A surprised cyclist rounds a sharp turn at high speed on St. Clair Ave. W. during the Corso Italia Grand Prix yesterday. Tim Lefebvre of Niagara-on-the-Lake won the race. (Photo: Craig Robertson, SUN)

A MASSAGE therapist from Niagara-on-the-Lake managed to rub out the competition at the Corso Italia Grand Prix on the sun swept streets of Little Italy yesterday. Tim Lefebvre, who works as a massage therapist at the Pillar and Post Inn in Ontario's wine country, survived two flat tires to win the inaugural event held along St. Clair Ave. W., Lansdowne Ave and Caledonia Rd.

Organizers are hoping to make the Grand Prix an annual event. If yesterday's crowds are an indication, it seems the race is here to stay.

As for Lefebvre, the 37-year-old cyclist broke away from the lead pack of seven with 11 laps to go and charged to an insurmountable 20-second lead with seven laps remaining before he was struck down for the second time with a flat tire.

The breakdown turned into a blessing in disguise. Racers are allowed a free lap if they suffer a technical malfunction. However, according to the rules of road racing, if Lefebvre's flat had come with under five laps remaining in the 40-lap event, there would be no free lap and second-place finisher Darko Ficko of the La Bicicletta team would have won.

As it was, Ficko, who coaches the winner of yesterday's women's race, Merrill Collins, placed one minute and nine seconds behind Lefebvre, who crossed the finish line after 2 hours, 38 minutes and 30 seconds of hard slogging.

Lefebvre, who has raced competitively for 22 years, was as enthusiastic about the course and the turnout as he was about his victory.

"This is brilliant," he said, bathing in the glory of an appreciative crowd and perfect weather conditions. "You've got to have the races where the people are, that's what promotes bike racing. We need this down here in front of the people. When you've got the crowds cheering, you're golden. We want to see this race remain in Toronto."

LINEBACKER BUILD

Lefebvre, who races for the Jet Fuel Coffee team, suggested that the reason for his two flat tires had has much to do with his linebacker build as the course.

"It was a bumpy course and when you have a big, fat ass like mine, you get flats," he said, with a laugh.

Mark Pozniak, 18, of the Gearracing.com team was third.

Collins, a personal trainer from Toronto who also races for the La Bicicletta team, managed to out-sprint Leigh Hobson of Team Biovail for the women's title. Collins crossed the finish line a mere two seconds ahead of Hobson. Chloe Black of Team Terry Precision was third.