Lyne Bessette Doubles, with Day Two Victory in Gloucester Gran Prix
In what seems like a winning strategy, Lyne Bessette (Cannondale/LEER/Cyclocross) warmed up with the boys before beating the elite women in the second day of cyclocross racing at Glouchester, Massachusetts. Showing peak form in her fourth race in two days, Lyne kept company with Anna Milkowski (Velo Bella-Kona) until halfway through the second lap, then turned on the afterburners and never looked back.
Milkowski and Natasha Elliott (Stevens) were joined by several other riders in vain efforts to bridge up to Bessette, but failed to make the catch and finished second and third, respectively.
Lyne credits her remarkable early-season results to good genes and hard work.
"My parents were so good to me," she said, "I have my dad's legs - he's tall and slim. I think my mom had a really competitive mind and I think I got that from her... I train hard; I'm not a slacker. When my coach writes down a training program, I do it all. I may be able to push myself harder than others, and that could be what separates me from my competition."
A new part of Lyne’s 2007-08 cyclocross campaign is the sponsorship support of Team LEER, a project spearheaded by LEER, the nation’s leading manufacturer of fiberglass truck caps and tonneaus. LEER provided Lyne and her cyclocross-star husband, Tim Johnson, with a 2008 Toyota Tundra 4WD pickup truck, outfitted with a LEER Model 100XQ truck cap and products from major truck accessories manufacturers like Thule (roof rack, bike racks, accessories and support trailer), Yokohama (tires), Niche (wheels), Precision Grille (front grille), Wise Industries (BedRug bedliner), Westin Automotive (step bars and other bolt-on accessories), and Ready Lift (suspension and lift kit). Shlomo Fatal of The Sketch Farm provided the cyclocross-theme graphics.
LEER expects its sponsorship of Team LEER to reach in two directions: providing pickup truck owners heightened awareness to the sport of cyclocross, and providing cyclocross participants a heightened awareness of how well LEER suits the demands of their sport.
More information about Tim, Lyne, their 2007-08 cyclocross season, Team LEER participants, and the complete LEER product line is available online at