Carter (Gbr) Great Britain
89 Sally Boyden (Gbr) Pinturas Juno

Stage 2b, Arizaleta-Arizala, ITT, 6.8 km
1 Diana Ziliute (Lit) Acca Due O-Lorena 10.42.7 (38.131 km/h)
2 Sara Symington (Gbr) Great Britain @ 0.12
3 Jeannie Longo (Fra) Vital Plus @ 0.14
4 Elisabeth Chevanne (Fra) T Cycliste Feminin 24 @ 0.16
5 Tatiana Stiajkina (Ukr) Acca Due O-Lorena @ 0.19
6 Megan Hughes (Gbr) Great Britain @ 0.21
16 Yvonne McGregor (Gbr) Great Britain @ 0.33
25 Susan Carter (Gbr) Great Britain @ 0.45
65 Sally Boyden (Gbr) Pinturas Juno @ 1.21
67 Louise Jones (Gbr) Great Britain @ 1.22

Stage 3 – Adrian-Pamplona 102 km
1 Diana Ziliute (Lit) Acca Due O-Lorena 2.52.47 (34.031 km/h)
2 Joana Somarriba (Spa) Alfa Lum RMS
3 Tatiana Stiajkina (Ukr) Acca Due O-Lorena
4 Solrun Flatås (Nor) Norway
5 Sara Symington (Gbr) Great Britain
16 Yvonne McGregor (Gbr) Great Britain @ 1.38
30 Susan Carter (Gbr) Great Britain
57 Megan Hughes (Gbr) Great Britain @ 9.59
83 Louise Jones (Gbr) Great Britain @ 21.26

Final general classification
1 Diana Ziliute (Lit) Acca Due O-Lorena 8.45.44 (35.927 km/h)
2 Sara Symington (Gbr) Great Britain @ 0.12
3 Tatiana Stiajkina (Ukr) Acca Due O-Lorena @ 0.19
4 Joana Somarriba (Spa) Alfa Lum RMS @ 0.22
5 Solrun Flatås (Nor) Norway @ 0.26
16 Yvonne McGregor (Gbr) Great Britain @ 2.11
22 Susan Carter (Gbr) Great Britain @ 2.23
44 Megan Hughes (Gbr) Great Britain @ 10.20
66 Louise Jones (Gbr) Great Britain @ 22.48

Points classification
1 Diana Ziliute (Lit) Acca Due O-Lorena 100 pts
2 Tatiana Stiajkina (Ukr) Acca Due O-Lorena 44
3 Sara Symington (Gbr) Great Britain 37
5 Megan Hughes (Gbr) Great Britain 30

Mountains classification
1 Diana Ziliute (Lit) Acca Due O-Lorena 23 pts
2 Joana Somarriba (Spa) Alfa Lum RMS 13
3 Ragnhild Kostøl (Nor) Norway 10
8 Sara Symington (Gbr) Great Britain 4

Hot Spots classification
1 Monica Valen (Nor) Norway 12 pts
2 Diana Ziliute (Lit) Acca Due O-Lorena 4
3 Joana Somarriba (Spa) Alfa Lum RMS 3
8 Louise Jones (Gbr) Great Britain 2

Teams classification
1 Acca Due O-Lorena 26.19.35
2 Norway @ 0.49
3 Great Britain @ 1.59

Note
The GB Team are funded by the Lottery as part of the British Cycling
Federation‚s World Class Performance Plan.