More iron in the soul

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 34021, 10 December 1975, Page 14

More iron in the soul

(By

RAY CAIRNS)

It seems strange to reflect that, more than three years ago, Paul Jesson competed in the national road cycling championships at Nelson—in the junior race which seemed his for the taking—and has not competed at that level since.

There must be very few cyclists in New Zealand who have earned Olympic Games nomination, as Jesson almost certainly has, without riding first in a national senior championship. There must be the qualification, of course, that his prospective teammate, Jamie Richards, is in that category, but. then

Richards has just left junior ranks; Jesson has had three seasons as a senior. The Jesson career is certainly chequered. He started the sport eight years ago and in his last year as a novice, 1970, dominated Canterbury cycling and was second' in the New Zealand championship. A junior in 1971, he missed the national championships because examinations took preference; but it did seem he would be hard to beat for the junior title at Nelson the next year. With quiet honesty this week, Jesson recalled, “I didn’t use my

head,” a simple and accurate reflection of a race in which he finished only sixth. At that time, Jesson was a footwear designer; then he started a carpentry apprenticeship and the job has since taken Jesson "up-country, and riding at week-ends without any training.” However, he still rode the track and there were some distinctly useful performances: best junior pursuiter in the 1973 national championships, fourth best overall this year and, perhaps more to the point, a member of the Canterbury team which rode a championships’ record.

But all this time, Jesson appeared to accept that this was his station in cycling life: one of the solid workers, not a star; a rider who, if he competed at a comparative level in European professional ranks, would be classified as a “domestique” — a worker for an illustrious team-meate.

The picture changed dramatically two months ago with the Rothmans Tour of Southland when Jesson, without ever appearing a major threat, was second over-all.

His subsequent placings in tours were not startling — twentieth in the FamilyTavern Tour, eighteenth in the Dulux six day — but all along there were some handy stage placings. Victory in the final stage of the Rothmans tour, for example; third in two stages of the Dulux tour, including the last; as well as second (Rothmans) and third (Family Tavern) King of the Mountains placings. Even so, these placings, as Jesson points out, did not give him the chance to shine. The opportunity to show what he could do in time trialling came after his Olympic trial placings of third and fifth. "I didn't think at the start of the season I would; ever get this far. It was great to get as far as the eight-man squad; it meant I had a chance to do a good time trial performance.

“Then when I got in the time trial team, I knew I had a chance to show what 1 could do. I knew we had to do a good time in that trial the other Monday, but I knew personally then I could do it.”

That latter comment probably sums up best the transition in Jesson. He remarked that nomination — and almost certain selection for the Olympics — ’‘will probably hit me in a week or so, but at the moment I don’t feel any different. The weather’s the same; I'm eating the same.”

But one suspects his confidence is not the same. Jesson remains the same quiet, modest type he has been all his cyckling life, but there seems to be a little more iron in his soul.