CURACAO, Ned Antilles - The first round of the UCI World Cup took place in the Caribbean heat this weekend, on the Dutch Antilles island of Curacao. World champion Gunn-Rita Dahle of Multivan Merida Bike Team and Bart Brentjens of Giant Racing won the women's and men's races respectively.
Unbearable temperatures forced race organizers to shorten the men's race by one lap (6.8 kilometers, seven times down to six). Champion Julien Absalon admits Brentjens was the stronger racer that day. "He was really powerful, and I maybe did too much at the beginning when I had to catch him," In the women's race a bit of first-round confusion and a couple of crashes gave Dahle the chance to secure a lead against competitors like Marie-Helene Premont and Mary McConneloug.
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