On tap this weekend - big money races

The best things in life are free
But you can keep 'em for the birds and bees
Now give me money (that's what I want) ....


The richest 3-day cycling prize purse of $225,000 is on the line in the Alexian Brothers Tour of Elk Grove in Illinois starting on Friday August 1st.

No start list is avaliable but with $170,000 on the line for the pro men, we can expect strong representation from the teams. Last year's overall winner, Nathan O'Neill tested positive for the stimulant Phentermine and is serving a 15 months for  doping violation.

The stage race starts off with the 4.5 mile (7.2 km) Elk Grove Village Bank & Trust Pro Men Time-Trial with five turns, and a long straight away to the finish line (map) . On Saturday afternoon is the 105-mile (170 km) Citi Men Pro road stage which includes a 7.6 mile (12.2 km) loop repeated 10 times (map). The race ends on Sunday with the 68-mile  (110 Km) Gullo Pro Men Criterium, where the men race 40 Laps of a 1.7 mile circuit with four turns, and a long straightaway to the finish line (map). The pace should be fast and attacks numerous in the final two stages as there as some serious primes on the line including sprint lines.

The only race for Elite Women is the Alexian Brothers Women's Open with a purse of $3,000 -  a 50 minute criterium on Saturday afernoon.

More money on the line in the 5th annual Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Charlotte Criterium is the only crit to be ranked at 1.1 in the  National Race Calendar (NRC) for both the men and the women, is also  part of the USA Crits Series and is the last stop on the 2008 Women’s Prestige Cycling Series. This race also offers pro cyclists a chance to win some serious prize money in front of an estimated 35,000 enthusiastic race fans - the men’s purse totals $50,000 and the women will compete for $25,000.

The course is a 1.2-mile circuit in the shape of a barbell that includes a long straightaway and eight corners. There is a small hill on W. 5th Street and a long uphill grade along S. Tryon Street to the finish line.

The women start off first at 5:30 pm for their 25-mile crit followed by the men's 50-mile twilight crit.

Both the men's and the women's 2006 and 2007 winners are returning. Hoping to return on the top step are  2006 winner Shawn Milne (Team Type 1) and 2007 winner Frank Pipp (Health Net-Maxxis). They'll be facing competition from the overall USA Crits leaders  Adam Myerson (Time PRO), TOSHIBA-Santo duo of Yosvany Falcon and  Frank Travieso, Seth Hansley (Locos Grill & Pub), and Hilton Clarke (Toyota-United).  Rock Racing, Colavita/Sutter Home Jittery Joe’s coming off from winning the overall at Superweek, and Texas Roadhouse are also teams to watch.

The current USA National Criterium Champion Tina Pic (Colavita/Sutter Home) is hoping to make 3 in a row.  She's have her work cut her for her against Kat Carroll (Aaron's), criterium ace Laura Van Gilder (Cheerwine) and her teammate Kelly Benjamin, Vanderkitten duo of USA Crits  Series’ leader Jennifer Wilson and  Leigh Valetti, Taitt Sato (ValueAct), Brooke Miller (Tibco), Laura McCaugheyTheresa Cliff-Ryan (JuicePlus) and (Verducci/Breakaway Racing).  (Women's roster here)

Sunday brings the second NRC race of the weekend, the Hanes Park Classic held in Winston-Salem, North Carolina since 1997.

The 90-minute men's crit and 50-minute women's crit is raced on a tree-lined 1.3 mile circuit around a park in Winston-Salem’s Historic West End neighborhood. The course includes rolling hills, straight runs, and an exciting uphill sprint to the finish.

No start list available, but I expect that most of the riders from the Charlotte Criterium will also be present on Sunday where Tina Pic will try to defend her title. Look for the Time PRO team to be particularly aggressive as they are based in Winston-Salem.

Video: A look behind the scenes of how AP photographers cover the Tour

This 5-minute  AP video  explains how photographers cover the Tour, how they move through the peloton and how the photogs work with the editor during the race.

Interesting to see how it's done in the big show.

Good luck Dougie

Last week, Doug Ollerenshaw announced on his blog that he was retiring from the professional peloton:

"At 28, there's no doubt I could have kept riding for a number of years yet, but I was always determined to move on when I felt that I'd stopped markedly improving. Plus, it seems best to leave while I'm still having fun, as opposed to staying to the point where it just becomes a job."

Doug is moving on and moving to Atlanta, Georgia to pursue his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering. Go cheer for Doug in his last races starting with the  Portland Twilight Criterium on August 8th.  Raise a glass or better yet two in his honor.

 

May the road rise to meet you,
may the wind be ever at your back,
may the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields.
And until we meet again may god hold you in the hollow of his hand.

NRC Standings as of July 28

The 1.3-rated International Tour de 'Toona marked the 28th race on the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar on July 27 in Altoona, Pa. Luis Amaran (Colavita/Sutter Home) came away with the pro men's victory and Laura Van Gilder (Cheerwine) sprinted to first place in the women's criterium contest.

With 22 men’s races and 23 women’s events on the 2008 NRC now complete, Rory Sutherland (Health Net-Maxxis) continues to hold a commanding lead in the overall individual standings on the men's side and Amaran moves up to fifth place.

Laura Van Gilder  takes over as the current women’s leader and Tina Pic (Colavita/Sutter Home) moves up to second place with her fifth place finish at 'Toona.

No changes in the teams standings.

The top 5 are:

Men's Individual Standings
1. Rory Sutherland (AUS/Health Net-Maxxis) 1396
2. Ted King (Brentwood, N.H./Bissell) 728
3. Ben Jacques-Maynes (Watsonville, Calif./Bissell) 643
4. Anthony Colby (Durango, Colo./Colavita-Sutter Home) 589
5. Luis Amaran (Linden, N.J./Colavita-Sutter Home) 531

Men's Team Standings
1. Health Net Pro Cycling Team presented by Maxxis 2682
2. Colavita/Sutter Home Men's Cycling Team presented by Cooking Light 2376
3. Bissell Pro Cycling Team 2128
4. Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 1858
5. Successfulliving.com presented by Parkpre 1320

Women's Individual Standings
1. Laura Van Gilder (Cresco, Pa./Cheerwine) 928
2. Tina Pic (Dahlonega, Ga./Colavita-Sutter Home) 899
3. Kristin Armstrong (Boise, Idaho) 870
4. Catherine Cheatley (NZL/Cheerwine) 852
5. Anne Samplonius (CAN/Cheerwine) 840

Women's Team Standings
1. Cheerwine Professional Cycling Team 3917
2. Aaron's Cycling Team 2679
3. Colavita/Sutter Home Women's Cycling Team presented by Cooking Light 2370
4. Team Tibco 2031
5. Valuact Capitol Cycling Team 1172

For complete 2008 NRC Individual and Team Standings, click here.

The next pair of races on the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar will take place August 2nd and 3rd in North Carolina. The 1.1-rated Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium will go off August 2 in the streets of Charlotte while the 1.4-rated Hanes Park Classic will follow August 3 in Winston Salem.

Amaran and Van Gilder win scaled down Tour de 'Toona

The 22nd Tour de 'Toona was scaled back from seven days of racing to a one-day criterium held on Sunday July 27.   The riders raced, for both men and women, 40 laps of a 1-mile (1.6 km) course with six right turns and two left turns, all 90 degrees. The course includes one slight rise and one moderate descent.  In a rare and to be applauded decision, not only do the pro women and men cover the same distance, but the purse is the same, a total of $15,000 prize purse to each field.

In the pro men's race, capitalizing on its numbers, the Colavita/Sutter Home swept the podium with Luis Amaran on the top step, Tyler Wren in second and Kyle Wamsley in third place.

With a squad of 6 in a field of less than 40 riders, Amaran launched a solo attack and was able to build his gap to over 50 seconds at the end of the race. With less than 10 laps, a group of 5 riders separated themselves from the field, and in the final lap, Wren attacked the small group to grab second place and Wamsley won the sprint for third.

"The team is very strong,'' Amaran said of his Team Colavita squad to the Altoona Mirror. "We had more numbers and we were able to send somebody up to the front today. We had a team meeting [Saturday] and we wanted to get somebody [on the team] to go strong up the road for us. We were basically able to execute what we had planned to execute today.''

For the fourth time in her career, Laura Van Gilder (Cheerwine) won the Toona Crit taking the two-up sprint ahead of Iona Wynter Park (Colavita/Sutter Home).  The two women escaped in the third lap after countering a move and stayed away from the field to cross the line 53 seconds ahead of a chasing duo.   Jacquelyn Crowell (Kenda Tire) outsprinted her chase mate for third place.

"With just a single-day criterium, my legs were a lot fresher this year than they were for this race in the past, when it was the last stage of the week-long event,'' Van Gilder said to the Altoona Mirror. "Driving into town yesterday, I felt sad that this year's race was only one day. I hope they can revive this event next year.''

On that note, Larry Bilotto, the Tour de 'Toona  Race Director announced on the race website that the 2009 Tour de Toona will return to the traditional 7-day stage race format for both pro men and women, including the popular 3-day omnium points race and weekend amateur events.

Want more?
Photos on Altoona Mirror site
Cyclingnews report
Full results here

Mt Evans Hillclimb

The 43rd Annual Bob Cook Memorial Mt. Evans Hillclimb, the highest finishing bicycle race in the United States, was held last Saturday.

Kevin Nicol (Toyko Joe's Pro Cycling) narrowly edged Ian MacGregor (Team Type 1) for the win, both setting a time of 1:53:21 for the 28-mile race. Peter Stetina (Garmin-Chipotle) was third, crossing the line five seconds behind the winner. The winning time was over 12 minutes from the fastest time set by Tom Danielson in 2004.

New Zealand Olympian Glen Chadwick (Team Type 1) was fourth, 18 seconds from the winner. The unstoppable 54-year old Ned Overend, winner in 1985 and 1986, was fifth, a further seven seconds back.

In the women's race, the amazing Jeannie Longo won after a solo attack, stopping the clock at 2:10:10. Kristin McGrath (Colavita/Sutter Home) was second, over 6 minutes behind Longo and Susannah Gordon (ColoBikeLaw.com) was third, over 13 minutes from the winner.  Longo is the current record holder with a time of 1:59:19 set in 1998.

The course that uses the highest paved automobile road in North America starts at 7,540 feet in front of the Clear Creek Middle School and proceeds to Echo Lake, where it turns and climbs to the summit at 14,264 feet. The vertical gain is 6,580 feet, with 6,920 feet of climbing overall.

Want more?
Full results here
Photos

Canadian Road Champ Christian Meier joining Garmin-Chipotle as a stagiaire

The rumors were true.

In an October 2007 interview with the The Province newspaper, Christian Meier talked about being recruited by European teams but choosing to stay with Symmetrics:

"You try to do everything you can to ride clean and that's one of the big things with Symmetrics, that push to be a clean team. Things are starting to change in Europe. There's a big push to be clean and more extreme measures are being taken. For me, I want to eventually get to Europe. That's been a dream to do the grand tours. It's a matter of waiting for that time to come."

The time has come.

The Symmetrics team announced today that  Meier will be joining Garmin-Chipotle as a stagiaire on August first:

Garmin isn't making a commitment to Christian for 2009 just yet. He's gotta prove himself. But we know he's got the right character to mix well with that team. His athletic ability isn't at question. And he has the same values about clean sport that is central to Slipstream Sports.

The Symmetrics team prides itself in developing young Canadian talent, cleanly.  Meier, who won the Canadian Road Championship in June,  is scheduled to race the tours of Limousin and Poitou-Charentes in France before returning to North America for September's Tour of Missouri. Meier's season is set to end with the prestigious classic Giro di Lombardia in Italy where he'll be proudly wear the Maple Leaf.  This will be the first time since 1997 that the Canadian Road Champion's jersey has seen action at a pro level in Europe.

Just who is Christian Meier also known as The Young Man?

Of German heritage, the 23-year old Meier was born and raised in Sussex, New Brunswick, and like a lot of roadies, started off in the dirt as a teenager. After a few years, he left the fat tire world behind and focused uniquely on racing on the road. As a member of the Canadian National team in 2003, he competed in the world championships in Hamilton, Ontario and also went to Belgium to race and train.

He joined the S-team in four years ago, and started getting noticed. He had a tremendous year in 2007 where he won the Espoir Canadian National Road Race Championships, the U23 Classification Tour of El Salvador, the U24 Classification Tour de Beauce and finished second in the overall classification at the Vuelta a Chihuaha. And during this period, he helped his teammate and 'biking brother' Svein Tuft win the UCI Americas Tour.

Meier now lives alongside Svein Tuft in portable homes on the Symmetrics' owner residence,  on sprawling acres just outside of Vancouver, BC. He also enjoys fine coffee, so much so, that he has started Biking Bros Coffee, with Tuft, to sell fair trade organic espresso blend.


photo courtesy Symmetrics.com

NRC Standings as of July 21

Only minor changes on top of the leaderboard of the NRC standings, as only one race was completed in the men's competition since the last update. Hilton Clarke (Toyota-United) won the 27th race on the USA Cycling National Calendar, the Wells Fargo Twilight Criterium in Boise, Idaho on July 19. No NRC races for the women in the past week.

With 21 men’s races and 22 women’s events on the 2008 NRC now complete, Rory Sutherland (Health Net-Maxxis) continues to hold a commanding lead in the overall individual standings on the men's side while Kristin Armstrong (Cervelo-Lifeforce) is still the current women’s leader. The teams currently atop the standings include the Health Net Pro Cycling Team p/b Maxxis in the men’s rankings and the Cheerwine Professional Cycling Team in the women’s.  The only change since last week is the flip between Colavita/Sutter Home and Bissell in the Men's team standings.


The top 5 are:

Men's Individual Standings
1. Rory Sutherland (AUS/Health Net-Maxxis) 1396
2. Ted King (Brentwood, N.H./Bissell) 728
3. Ben Jacques-Maynes (Watsonville, Calif./Bissell) 643
4. Anthony Colby (Durango, Colo./Colavita-Sutter Home) 589
5. John Murphy (Athens, Ga./Healthnet-Maxxis) 524

Men's Team Standings
1. Health Net Pro Cycling Team presented by Maxxis 2682
2. Colavita/Sutter Home Men's Cycling Team presented by Cooking Light 2141
3. Bissell Pro Cycling Team 2128
4. Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 1858
5. Successfulliving.com presented by Parkpre 1320

Women's Individual Standings
1. Kristin Armstrong (Boise, Idaho) 870
2. Catherine Cheatley (NZL/Cheerwine) 852
3. Tina Pic (Dahlonega, Ga./Colavita-Sutter Home) 849
4. Laura Van Gilder (Cresco, Pa./Cheerwine) 828
5. Felicia Gomez (Fresno, Calif.) 821

Women's Team Standings
1. Cheerwine Professional Cycling Team 3771
2. Aaron's Cycling Team 2664
3. Colavita/Sutter Home Women's Cycling Team presented by Cooking Light 2266
4. Team Tibco 2031
5. Valuact Capitol Cycling Team 1172

For complete 2008 NRC Individual and Team Standings, click here.

The next race on the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar will be the 1.3-rated International Tour de 'Toona, July 27 in Altoona, Pa.

Boise's Kristin Armstrong shined at Wells Fargo Twilight Criterium

Boise's Kristin Armstrong (Cervelo-Lifeforce) signed autographs and lead a ride for kids before putting the hammer down, once again, in her last race before the Olympic Games in Beijing where she is gunning for the gold medal in the time trial and a podium spot for her team in the road race.

On a new course this year due to construction, the 22nd annual Twilight Criterium was run on a 1 kilometer loop with a small S-shape through turn number one.

Armstrong easily won the 50 minute women's criterium, almost lapping the field, and crossed the line over a minute ahead of Nichole Wangsgard (Colavita/Sutter Home) and Kirsten Kotval (PCIM).

"A win is a win and every time you can win, you get more confidence." said Armstrong to KIVI TV after the race.


The men's pro race was both on the NRC series and the USA Crits series (not so for the women) and a fierce battle was waged between Toyota-United and the TIME Pro Cycling team, with each team putting 3 men in the final top 6 at the end of the 90-minute race.

In front of a large crowd estimated at more than 10,000, Hilton Clarke (Toyota-United) won the second USA CRITS Series race this season for his team. Clarke also gave his team a consecutive win in this race, won last year by Ivan Dominguez who finished fifth on Saturday.  His teammate Dominique Rollin was second and Dan Ramsey (TIME Pro) was third.

Ramsey launched the first offensive and escaped from the field for 11 laps before being joined by the Toyota-United duo of Clarke and Rollin. While Ramsey tried everything to drop the dangerous pair, the peloton behind them detonated in the pursuit of primes and 52 minutes in the race the trio lapped the field. At that point, the Toyota-United squad controlled the field for the last 30 minutes and set up the train to bring Clarke to victory.

Thanks to his fourth place finish, TIME Pro Cycling’s Adam Myerson has now assumed the top position on the USA CRITS leader board.

“Dan took the $500 gambler’s prime with 3 to go, Tom and I sprinted and were 4th and 6th, while Dan was 3rd!” Myerson wrote afterwards in his Cycle-Smart.com blog. “Our second NRC podium in 2 weeks. Now I’m leading the USA Crit Series and we made almost 4 grand.  BOO-YA!”

Right behind Myerson in the overall USA Crits standings is the TOSHIBA-Santo’s Cuban duo Yosvany Falcon and Frank Travieso.

Want more?
Twilight Crit Results
IdahoStatesman.com photos
Shoeless Johnny's photos
USA Crits Results

BC Superweek Recap

Billed as 8 sizzling races in 10 hot days, BC Superweek just ended in Bristish Columbia. The racing kicked off with the Tour de Delta from July 11 to 13, the famous Tour de Gastown was on July 16, Giro di Burnaby on July 17, and ended with Tour de White Rock on July 18 to 20.

With a total $70,000 in cash prizes on line, the field was filled with past, present and future Olympians as well as top professionals from all over North America, including a full Symmetrics team hunting for a first ever Gastown win and for dollars. As Chris Meier blogged, after his team won the Tour de Delta, "we need to make all the money we can before the end."

And the boys in yellow dominated the series, winning all but one of the races. In the women's race, the same names kept popping up over and over again on the podium, Kelly Benjamin (Cheerwine), Ruth Corset (Jazz Apple) and Gina Grain (Webcor).

The $25,000 Tour de Delta. Unsurprisingly, newly crowned Canadian TT Champion Svein Tuft (Symmetrics) set the fastest time in the all-new 3.2-km Brenco Prologue,  more than five seconds ahead of second place, Andrew Pinfold (Symmetrics) and third place, Scott Zwizanski (Bissell). It would become a familiar site to see a Symmetrics rider (or more than one) on the podium for the rest of the week. As a side story, Zwizanski and his teammate Garrett Peltonen were sharing a wheel and so the riders had to start with at least 10 minutes interval so that Peltonen could come back to the start ramp and give up the wheel.

In the women's race, Ruth Corset (Jazz Apple) won the prologue, by less than one second ahead of Laura Brown (Giant Bicycles/Team Whistler), and two seconds faster than Sarah Stewart (Total Restoration Cycling Team).

In Stage 1, the Lehigh Criterium, a multi-lap race through the streets of Ladner’s fishing village on Saturday, the Symmetrics team put two riders in the 3-man break which survived to the finish. Cam Evans took the honors after a lead out from Olympian Zach Bell who finished third,  the outmanned Shriver held on to finish second.  Another side story, Evans was scheduled ro race Cascade Cycling Classic, but the airline lost his bag so he went home to BC instead.

Kelly Benjamin (Cheerwine) outsprinted her 3 breakmates to win the 36-minute Lehigh Criterium ahead of Corset and Lisa Howard (Giant Bicycles/Team Whistler).

Andrew Pinfold capped the weekend by winning his second consecutive White Spot Road Race on Sunday, winning the 140-km road race in the bunch sprint ahead of Cody Stevenson (Jittery Joe's). Pinfold's lead out man Zach Bell took third and won his second consecutive overal title.

Exactly the same podium for the final 85-kilometer women’s road race, Kelly Benjamin won the bunch sprint ahead of Ruth Corset and Lisa Howard. Corset won the overall Tour de Delta title.

Tour de Gastown. British Columbia’s premier bicycle race, the only race outside of the United States in the USA Crits Series,  is raced on a super-fast 1.2 km course on the streets of Gastown in front of a huge crowd upwards to 40,000 people and offered more than $15,000 in cash prizes.

Astana's Chris Horner fresh off helping his teammate win the Cascade Cycling Classic made his presence known early in the 60 km race as he shot out of the field to be chased by a Symmetrics-led peloton. But as soon as he was reeled back,  Olympian Svein Tuft (Symmetrics) counterattacked, and went off on a solo adventure. And this time, it was Horner with a little help from friends that led the chase. With 4 laps to go, Tuft still had a 22-second gap and it looked promising but it wasn't to be as the field caught Tuft in the final lap, in the final corner, the perfect setting for a bunch sprint. Symmetrics' Andrew Pinfold came out victorious ahead of Hilton Clarke (Toyota-United) and his teammate Zach Bell.

Photo courtesy symmetrics.com

The battle was on in the women's race between Webcor duo of Gina Grain and Erinne Willock, Cheerwine's Kelly Benjamin, Ruth Corset (Jazz Apple), ValueAct duo of Hannah Banks and Marni Hambleton, all trying to escape the field, but in the end the 36-km race came down to a field sprint. Grain edged out Benjamin by less than a bike wheel for the win with Corset coming in third place.

Giro di Burnaby. Andrew Pinfold and Kelly Benjamin did it again in the 8-corner crit. After 30 laps on the 1.8-km course, Pinfold won the bunch sprint ahead of his teammate Zach Bell and Kirk O'Bee (Health Net-Maxxis). Benjamin outsprinted Gina Grain and Ruth Corset for the win after 20 laps.

Tour de White Rock. The weekend races started off with the Homelife Hill Climb where riders start at one-minute intervals racing side by side to be the first to reach the top of the steep 700m ascent with a 16% grade, and then the top five finishers race again at the end for the top 3 spots on the podium. Symmetrics continued their winning ways. After setting the second fastest time in the first round behind Kiel Reijnen (Team Waste Management), Will Routley outpaced his four competitors in the final round to take the stage win ahead of Reijnen. Last year's stage and overall winner Matt Shriver (Jittery Joe's) was third.

Recovery between the two rounds and keeping something in the tank is of prime importance, and Ruth Corset (Jazz Apple) learned it the hard way. She set fastest time by more than eight seconds the first time up but Corset had to settle for third place when she was edged out in the second round, the head-to-head bout by Rachel McBride (West Point Cycles) and Natasha Elliott (EMD Sereno/Stevens). Corset needed oxygen and a half hour of medical treatment after cramping badly after the race.

The second stage, the Bosa Properties Criterium, was raced around 1-km loop with 5 tight corners including a 90-degree turn. After 60 laps, Chris Horner  tried to escape from the field up a hill on the backside but Symmetrics' Andrew Pinfold stayed close and won the final sprint to the line. Tim Sherstobitoff (Total Restoration Cycling Team) was third and Matt Shriver was fourth.

After 30 laps, Ruth Corset was leading the final downhill sprint out of the final corner when Kelly Benjamin came around her and threw her bike across the finish line for the win. Sarah Bamberger (Cheerwine) was third.

The Symmetrics' sweep was stopped in the final stage in Tour de White Rock, the final race in BC Superweek when Chris Horner broke away from the 3-man break to win the 130 km Peace Arch News Road Race ahead of Matt Shriver and Andrew Pinfold.

On the third of the 11 laps around the big 10-km course that included a 500m  climb with a grade of 16% up Magdallen Road, 3 men Shaun Morris (Rubicon-ORBEA), Hugh Trenchard (Schwalbe) and Allen Krughoff (Rio Grande) escaped and were off for the next 6 laps before being reeled in. Horner initiatied the final winning  break with an attack coming out of a hairpin and up a steep climb on the last of 11 big laps. Driven by Horner, the trio stayed away for all six laps of the shorter 3.8-kilometer route before he finally created a gap his last trip up the big backside hill. With his second place, Shriver won his second consecutive Tour de White Rock Omnium.

In the women's 80 km race, Lauren Ellis (Jazz Apple) broke away midway through 8 laps of the larger circuit, and never looked back and easily won the stage. Her teammate Ruth Corset won the sprint for second place  crossing the line more than 3 minutes behind. Steph Roorda (Giant Bicycles/Team Whistler) was third. Corset won  the overall Tour de White Rock’s Omnium.

Want more?
Symmetrics' Mark Cunnigham photos
Tour de Delta results, Greg Descantes photos on CanadianCylist  of prologue, stage 1, stage 2
Tour de Gastown results, Greg Descantes photos
Giro di Burnaby results,  Greg Descantes photos
Tour de White Rock results, Greg Descantes photos of stage 1,  stage 2, stage 3, Rod Kenny photos

NRC Standings as of July 14

Two races marked the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar over the July 12th weekend. Levi Leipheimer (Astana) rode to the overall win at the Cascade Cycling Classic in Oregon as Kristin Armstrong (Cervelo-Lifeforce) earned the women's title. Hilton Clarke (Toyota-United) rode to a victory in the pro men's contest at the 1.5-rated Louisville Metro Police Foundation Criterium.

With 20 men’s races and 22 women’s events on the 2008 NRC now complete, there are no changes in the men's standings. Rory Sutherland  (Health Net-Maxxis) continues to hold a commanding lead in the overall individual standings on the men's side. The Bissell team moved up to second spot in the team classification still led by Health Net-Maxxis.

Kristin Armstrong takes over as the current women’s leader, and no changes in the team competition still led by the Cheerwine team.


The top 5 are:

Men's Individual Standings
1. Rory Sutherland (AUS/Health Net-Maxxis) 1396
2. Ted King (Brentwood, N.H./Bissell) 723
3. Ben Jacques-Maynes (Watsonville, Calif./Bissell) 643
4. Anthony Colby (Durango, Colo./Colavita-Sutter Home) 589
5. John Murphy (Athens, Ga./Healthnet-Maxxis) 524

Men's Team Standings
1. Health Net Pro Cycling Team presented by Maxxis 2682
2. Bissell Pro Cycling Team 2123
2. Colavita/Sutter Home Men's Cycling Team presented by Cooking Light 2123
4. Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 1648
5. Successfulliving.com presented by Parkpre 1320

Women's Individual Standings
1. Kristin Armstrong (Boise, Idaho) 870
2. Catherine Cheatley (NZL/Cheerwine) 852
3. Tina Pic (Dahlonega, Ga./Colavita-Sutter Home) 849
4. Laura Van Gilder (Cresco, Pa./Cheerwine) 828
5. Felicia Gomez (Fresno, Calif.) 821

Women's Team Standings
1. Cheerwine Professional Cycling Team 3771
2. Aaron's Cycling Team 2664
3. Colavita/Sutter Home Women's Cycling Team presented by Cooking Light 2266
4. Team Tibco 2031
5. Valuact Capitol Cycling Team 1172

For complete 2008 NRC Individual and Team Standings, click here.

The next race on the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar will be the 1.3-rated Wells Fargo Twilight Criterium, July 19 in Boise, Idaho.

Photos from Proman International Omnium

(in the better late than never category)

Want more? check out all the photos in the slideshow

Cascade Stage 6 - Escuela and Rais take the stage honors

For both the men's and the women's race, the battle was for second and third spot on the overall classification as the leader, Kristin Armtrong (Cevelo-Lifeforce) and Levi Leipheimer (Astana)  had an (almost) unassailable lead coming into the final stage of the Cascade Cycling Classic.

The riders were faced by heat and humidity in stage 6, the Deschutes Brewery-Awbrey Butte Circuit Race that looped around Awbrey Butte.

In the women's race, Armstrong followed the same pattern by riding at the front, setting a high pace and start to reduce the numbers in the field, a pattern that she has repeated for most stages, keeping safe at the front.  The tempo was so high that she basically detached herself from the field on the first QOM, and that set Amber Rais (Tibco) in motion. Rais jumped and bridged up on the second lap of the 4 laps of the 67 miles (108 km) stage.

Back in the field, the Aaron's team threw in multiple attacks to try and dislodge Christine Thorburn (Webcor) from the second spot on GC and move up Julie Beveridge. But Webcor covered all moves and then the teams focused on defending their current standings.

The duo would work well together to make it to the finish line 2:56 before the field where Rais outsprinted Armstrong for the win. Webcor's Gina Grain won the field sprint for third place.

Armstrong won the 2008 Cascade Cycling Classic overall followed by  Thorburn and  Beveridge.  Armstrong also won  the QOM classification, Beveridge was named Best Young Rider and Webcor won the team classification.

Riding without any teammates, Armstrong set the scenario in the first stage where she outsprinted her breakmates for the win, took hold of the yellow jersey and never let go.  She then went on to win two more stages, the time trial and the Cascade Lakes Road Race, and increased her lead in every stage.  

Last year Ricardo Escuela (Successful Living)  finished second on the same stage when he started his sprint too far out. This year he timed it perfectly, outpsrinting outsprinted Shawn Milne (Team Type 1) and Bissell's Teddy King for the win. 

With 2 riders, Jeff Louder and Darren Lill,  in second and third place on GC going into the final stage, the BMC team came into the stage with a primary goal of not losing any gains, as they didn't think that the stage lent itself to gaining over two minutes on Leipheimer.   As Leipheimer only had one teammate Chris Horner, the task of controlling the race came to the BMC team, and so they went to the front to keep an eye out on things.

A 12 rider break broke away from the field in the second of the five laps, and the break included the usual suspects. BMC came to the front, and kept the gap at around 2 minutes.  In the final lap, with less than 10 miles (16 km), the group was re-absorbed.  Leipheimer attacked, Rock Racing's Santiago Botero and Louder jumped on his wheel but the move didn't work as the field caught up.

In the final miles, King attacked and a select group of riders that also included Moises Aldape (Team Type 1) and Ivan Stevic (Toyota-United) went with him, and the sprint was on for the finish line.

“I kept talking to myself and told myself to toughen up and deal with the heat,” Milne said about feeling strong in the heat and humidity. “Finally, the adrenaline kicked in the last lap.”

Aldape led out the sprint for Milne and Escuela was able to come around for the win.

Leipheimer won  the 2008 Cascade Cycling Classic overall followed by the BMC duo of Louder and Lill. Aldape won  the KOM competition, Garmin-Chipotle's Peter Stetina won  the Best Young Rider competition and with five riders finishing in the top 15 overall, Garmin-Chipotle also took home the best team honors.

In other good news, the condition of Ben Brooks had remarkably improved since his violent crash Wednesday. The Team Type 1 rider was transferred out of intensive care Sunday and according to team report, was joking around with members of the team who visited him after the race.

Photo: Copyright Kurt Jambretz (www.actionimages.cc)


Want more? 
Stage video recap from KOHD-tv
Reports from Bend Bulletin
Reports and Photos from cyclingnews and velonews
Photos from Cascade Event Photography
K-Man has pics of the men's podium over at Racing with K-Man.

Full results here.

Armstrong wins her 3rd stage; Aldape sprints to win at stage 5 of Cascade

Kristin Armstrong (Cervelo-Lifeforce) won Stage 5, her fourth stage victory at the Cascade Cycling Classic. As in her previous wins, Armstrong launched her attack in the final climb, caught and passed the solo break rider for the win. The Aaron's duo of Julie Beveridge and Felicia Gomez came in second and third.

Armstrong is using the race in her final preparations for the Olympic Games and was interviewed by the Bend Bulletin after her win, and she talks about the beauty of the terrain and "Cascade Classic is one of my favorite races, it has been for sometime."

After the race, Armstrong will return home for about one week of recovery and then will have two more weeks to do some fine tuning before flying off to China, with one thing in mind, winning at the Olympic Games. "It's been my goal for the last four years."

Stage 5, the Cascade Lakes Road Race, featured a 67 miles (108 km) loop that started off immediately  with an uphill climb, followed by 15 miles (24 km) of descending, and then race  around Crane Prairie Reservoir Elk Lake and finishing with the 10-mile (16k) Sparks Lake climb ending at the Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort.

"Our goal was to get a break going early in the race and to make Kristin Armstrong work hard to keep that yellow jersey,” stated ValueAct director Lisa Hunt aka The Huntress.

The pace was high on the first climb, and the field began to splinter, but it was gruppo compatto in the descent, and attacks were launched but Armstrong didn't like the composition or the sheer number of riders of the breaks and didn't let anything go. The extremely strong Armstrong is riding with no teammates and controlled the front of the field by herself.

Finally, Tibco's Rushlee Bachanan set off on a solo break that lasted for almost 30 miles (48 km) and gained almost 5 minutes on the field by the time she hit the bottom of the climb.

Then Armstrong attacked. And no one was able to match her acceleration, but the fight was on for the other podium spots, and a group of 4 riders separated themselves from the field, Beveridge, Gomez and Webcor's Christine Thorburn and Katheryn Mattis.

With 1.2 mile (2 k) to go, Armstrong caught up and passed the lone Buchanan, and the classy rider told the New Zealander to get on her wheel but Buchanan couldn't. One by one, other riders would pass Buchanan who finished in twentieth spot over two minutes behind the winner.

Beveridge made her move to gain some time on Thorburn in the GC and crossed the finish line 30 seconds behind Armstrong. Gomez was third, 45 seconds later with Mattis and Thorburn was fifth, a further 5 seconds back.

Armstrong  increased her lead in the overall classification with a sizable 2:55 over second place Thorburn and 3:34 ahead of Beveridge. No surprises that Armstrong also leads the QOM competition, Beveridge still wears the white jersey for the Best Young Rider and the Webcor squad leads the team classification.

Moises Aldape won his first race of the season which made it two for his Team Type 1 squad. 

Like the other two previous road race stages, a break made it to the finish of 83-mile (133.5 km) stage.

Aldape outsprinted his five breakmates in the final few hundred meters at the Mount Bachelor Ski Resort. Chad Beyer (USA) was second and Brad  White (Successful Living) rounded off the podium.

Leader Levi Leipheimer (Astana) came under pressure when a break of 12 riders went up the road at about the 25 mile (40 km)  mark, after the first climb.  Joining Aldape, Beyer and White in the break were Toyota-United duo of Dominique Rollin and Caleb Manion, BMC duo of Ian Mckissick and Brent Bookwalter, Tim Johnson (Health Net-Maxxis), Blake Caldwell (Garmin-Chipotle), Brian Jensen (Successful Living), Jeremy Vennell (Bissell) and James Mattis (Cal Giant). Caldwell was the best placed rider at 4:05 behind Leipheimer.

The BMC duo was setting a high pace in the break. "As I was tied with Blake Caldwell on time, the main objective was not to let him get away and grab any more time on me,” Bookwalter explained. “We wanted to enter the climb with as much time as possible on the main bunch, so Ian drove it really hard to the base and up the first part of the climb.”

Horner came to the front of the field to set up the chase, and with help from the Cal Giant team, he kept the gap to around 2 minutes before the final ascent (yep Cal Giant did have a man in the break).

With 6miles (10 k) to go, Caldwell launched an attack that gained him 20 seconds on the breakaway, which was down to eight riders. Aldape's DS Ed Beamon was telling him to go but he chose to wait and was confident he could use the terrain to his advantage in the final meters.

“When Caldwell attacked, Ed told me to ‘go, go, go,’ but I felt confident I could jump across,” Aldape said. “So I just waited. I was counting on a little difficulty in the terrain in the last kilometer. As long as I could see him (Caldwell) ahead of me in the last 500 meters, I was confident I could win.”

Brookwalter chased Caldwell down by himself and had to gap down to about 1 or 2 seconds when the break remnants caught and passed him.

Aldape went flying by with with about 150 meters to go to win the stage.  He dedicated his victory to teammate Ben Brooks, who was critically injured Wednesday in a high-speed crash.

Meanwhile back in the peloton, after Horner and his Cal Giant allies set a high pace, Leipheimer took over and BMC's Darren Lill attacked.

“Levi and I worked together pretty well, though I may have gone a bit too deep with my attack, and Levi ended up doing maybe two-thirds of the work while I was doing my best to contribute one-third!” Lill confessed.  

The duo caught some of the break remnants and Leipheimer ninth at one minute and Lill was eleventh at 1:03 from the stage winner.

In the overall classification, Leipheimer increased his lead and BMC's Jeff Louder moved up to second spot at 2:30 back, and Lill is now in third place at 2:33. Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United) and Matt Wilson (Team Type 1) retained their fourth and fifth places, respectively. Tom Zirbel (Bissell) could not follow the accelerations and dropped down to eighth place from his second spot.

Aldape also picked the KOM jersey, Peter Stetina (Garmin-Chipotle) still leads the Best Young Rider competition and the Garmen still lead the Best Team classification.

While Leipheimer has this race sewn up, it's still a battle for the second and third spots on the overall GC for the final stage,  the Deschutes Brewery-Awbrey Butte Circuit Race, that loops around Awbrey Butte. The pro men will do 5 laps for 83 miles (134 km) and the pro women 4 laps for 67 miles (108 km) total.

Photos: Copyright Kurt Jambretz (www.actionimages.cc)
 
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Full results here.

Chris Horner gives fallen rider (and bike) a 2k ride to the finish

What do you do if you see a fallen rider 2k from the finish with a broken bike? Well if you're Astana's Chris Horner you give him a ride to the finish. Uphill. For 2ks.

Check out the story and photos at Every Day Athlete

KTVZ also caught the video of the finish and chats with Horner.

Oh and yes, the two riders Horner and American R.A.D.D's Bill Demong were given the same finishing time on the stage.

In the good news department - Team Type 1's Ben Brooks stabilizes

Ben Brooks was conscious and breathing on his own Friday night, a marked improvement for the Team Type 1 rider who was critically hurt in a crash on Wednesday's opening stage of the Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic.
"Ben still has a long ways to go, but he is making great progress," Team Type 1 Sport Director Ed Beamon said.

Brooks was traveling at more than 30 miles an hour when his front wheel got caught in a cattle guard that crossed the race course. The 29-year-old Australian was thrown from his bike and knocked unconscious for several minutes.

More information on how to leave a get well message to Brooks at Team Type 1 site.

Miller and Rollin win Bend Crit at Cascade

Astana's Chris Horner talks about the crit with Bend Bulletin

The GC contenders tried to stay safe in the fast, flat 6-corner twilight criterium in downtown Bend and the sprinters came to the forefront.

After 90 minutes of racing, Dominique Rollin (Toyota-United) pipped Kyle Gritters (Health Net-Maxxis) at the line in the bunch sprint to win the stage. Ricardo Escuela (Successful Living) was third.

"Before the race, it was our race to lose." said Toyota-United DS Len Pettyjohn to KTVZ after the race. "There was a little bit of pressure on our guys to perform because everybody expect thats."

As soon as the early break went away, the complete Toyota-United team came to the front to control the field, never letting the gap increase to more than 20 seconds. As per the plan, the team reeled it back with less than 10 laps to go and set up their fast man Rollin.

"It's quite comforting to see our guys showing up there, it allows us to show strength and scares everyone else, it gets quiet." said a happy Rollin to KTVZ about having his whole team at the front. "It's actually easier to be out front, you're not fighting for position, you're not always slamming on the breaks before a corner so you can kind of keep a steady pace. It makes the race a little bit smoother."

“It was a hairy crit with tons of crashes.” wrote BMC DS Gavin Chilcott in the team report. Unfortunately for the team, Jonathan Garcia who is just returning to racing after a crash at Tour de Suisse, crashed again. He didn't finish the stage and required stitches but he was given a pro-rated time and will be able to race again tomorrow.

Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissell) also crashed out with more serious injuries, a broken collarbone.
No changes in the overall classification. Astana's Levi Leipheimer has a 1:58 lead ahead of Tom Zirbel (Bissell) and BMC's Jeff Louder is third, a further 4 seconds back. Only one minute and 11 seconds separate the second and seventh spots in the GC with 2 BMC riders Louder and Darren Lill, 2 riders from Toyota-United: Chris Baldwin and Chris Wherry, Zirbel and Matt Wilson (Team type 1). And then, we have 5 Garmen in the classification at 1:34 from Louder.

In the other competitions, Wilson leads the KOM and Garmin-Chipotle's Peter Stetina leads the Best Young Rider competition and Garmin-Chipotle leads the team classification.

In the women's race, after 60 minutes of racing, Tibco's Brooke Miller took the honors ahead of Gina Grain (Webcor) and Alison Testroete (Aaron's).

"We wanted the win and when it was apparent that it was going to be a field sprint, I stayed top five and used the other teams lead outs to bring me in," said Miller to cyclingnews. "I wanted to start the sprint behind Gina Grain who was the fastest sprinter with the best lead out."

The pace was kept high by ValueAct, Webcor, Tibco and Aaron's and breaks were tried, but none were successful, but the high tempo did reduce the numbers in the field with riders being shelled out the back and eventually pulled by the officials. Yellow jersey Kristin Armstrong (Cervelo-Lifeforce) always present in the top 10 on the peloton, staying safe and keeping an eye on things.

No changes in the women's GC either. Armstrong still has a commanding in the overall classification of 1:55 ahead of Christine Thorburn (Webcor) and 2:50 ahead of Julie Beveridge (Aaron's). Kristin Sanders (Aaron’s) leads the QOM competition, her teammate Beveridge leads the Best Young Rider competition and Webcor leads the team classification.

Next up is Stage 5, the Cascade Lakes Road Race which utilizes most of the same roads of past year's events. The riders will take the Cascade Lakes Highway up to Mt. Bachelor before turning south on Forest Service Roads that travel around Crane Prairie Reservoir Elk Lake and the infamous Sparks Lake climb before finishing at the Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort. The pro men will race over a 83-mile (134 km) course while the pro women ride 67 miles (108 km). (Women's course profile here)

"We’ve got a good plan for today though. The stage starts out with a pretty stiff climb up to 6000 ft with another mountain top finish." wrote Garman Blake Caldwell about stage 5.

Want more?
Reports and Photos from cyclingnews and velonews
Full results here.

No surprises at Cascade Time Trial - Leipheimer and Armstrong set fastest time

Yellow jersey Kristin Armstrong (Cervelo-Lifeforce) set the fastest time in third stage of the Cascade Cycling Classic earlier today. She set a time of 31:55.3 with an average speed of 26.32 mph (42.35 kmph) for 15-mile (24 km) out and back Skyliners Time Trial. She beat Webcor's Christine Thorburn by 52 seconds and another Webcor rider Katheryn Mattis by 1:47. Aaron's Julie Beveridge who was second on GC at the start of the day finished in the fourth spot at 2:03 behind Armstrong.

Armstrong increased her lead in the overall classification. Thorburn moved up to the second spot, 1:55 behind Armstrong and Best Young Rider Beveridge is now in third place 2:50 behind the leader.

Of note, it was announced today that Thorburn would be joining Armstrong at the Olympic Games to race in both the road and time trial (the third team member is Amben Neben who is currently racing in Italy).

In the men's race, Levi Leipheimer (Astana) stopped the clock 28:07.9 averaging a speed of 29.88 mph (48.08 kmph) over the same distance and took over the leadership in the GC. The BMC duo of Jeff Louder and Darren Lill set the next 2 fastest times, at 1:15 and 1:20 respectively behind the winner. Tom Zirbel (Bissell) and Ben Day (Toyota-United) were fourth and fifth both at 1:35 back. Yellow jersey Matt Wilson (Team Type 1) was 3:04 slower and had to relinquish the leader's jersey.

Zirbel moves up to second place in the general classification 1:58 behind Leipheimer, and Louder takes over the third sport, a further 4 seconds back. Only one minute and 11 seconds separate the second and seventh spots in the GC with 2 BMC riders, 2 riders from Toyota-United: Chris Baldwin and Chris Wherry, Zirbel and Wilson. And then, we have 5 Garmen in the classification at 1:34 from Louder.

What does this mean? It means that attacks will be flying to try and dislodge Leipheimer from the top especially as he has only one  teammate, Chris Horner to help defend. But that's a difficult task.  BMC, Toyota-United, Team Type 1, Bissell and Garmin-Chipotle will be fighting to get and jeep at least one rider in the top 3.

After a few hours of rest, the riders were challenged with stage 4,  the popular six corners, flat and fast Criterium in the heart of downtown Bend. The GC boys & girls will take a back seat to the sprinters on this one.


Full results here.

Same scenario, different players - the women

The women started after the men, on the same 78.5-mile (126 km) course and followed the same scenario.

Aaron's Kristin Sanders got her first ever NRC win by flying away from the break crossing the line 30 seconds ahead of Gina Grain (Webcor). Tibco's Brooke Miller was third, at 1 minute and 34 seconds back.

Yellow jersey Kristin Armstrong (Cervelo-Lifeforce) was fourth and kept the overall lead going into stage 3, the time trial.

A flurry of attacks mostly initiated by the Tibco team at the start of the women's race with high temperatures making it even more difficult.

With 5 riders overall, and 4 in the top 10, Janel Holcomb, Amy Dombroski and Grain were covering every move. Finally after about 10 miles into the race, a break of 7 made it up the road and sprinter was the lucky (or unlucky) Webcor rider representing her team.

"But as the dice were thrown, it was me, Gina, that got in the break when that elastic band broke and people were tired of chasing." said Grain in her report.

Joining Sanders, Grain and Miller in the break were Alison Testroete (Aaron's) , Jane Robertson (Metromint), Martina Patella (ValueAct), and Tricia Bailey (SHO-AIR). Early on, the break was cohesive and the gap grew to more than 5 minutes and that point Grain was instructed to sit on and Miller followed suit.

With the gap still increasing the Webcor team starting chasing in earnest to protect their GC contender Christine Thorburn who was in third place going into the stage.

Touchstone's Kelly McDonald tried to bridge solo from the field but was directed off course by officials on motorcycles who then brought her back on course ahead of the break, so she crossed the finish line first.

As per Communique 3: "Rider 221, Kelly McDonald of Touchstone was led off of the course at Sisters and covered 1 mile less than the proscribed distance. Her time was prorated to 3:47:51"

On the final 16km climb up Three Creeks, Testroete set a high pace in the break to set up her teammate Sanders, and she managed to reduce the numbers to four riders. Miller followed up with an attack to reduce the numbers to three, and Sanders dug deep, and flew away to cross the line solo. Sanders also picked up the lead in the QOM competition.

Meanwhile, as expected Armstrong launched her own flyer on the first steep part of the climb. Thorburn and second place on GC Julie Beveridge (Aaron's) covered the move but Armstrong set a fast pace, passed 4 break riders and crossed the line 40 seconds ahead of Beveridge and therefore increasing her lead in the overall classification.

Armstrong keeps the yellow jersey, and is now 47 seconds ahead of Beveridge. Thorburn is still in third, 1 minute and 3 seconds behind her future teammate at the Olympic Games.

Today is a double-stage day. Stage 3 in the morning is the 15-mile out and back Skyliners Time Trial. The women set off at 12:00pm (pro women startlist)

The sprinters come out and play in the late afternoon for stage 4, the popular six corners, flat and fast Criterium in the heart of downtown Bend.

Want more?
Watch KOHD for stage recap and interviews.
Stage 2 Photo Galleries by Cascade Event Photography
Reports and Photos from cyclingnews and velonews

Full results here.

Same scenario, different players at stage 2 of Cascade Cycling Classic

Stage 2, the 78.5-mile (126 km) Three Creeks Road Race brought about the same scenario as the previous stage in both the men's and women's races: a break that makes it to the final climb, field chasing, break disintegrating under attacks, winner from the break, select riders from the field catching up to remnants of break.

But there was one difference, winner Matt Wilson (Team Type 1) had the extra incentive of riding for his injured teammate Ben Brooks who after heavily crashing in the first stage, remains in intensive care in critical, but stable condition. Wilson said the Brooks was on his mind all day and that he decided to win it for Ben when he got into the break.

Wilson not only picked the stage win but took over the lead in the general classification, and the KOM jersey,

“My initial feeling was one of happiness of this being all great,” Wilson said in the team report. “But the first thing you think about is that you don’t have the right to be so happy about it when Ben is in the hospital. So I definitely have mixed emotions.”

The Garmin-Chipotle team had enough of chasing all day yesterday so they went on the offensive. After some 20 miles (30 km), a break of 12 escaped the field which included three duos: Garmen Steven Cozza and Tom Petersen, Health Net-Maxxis duo of Kyle Gritters and Cory Collier, and Wilson and his teammate Valeriy Kobzarenko. Also in the break were Tom Zirbel (Bissell), Chris Wherry (Toyota-United), Stefano Barberi (THF), Allen Krughoff (Team Rio Grande), Brian Jensen (Successful Living), and Andy Jacques-Maynes (Cal Giant).  The number came down to 10, as Jacques-Maynes flatted and Krughoff was dropped.

Working well, and with strong engines like Zirbelicious, Cozza and Kobza, the gap kept increasing to one minute, two minutes, and eventually up to four minutes.

The two teams not represented were yellow jersey Santiago Botero's Rock Racing and the BMC team. Rock Racing could not or did not want to chase (depends on which report you read) and the task fell to the BMC team.

“We had agreed with Rock to help with the chasing to keep the break close,” BMC's Darren Lill said in the team report. “But after a bit, Rock stopped helping in the chase, leaving us to do all the work. We weren’t even leading the race, so we decided to get creative.” So Lill and his teammate Ian McKissick went up the road and started chasing the break getting a minute by the bottom of the final climb.

Finally, Rock Racing's Cesar Grajales and Astana's Chris Horner came to the front of the field setting a high tempo for their respective teammate and shelling guys off the back.

Cozza was the first to launch an attack on the long haul up Three Creeks, setting it up for his teammate. As soon as he was caught, Petersen and Wilson counter-attacked and were off in a drag race to the finish with Wilson taking the honors.

Collier finished third, at 31 seconds back, followed by Cozza, Zirbel and Wherry. Leipheimer made his move on the final climb (again) and caught up to half the breakaway and finished fifth.

Shuffle in the GC. Wilson now leads Leipheimer with 37 seconds. Botero moved down to third spot 45 seconds behind the new leader. Toyota-United's Chris Baldwin is fourth and Zirbel moved up to fifth spot.

With the time trial coming up, we can expect the jersey to change hands again with very strong time trialists Leipheimer, Botero, Baldwin, Zirbel and others in the field.

But Wilson wants to get it back. “Now that I have it, I’m not going to sit back and not defend it. But it’s going to be virtually impossible to hang onto it tomorrow against such strong time trialists. But there’s still a lot of racing to come after that.”

Today is a double-stage day. Stage 3 in the morning is the 15-mile out and back Skyliners Time Trial. Last year, Phil Zajicek set the fastest time in the TT with a climb in the middle, grabbed the leader's jersey and never let go. The men set off at 12:50pm. (Pro men startlist, )

The sprinters come out and play in the late afternoon for stage 4, the popular six corners, flat and fast Criterium in the heart of downtown Bend.

Photos: Copyright Kurt Jambretz (www.actionimages.cc)

2008 Cascade Cycling Classic Stage 2 Highlights (by Pinnacle Media Inc.)


Want more?
Stage 2 Photo Galleries by Cascade Event Photography
Reports and Photos from cyclingnews and velonews

Full results here.

Armstrong and Botero throw the gauntlet down in stage 1 at Cascade Classic

In the final preparation for the Olympic Games, Santiago Botero (Rock Racing) and Kristin Armstrong (Cervelo-Lifeforce) followed the same strategy to win the first stage at the Cascade Cycling Classic: get into the breakaway, set a high pace, and attack on the final 1.5km climb up Pilot Butte.

The high temperatures didn't put a damper on the attacks. Steven Cozza (Garmin-Chipotle), continuing with the aggressive riding he showed at Tour de Nez and Curtis Gunn (Successful Living) attacked very early in the 83.2 mile (134 km) but the do was reeled in about 12 miles (20 km) later.

A group managed to escape from the field and the gap started to grow. Sensing the danger, Botero, Toyota-United's Chris Baldwin and BMC's Jeff Louder bridged up and the group was complete on the climb to the first KOM at 50 miles (80 km) into the race.

“Slipstream had missed the break all together so they formed a pretty organized chase group leading into the climb,” Louder recounted in the BMC team report. “By the time we hit the climb, the break had maybe 20 seconds on us. Botero attacked first, coming from behind me and went across,” Louder continued, “everyone was just looking at each other, so I decided to drop it into the big chain ring and make my move.” Riding with good legs and making smart decisions, Jeff’s aggression impressed everyone. “Louder’s move was spectacular,” Nydam gushed.

Joining Botero, Louder and Baldwin in the 12-man break were BMC's Jonathan Garcia and Brent Bookwalter, 3 Bissell riders Ben Jacques-Maynes, Jeremy Vennell and Burke Swindlehurst, Glen Chadwick and Chris Jones of Team Type 1, John Hunt (Cal Giant), and Chad Beyer (USA).

The chase was on in the pack led by Garmin-Chipotle who missed the break completely. According to DS Chann McRae, "On the climb with Levi, Peter Stetina gets to within seven seconds of the breakaway. Levi will not pull through, so they don’t close the gap and the break goes up to two minutes."

A ktvz reporter riding in the Toyota-United car (once you get over the gee wiz they're going fast) filmed road captain Chris Wherry coming back to the team car to get information on the break. Once Wherry understands the teams represented in the 12-man group, he makes the decision to pull his team off the chase.

In the final climb, Botero put on his after burners and accelerated to win the stage. The break behind him disintegrated, Baldwin finished six seconds back for second place and Louder was third, 20 seconds behind the Colombian.  Jones was fourth while Levi Leipheimer (Astana) charged out of the field in the climb, passed the remnants of the breakaway to finish in fifth place at 25 seconds behind.

Powerful ride by Botero especially as according to the Bend Bulletin, it took 32 hours  to travel from Columbia to Bend as he "mistakenly was on a flight to North Bend on the southern Oregon Coast, and in the pre-dawn hours Tuesday he had to persuade a cab driver to take him 240 miles to Bend."

Despite past successes, it will be difficult to defend the leader’s yellow jersey from start to finish of the five-day, six-stage race, Botero said.

“Obviously I would like to hold onto the lead, but there are a lot of strong teams here,” Botero said. “Our team has a lot of young riders so it’s going to be difficult. But Rock Racing will be trying to cover all the breakaways and just take it day by day.”

The 2006 winner Armstrong continued on her show of force demoed at Nature Valley and didn't let a broken spoke in her rear wheel slow her down. The 90-women field started 5 minutes later on the same course as the men. A 7-woman break that included Armstrong was off in the early part of the race, and had to be stopped for 30 minutes to allow the race medical staff to attend to Team Type 1's Ben Brooks.

The break that included Aaron's duo Julie Beveridge and Felicia Gomez, Webcor duo Christine Thorburn and Katheryn Curi-Mattis were set off with the same time gap when the race resumed. In the last miles, Webcor used its numbers to try and drop Armstrong but the US Champion followed all moves.

Armstrong put in her attack on the final climb and crossed the line 3 seconds ahead of Mt Hood winner Beveridge and 17 seconds in front of Thorburn.

“I’m training, and I’m trying to stay safe, and I’ll take the win,” said Armstrong to the Bend Bulletin. “That’s how I’m trying to race.”


Photos: Copyright Kurt Jambretz (www.actionimages.cc)

Want more?
Watch stage recap and interviews from KOHD
Stage 1 Photo Galleries by Cascade Event Photography
Reports and Photos from cyclingnews and velonews
Communique 2 , where the men are taken to task for littering water bottles: "Although many riders made a conscientious effort to deposit bottles appropriately, the littering from the men’s field was deplorable and unacceptable. If this behavior continues, the race will be shut down. Your Choice—behave or go home."

Full results here.

Team Type 1's Brooks Stable Following Violent Crash at stage 1 of Cascade Classic

Team Type 1’s Ben Brooks is hospitalized in stable condition following a violent crash Wednesday during the opening stage of the Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic in Bend, Ore.

The 29-year-old Australian fell victim to one of a half dozen cattle guard crossings along the 83-mile (133.5 km) Prineville Road Race. A cattle guard is a series of parallel metal bars installed in the road to deter cattle and other hoofed animals from crossing. The gaps between the bars are wide enough for an animal’s legs to fall through.

Team Type 1 Sport Director Ed Beamon said riders who witnessed the crash told him the cattle guard sent Brooks into a spin that catapulted him off his bicycle as the 150-rider field was traversing a mostly flat, but twisting, section before a descent about 50 miles (80 km) into the race.

“They had to be going about 60 kilometers and hour (37 mph) and it was single-file, full gas at the time,” Beamon said.

According to the Bend Bulletin,  Brooks was unconscious at the scene of the crash, and a physician attended to him  before a rescue squad rushed Brooks to a local hospital.

“He is at an excellent facility with excellent care and his condition is stable,” Beamon said. “We are just reaching out now for good thoughts and prayers. We are fairly confident he will be OK.”

Brooks’s wife, Rachael, was en route to Bend Wednesday night, Beamon said.

Photos from (32nd) Davis 4th of July Criterium

	Sun high in the sky, friends, bike racing and Hernando on the mike. Good times.

More photos: pro/1/2 women's slideshow, pro/1 men's slideshow

Video coverage of races and interviews of the Davis 4th of July Criterium on the deltavelo.com website

Results available on usacycling.org

Cascade Cycling Classic Preview

The 29th annual Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic, a 2.3-rated NRC stage race, will be held July 9-13, 2008. As their team was not invited to the Tour de France, Oregonian Chris Horner and his Astana teammate Levi Leipheimer will be taking on the best of the North American squads and teams in the 6 stages around Bend Oregon.

The 2007 winner Phil Zajicek then riding for the defunct Navigators' team, will be counting on his new team Health Net-Maxxis, especially on NRC leader Rory Sutherland to bring home another win.  Earlier this year, after years of problems, Zajicek was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and he should be back in full force after months of recovery.


The Bissell team have a few cards to play, Tour de Nez winner Aaron Olson who's showing great form, Ben Jacques-Maynes who finished third last year, and Teddy King. Rock Racing is showing up with the strong duo of Cesar Grajales and Santiago Botero. Team Type 1 will be riding aggressively with their breakaway experts Chris Jones, who was top 20 last year riding solo,  Glen Chadwick and climber Moises Aldape.  Watch for BMC's strong duo of Darren Lill, second at Mt Hood and Scott Nydam, last year's KOM winner.

Toyota-United will be led by Chris Baldwin who was disappointed with his  second place finish last year. Garmin/Chipotle is also showing up with a full squad led by David Zabriskie recovering after his injury and working on his form for the Olympics. Other teams and riders to watch include Successful Living's Brad White and JR Grabinger, Colavita's Tyler Wren, Symmetrics' Cam Evans, and the ever aggressive CalGiant team. (Men's roster here).

After having to cancel the women's race last year, due to scheduling conflicts, the event is back on the NRC women's calendar, and all eyes will be on Kristin Armstrong (Cervelo-Lifeforce) who pretty much single-handedly won the Nature Valley Grand Prix a few weeks ago. Can she repeat this feat?

Hoping to stop her will be Mt Hood winner and just crowned U23 Canadian Champion Julie Beveridge and her Aaron's teammates including Felicia Gomez.  Tibco led by Amber Rais and Brooke Miller, Webcor with Christine Thornburg and Katheryn Mattis and  ValueAct will all be looking for that top step. Riders to watch include youngster Coryn Rivera on Kahala-LaGrange who Armstrong took under her wings at Nature Valley. (Women's roster here).

The stages. The first stage is the Robberson Ford-Prineville Road Race, an 83.2 mile (134 km) course that winds through canyons and over plateaus on there way to finish atop of the famous Pilot Butte State Park. In the 2007 version of the stage, Argentinian Ricardo Escuela (Successful Living) outsprinted Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United) and Phil Zajicek after the field caught a disintegrating break.

Thursday July 10 brings a modified stage to the race, the 78.5-mile (126 km) Three Creeks Road Race which follows nearly the same route as the former McKenzie Pass course but ends with a steeper and more decisive finish.

Friday July 11 is a double-stage day. Stage 3 in the morning is the 15-mile out and back Skyliners Time Trial. Last year, Zajicek set the fastest time in the TT with a climb in the middle, grabbed the leader's jersey and never let go.

The sprinters come out and play in the late afternoon for stage 4,  the popular six corners, flat and fast Criterium in the heart of downtown Bend.

Stage 5, the Cascade Lakes Road Race utilizes most of the same roads of past year's events. Beautifully scenic with great road surfaces, riders will take the Cascade Lakes Highway up to Mt. Bachelor before turning south on Forest Service Roads that travel around Crane Prairie Reservoir Elk Lake and the infamous Sparks Lake climb before finishing at the Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort. The pro men will race over a 83-mile (134 km) course while the pro women ride 67 miles (108 km). (Women's course profile here)

In 2007, Scott Nydam (BMC) clinched his KOM jersey by going on an early break to win the first KOM points. The duo was caught on the descent, and a trio of escapees, Roman Kilun (Health Net-Maxxis), Chuck Coyle (Successful Living) and  Teddy King (Bissell) were off for the next 50 miles.  With 5 miles to go, 3 chasers bridged up to King and Kilun but the group of 5 disintegrated almost immediately, and Kilun continued on his solo journey. He was soon passed by a select group of riders that included the yellow jersey Zajicek.  BMC's Jeff Louder (then riding for Health Net-Maxxis) won the sprint to the finish line.

The final stage on Sunday July 13 is the Deschutes Brewery-Awbrey Butte Circuit Race, that loops around Awbrey Butte. The pro men will do 5 laps for 83 miles (134 km) and the pro women 4 laps for 67 miles (108 km) total.

More photos in the 2007 galleries for  stage 3, stage 5 and stage 6.

NRC Standings as of July 7

After winning the Cox Charities Cycling Classic, Kyle Wamsley (Colavita/Sutter Home) earned back-to-back USA Cycling NRC victories, earning the GC in the four-stage Fitchburg Longsjo Classic, July 3-6. Catherine Cheatley (Cheerwine) came away with the women's victory.

With 18 men’s races and 20 women’s events on the 2008 NRC now complete, no major changes in the men's individual standings.  Rory Sutherland (Health Net-Maxxis) continues to hold a commanding lead and Teddy King (Bissell) leapfrogged his teammate Ben Jacques-Maynes to move up to the second spot. In the team competition, Colavita-Sutter Home moved up to the second spot behind Health Net-Maxxis.

Catherine Cheatley (Cheerwine) takes over as the current women’s leader and Tina Pic (Colavita/Sutter Home) moved up 3 spots to take the second position. Cheerwine Professional Cycling Team still holds a commanding lead in the women's team classification.

The top 5 are:

Men's Individual Standings
1. Rory Sutherland (AUS/Health Net-Maxxis) 1396
2. Ted King (Brentwood, N.H./Bissell) 723
3. Ben Jacques-Maynes (Watsonville, Calif./Bissell) 643
4. Anthony Colby (Durango, Colo./Colavita-Sutter Home) 589
5. John Murphy (Athens, Ga./Healthnet-Maxxis) 524

Men's Team Standings
1. Health Net Pro Cycling Team presented by Maxxis 2656
2. Colavita/Sutter Home Men's Cycling Team presented by Cooking Light 2118
3. Bissell Pro Cycling Team 2090
4. Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 1520
5. Successfulliving.com presented by Parkpre 1271

Women's Individual Standings
1. Catherine Cheatley (NZL/Cheerwine) 852
2. Tina Pic (Dahlonega, Ga./Colavita-Sutter Home) 849
3. Laura Van Gilder (Cresco, Pa./Cheerwine) 828
4. Anne Samplonius (CAN/Cheerwine) 805
5. Joanne Kiesanowski (NZL/Team Tibco) 770

Women's Team Standings
1. Cheerwine Professional Cycling Team 3753
2. Aaron's Cycling Team 2316
3. Colavita/Sutter Home Women's Cycling Team presented by Cooking Light 2266
4. Team Tibco 1920
5. Valuact Capitol Cycling Team 1148

For complete 2008 NRC Individual and Team Standings, click here.

The next race on the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar will be the 2.3-rated Cascade Cycling Classic in Bend, Ore., July 9-13. The Louisville Metro Police Foundation Crit is also quickly approaching on July 12.

Women's Canadian National Championships: Samplonius, Wrubleski and Beveridge (x2)

Wrapping the Canadian National Championships with the women's races: the time trial and the road race.

Anne Samplonius was the only women to break the 30 minutes barrier for the 20km individual time trial successfully defending her title. And she did it on her road bike as time trial was damaged.

It was a bittersweet victory for Samplonius as she had learned in the last 2 weeks that she would not be representing Canada at the Olympic Games. "I have lived two difficult weeks emotionally." said Samplonius. "I did not train with the same conviction, but I gave it my all in this race."

Mt Hood overall winner Julie Beveridge (Aaron's) was second 4:27 behind Montréalaise Samplonius and Webcor's Alex Wrubleski was third with a time of 30:03.33. In the U23 classification, Beverdige took the title, Karol-Ann Canuel came in second and Véronique Bilodeau was third.



On Saturday, the women faced 70-mile (114-km) road race. Beijing-bound Alex Wrubleski (Webcor) reclaimed the Canadian title by winning a five-rider sprint after 3 hours in the saddle. Her Olympic teammate Leigh Hobson, who rides for the trade team Cheerwine, was second and Felicia Gomez (Aaron's) was third.

“I’m really pleased with the victory but it’s hard to use this as a measuring stick in my preparation for the Olympics because the course will be much more different in Beijing”, said Wrubleski, who posted two fourth place finishes on the World Cup earlier this year. “The big thing I’ll take from this race is how confident I felt with my sprinting”.

On the second lap of the 4 lap race, Erinne Willock riding on a borrowed bike as she found out 30 minutes before the start that her frame was broken, put in an attack. She was quickly joined by the other riders sensing that this was the right break. The 13-woman break that included Wrubleski, Hobson, Julie Beveridge,  Joelle Numainville, Anne Samplonius,  Felicia Gomez and Audrey Lemieux would never be caught by the disorganized field.

With one lap to go, the breakmates started to attack each other and then there were nine. With 10km to go, Hobson, Willock and Gomez managed to escape and were caught by a chase led by Samplonius, and a small group made it to the finish line.

In the U23 classification, Beveridge swept both races, also taking the road race title, Numainville was second and Stéphanie Roorda was third.



Mountain biker Mathieu Toulouse, raced in the men's races and gave his views for Velomag (in French): Wrubleski est championne canadienne

Rob Jones/CanadianCyclist has reports, multiple videos and photos of the races:
Road National Championships: Women's ITT report, , Women's ITT Photos, Women's Road Race Report , Women's Road Race Photos

Men's Canadian National Championships: Dwayner, The Young Man and Veilleux (x2)

Catching up with another busy weekend in the world of cycling. Starting on Friday July 4, the Canadian Championships were held in Beauce - on the same roads that just held the Tour de Beauce - starting off with the Time Trial.

All eyes were on Svein Tuft (Symmetrics), especially with the 2007 Maple Leaf wearer Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin/Chipotle) off riding in this little race in France. And Dwayner did not disappoint, he set the fastest time of 51:23.60 over the 40km course, almost two-minute faster than second place Ryan Roth (Team Race Pro). S-teammate Zach Bell finished third at 2:52 behind.

The win caps off a great season, so far, for Tuft, who had already the overall win at the Tour de Beauce and three gold medals at the Pan Am Championships under his belt. Tuft is now readying for the Olympic Games as he will represent Canada in both the time trial and road race in Beijing.

"Going into the Olympics, it wasn't so much winning that was important for me today," said Tuft. "I just really wanted to feel good about my race and still have a lot left in the tank at the end. And I achieved that. So this is a big confidence boost."

The U23 men participated in the same race, and did the same distance as the Elite Men.  David Veilleux (Kelly Benefit/Medifast) coming off his strong win at the Tour of Pennsylvania clocked the fourth fastest time overall, 54:36:03, giving him for the title in the U23 category. Bryson Bowers and and Garrett McLeod finished second and third.

"My goal was to win the race in the espoirs." said Veilleux. "It's good that we had the same distance as the elite riders because it allows us to position [our results] compated to them, but I was concentrating on the espoir competition."

After a few days break, the men returned on Sunday for the road race, and all the big names were present and accounted for - Rollin, Parisien who both had chosen to sit out the TT - a large field and a relatively short course at only 9.8km around with a steep hard climb each lap provided intense and aggressive racing for each of the 18 laps.

Last year’s under-23 national champion Chris Meier (Symmetrics) held off a charging Bruno Langlois (VW-Trek) to take the win. Meier's teammate Jacob Erker, who cramped up with a lap to go to lose Meier and Langlois at the front, held on to third place finishing over a minute behind.

‘’This is the most amazing feeling I’ve had in my career,’’ said The Young Man. ‘’It’s beautiful. I have to thank my Symmetrics Cycling teammates so much because anybody could have won out there today and it just happened to be me. Jacob rode his heart out for me in the break.’’

Numerous attacks were launched during the first half of the race under high temperatures and high sun and a group went up the road. With 8 laps to go, Meier and Langlois made their move. In the final lap, only the duo was left at the front battling it out. A 500 meters to go, Meier set the pace in the final climb and won the 2-man sprint.

Veilleux finished seventh overall, earned his fifth national title and completed a golden sweep in the U23 category.

‘’It was a very tough race,’’ said 20-year old Veilleux. ‘’The heat and the length of the race made it a very challenging day. That last climb at the end of the loop used up a lot energy and on such a short lap it kept coming back fast.’’

Mountain biker Mathieu Toulouse, raced on the road and gave his views for Velomag (in French): Pas de surprises au contre-la-montre and Encore Symmetrics.

Rob Jones/CanadianCyclist has reports, multiple videos and photos of the races:
Road National Championships: Men's ITT report, Road nationals: Men's RR report, Men's ITT Photos, Men's Road Race Photos

Interesting race notes from Jones:

When asked what about offers from other teams, Meier suddenly got fidgety and grinned. "There might be some stuff coming up, but we'll have to see. There might be some news coming out."

This tidbit can be seen at the end of the video


No teams were mentioned in the video interview but the rumor floating around is that Meier will be  joining Garmin/Chipotle.

Hekman and McCaughey win USA Crits Iron Hill Twilight

The fifth event of the USA Crits series, the Iron Hill Twilight Criterium was held last Saturday in West Chester PA. With leader Rahsaan Bahati (Rock Racing) not participating in the race, it left the door wide open to move up to the top of the heap, and the Toshiba-Santo team took full advantage of the opportunity.

On the 10th lap of the 60 laps around the narrow roads that make up the 1-mile circuit through historic downtown West Chester, Toshiba-Santo's Mark Hekman attacked and with his teammates blocking, he finally lapped the entire field with 20 laps to go.

"The race was sweet. The course there is my dream course. Super tight corners and half of the course was up hill." said Hekman on his blog. 

Last year's USA Crits overall champion Frank Travieso (Toshiba-Santo) and David Guttenplan (Time Pro) escaped with 15 laps to go and would manage to stay away until the finish line and would duke it out for the final 2 spots on the podium. In the end, Guttenplan got second place and Travieso third behind the winner Hekman.

After points were counted, Toshiba-Santo's Yosvany Falcon (who finished in the 10th place on the day) is now leading the series, Travieso moved up to second place and Adam Myerson (TIME Pro) now sits in third place. (Current series standings here).

The top of the leaderboard was also up for grabs in the women's race as current leader Kelly Benjamin (Cheerwine) also did not make the trip. Erica Allar (Aaron’s), Gina Grain (Webcor), and Vanderkitten’s Leigh Valetti were all aggressive but the race came down to a field sprint won by Laura McCaughey (Juice Plus/NC Racing) ahead of Sarah Caravella (Tibco). Canadian Grain (Webcor) finished in third place.

With her sixth place finish, Jennifer Wilson (Vanderkitten) moved up to take the lead in the series followed by Benjamin and Allar.  (Current series standings here).

With six events remaining, the USA Crits Series now heads even farther north for the BC Cancer Foundation's Tour de Gastown on July 16th. The 1.2 km Gastown course will see the field competing for more than $15,000 in cash prizes.


Photo: Zui - see Truesport, and more photos on his site

Murphy and Pic win final stage; Wamsley and Cheatley take overall at Fitchburg Longsjo

As expected, the final stage of the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic, the  Workers Credit union Downtown Criterium, did not bring any changes to the leaderboard. But, not for lack of trying, Bissell's Teddy King, only 19 seconds behind the leader, gave it a go in the final lap of the 55 laps in the men's race but Kyle Wamsley (Colavita/Sutter Home) covered the attacks and kept his yellow leader's jersey.

The race was aggressive from the start on the flat 3-corner crit with a hairpin turn over 0.9 mile (1.4 km) city streets, a course that had remained unchanged for decades. Shawn Milne (Team Type 1) made sure to get enough points to sew up his green jersey and the Colavita team kept a short leash on the GC threats.  With 5 laps to go, the pace increased with the $1500 prime on the line won by John Murphy (Health Net-Maxxis).

It came down to a photo finish, Murphy outsprinted Emile Abraham (Team Type 1) and Alejandro Borrajo (Colavita/Sutter Home) for the win.  In the final general classification, Wamsley took first place followed by Justin Spinelli (Kelly Benefit/Medifast) and King.

Read Ryan Kelly's take on the race at exit17.net and check out his photos on flickr.

The women's race also came down to a bunch sprint as the Cheerwine and Colavita/Sutter Home teams covered each other moves during the 28-lap race. Flurries of attacks in the final la, and then it came down to the perennial adversaries, Laura Van Gilder (Cheerwine) and Tina Pic (Colavita/Sutter Home). And US Crit Champion Pic took the victory ahead of Van Gilder. Megan Guarnier (Proman) riding solo took third.

In the final general classification, New Zealander Catherine Cheatley (Cheerwine) kept the leader's jersey followed by Kristin McGrath (Colavita/Sutter Home) and Robin Farina (Cheerwine). Cheerwine’s Kelly Benjamin won the points competition.

Audio slideshow from telegram.com

View Fitchburg Longsjo articles from telegram.com

Longsjo veteran Mayolo-Pic adds another stage win to impressive legacy, Murphy takes final stage in photo finish from sentinelandenterprise.com


Velonews, Cyclingnews

Stage results, Final GC results.

Wamsley, Farina win stage; Wamsley and Cheatley still lead at Fitchburg Longsjo

The duel between the Cheerwine and the Colavita/Sutter Home teams continued in the third stage, the Fitchburg State College Circuit Race.  The battle was on for each of the 11 laps around the  3.1-mile (5 km) loop with approximately 100 ft. of climbing per lap, with each team covering the other's attacks in the first half of the race.

Finally a move went, and it was immediately covered by Robin Farina (Cheerwine) and Anna McLoon, a guest-rider with Colavita/Sutter Home.  Farina and McLoon pushed the pace and dropped the third rider to stay away until the end with Farina taking the sprint.  Over one minute later, Tina Pic (Colavita/Sutter Home) won the field sprint to take the third spot on the podium.

No changed to the overall GC as the contenders were all together in the field. Cheerwine's Catherine Cheatley is still in the lead, 19 seconds ahead of Colavita/Sutter Home's Kristin McGrath and 1:27 ahead of Kathleen Billington (Connecticut Coast Cycling).

In the men's race, the  75 miles (121 km) third stage came down to a bunch sprint won by  Kyle Wamsley (Colavita/Sutter Home)  ahead of Kleber Ramos (Garneau-Crocs) and Shawn Milne (Team Type 1).

Team Type 1 put in attacks after attacks to try and break Wamsley, but even though they managed to isolate him, his Colavita/Sutter Home team recovered, regrouped and kept him safe.  In the final laps, Bissell's Richard England managed to pull away but the Colavita squad would have none of it and reeled in him.

The final lap brought a 40-man group into the final turn and again Team Type 1 put in the first attack as sprinter Emile Abraham led out Milne but Wamsley and Ramos overtook him before the finish line.

With a small gap at the finishing line and the important time bonuses on the line, Wamsley increased his lead in the overall classification. With one stage to go, Wamsley holds a lead of 17 seconds ahead of  Justin Spinelli (Kelly Benefit/Medifast) and 19 seconds ahead of Teddy King (Bissell).

The final stage on Sunday July 6 is the Workers Credit union Downtown Criterium in Fitchburg. The course has remained unchaged for decades, a flat 3-corner crit with a hairpin turn over 0.9 mile (1.4 km) city streets. Starting at 2:05pm, the pro women will race over 28 laps and at  3:30pm, the pro men will do 55 laps.

As a reminder, in 2005, Jonathan Page and his then team Colavita/Sutter Home pulled an upset in the final stage, taking the 3 steps on the stage podium and moving Page from 3rd on GC to the top in the overall.  Nothing is decided yet.

Full results here.

MacGregor wins stage; Wamsley takes over lead; Cheatley wins stage and takes over GC in stage 2 of Fitchburg Longsjo

Ian MacGregor (Team Type 1) won Stage 2, the 104 miles (167 km) Wachusett Mountain Road Race of the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic ahead of Kyle Wamsley (Colavita/Sutter Home) and Teddy King (Bissell).  With time bonuses for the first 3 to cross the finish line (of 10, 5 and 3 seconds respectively), Wamsley takes over the general classification, five seconds ahead of Justin Spinelli (Kelly Benefit/Medifast) and seven seconds ahead of King.

A duo made of 2006 Fitchburg Classic winner Shawn Milne (Team Type 1) and Stefan Rothe (Marx & Bensdorf/Tristar) escaped the field early on and managed a gap create a gap of more than five minutes before Rothe flatted, and Milne was off on his own. The field led by the Bissell and Colavita/Sutter Home teams chased and caught the lone escapee with 3 laps to go in the 9 laps race. Milne did rack up a substantial lead in the points jersey for his efforts.

Only a small number of riders remained together at the bottom of the 1.5-mile (3 km) climb to the finish at the Wachusett Mountain ski resort. MacGregor and Wamsley dragged race to the top catching and passing King in the final 100 meters.

Catherine Cheatley (Cheerwine) powered to the line 19 seconds ahead of leader Kristin McGrath (Colavita/Sutter Home) and 23 seconds ahead of Kathleen Billington (Connecticut Coast Cycling) to take the second stage, the 69 miles (111 km) Wachusett Mountain Road Race. Adding the time bonus put Cheatley in the leader's jersey, 19 seconds ahead of McGrath and 1:27 ahead of Billington.

Great weekend for Cheatley as she had just heard that she will be representing her country New Zealand at the summer Olympic Games in Beijing for the track events.

Unfortunately, according to cyclingnews, race officials stopped the field to come to a complete stop multiple times to allow other categories to pass, and it seems to have stopped a break being formed. Not good.

In the final lap, and in the final 2k, the Cheerwine team launched repeated attacks that forced McGrath and her team to chase and Cheatley was the fastest to climb to the finish.

Carla Swart (Team Kenda Tire) leads the points classification.


Stage 3,  is the Fitchburg State College Circuit Race, a 3.1-mile (5 km) loop with approximately 100 ft. of climbing per lap. The pro women do 11 laps or 34 miles (55 km), and the pro men race over 24 laps or 75 miles (121 km).


Slideshow from Telegram.com with an audio interview of Bissell's Teddy King

Velonews report & photos

MacGregor first to the top, Cheatley wins grueling chase to the summit and It's still anybody's race to win from SentinelandEnterprise.com

Full results here.

Chodroff and Mcgrath win opening TT at Fitchburg Longsjo

The only woman in a field of 66 riders to break the 19 minute barrier, Kristin McGrath (Colavita/Sutter Home) set the fastest time of 18:57.74 for the opening stage of the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic. Stage 1 was a 6.55-mile (10.5 km) point-to-point time trial with over 500 feet of elevation over horrendous pavement. In second place was Cheerwine's Catherine Cheatley at 5 seconds. The 30th rider to go out of the start gate, Stacy Marple (Cheerwine) set the early fast time of 19:08.29 and in the end grabbed the third spot.

Proman's Megan Guarnier, wearing of the no 1, had some problems with her chain which forced her to stop and get off her bike. She finished 25th at 1:54 off the leader. (Read more in the Telegram.com)

With 2 teams controlling 7 spots out of the top 10, we can expect the battle to be between Cheerwine and Colavita/Sutter Home for the next 3 stages.

The 139 men had to not only contend with the bad road but with weather changing from light rain to full blown thunderstorms by the end of the stage.

Jonathan Chodroff (CRCA/Empire Cycling), the seventh rider out of the start gate, set the fastest time of 16:02.87. Bissell's Graham Howard was second less than a second behind, and Luis Amaran (Colavita/Sutter Home) was third, nine seconds behind Chodroff.

The last man out of the gate, last year's winner Jake Rytlewski (Rite Aid) faced the storm and ran into technical issued and finished in 72nd place, 1:49 behind the leader.

Independance Day brings Stage 2 on Friday July 4. The Wachusett Mountain Road Race where riders will repeatedly face a grueling 11-mile course. On the final lap, the riders veer off the circuit for the spectacular finish at the 2,000-foot summit of Wachusett Mountain. Starting at 12:30pm the pro men will do 9 laps or 104 miles (167 km) and at 12:42pm, the women will race 6 laps or 69 miles (111 km).

Great to see that the local press is providing full coverage (wish this happened all the time).

Chain woes slow, but can’t faze Guarnier, from Telegram.com

Chodroff charges out to early lead and McGrath makes the most of opening stage, from SentinelandEnterprise.com


Full results here.

Closer look at New England Race Week

A new series is happening this week. Five of New England's most energetic race promoters got together this past winter to bring New England Race Week: eight days of racing across four states, all within about an hour's drive from Boston, MA. It combines three popular races that cyclists have been enjoying for years (Providence, Exeter and Fitchburg) and two exciting new events (Newton and Thompson).

And a nice purse for a first time series: a combined cash purse of over $75,000, series sponsors Acquia and SugarCRM have anted up an additional $4,000 cash for an omnium points series (pro/1 men and women) plus an award for any cyclist that completes all 8 days of racing, regardless of their placing.

The first event, on June 28,  was the Cox Charities Cycling Classic in Providence RI. where Kyle Wamsley (Colavita/Sutter Home) easily outsprinted his 2 breakaway companions Garrett Peltonen (Bissell) and Matt Johnson (CRCA/Empire Cycling) for the win.

On Sunday, the first ever Boloco Heartbreak Hill Grand Prix, run on a 2.6-mile circuit  race which includes the Boston Marathon’s infamous “Heartbreak Hill, was held.

Wamsley won again outsprinting Clayton Barrows (Rite Aid) and Ramos Kleber (Crocs-Garneau) for the win. (Full results here).

No women's race were held for the event in Newton.

On Monday, June 30, the riders moved to the Thompson International Speedway in Thompson, Connecticut for the Twilight Criterium to Benefit Cystic Fibrosis Research. With 38 starters in the field, Chris Scott (Locos Grill & Pub) won the bunch sprint ahead of Barrows and Richard Geng (Rite Aid). Only 5 (!) women participated in the women's open race won by Eve McNeill (Sunapee S & W). (Full results here).

On Tuesday July 1, the series moved to downtown Exeter in New Hampshire for the 26th annual Exeter Criterium. In the final downhill dash to the finish line, Shawn Milne (Team Type 1) was the first to make a move in the 110-man field and kept his momentum going to win ahead of Marcus Weinberg (Kahala-LaGrange) and Adam Myerson (Time Pro). (More in SeaCoastOnline article)



Bissell's Garrett Peltonen was involved in a crash and the good news is no broken bones, the bad news is massive headache, neck shoulder and chest pains.

In a small field of 20 riders, Brooke O'Connor (Hub Racing) won the sprint ahead of Kathryne Carr (Sunapee/S &W Racing Team) and Sally Annis (NEBC/CycleLoft/Devonshire Dental).  (Full results here


And that brings us to the final race in the New England Race Week, the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic starting today.

(Photos courtesy of Velocity Results)

Fitchburg Longsjo Classic Preview

The 49th Annual  Fitchburg Longsjo Classic  is happening on  July 3-6 in in Fitchburg, Mass. The four-day stage race brings a close to the  New England Race Week, five races across four states, all within about an hour's drive from Boston, MA.

The Fitchburg Longsjo Classic serves as a legacy for the history of cycling and the memory of Art Longsjo, a Fitchburg native and the first American to compete in the winter and summer Olympics in the same year.  Longsjo was originally a speed skater and as part of his training, he took up cycling. He qualified for  a spot on the 6 man Olympic Speed Skating Team to compete at the 1956 Olympics in Cortina, Italy. The same year, Longsjo won nearly every bike race he entered, which secured his position on the Olympic Cycling Team.  Since 1960 the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic has been held in living memory of Art Longsjo, who tragically died in an auto accident while returning from racing in Canada.

The men's teams.  The roster includes multiple previous winners starting with last year's winner Jacob Rytlewski, returning with his Rite Aid team to defend his title.  2006 winner Shawn Milne  will lead his 6-rider Team Type 1 squad that includes Chris Jones and Ian MacGregor. Three-time USA Cycling National Cyclo-cross champion and 2005 winner Jonathan Page is also coming back with his new team Battley Harley Davidson/Sonoma. The Health Net-Maxxis will be represented by only 4 riders including New Englander Tim Johnson. Other teams include CRCA/Empire Cycling, Kahala-LaGrange, Kenda/Raleigh and TARGETRAINING.

The strongest squads on paper are the Colavita/Sutter Home and Bissell teams. The Colavita team includes Cox Charities Cycling Classic winner Kyle Wamsley, climber Tyler Wren and sprinter Alejandro Borrajo.  On the Bissell side, look for an on form Aaron Olson and Teddy King to shake things up on the GC and for the Howard brothers and Richard England for the sprints.

The women's teams. Last year's winner Genevieve Gauthier is not included in the current start list. But the perennial competitors Laura Van Gilder (Cheerwine) and Tina Pic (Colavita/Sutter Home) will be present. Multiple Longsjo stage winner Van Gilder will count on her strong team which CSC Invitational winner Catherine Cheatley and Stacy Marple. US Criterium Champion Pic also has a strong team including Kristin McGrath and Dotsie Bausch.

Team Kenda Tire's Jacquelyn Crowell is a Junior National Road and TT Champion, will be joined by 2006 Can Am Pursuit Champion Anne Guzman, and Jacqueline Kurth, a Junior National Road Champion and TT & Crit Medalist. Other teams hoping to make it to the top step include Hub Racing and Terry Precision.

The stages. No major changes to the overall route except that due to conflicting events in Fitchburg, the Queen stage, Wachusett Mountain Road Race was moved up one day.  The organizers have created downloadable course maps, as well as 3D fly-overs of all of the race courses - all available from longso.com.


The first stage, on Thursday July 3,  is a 6.55-mile (10.5 km) point-to-point time trial with over 500 feet of elevation. The riders will leave the start gate at 30- seconds interval/ The first pro woman is scheduled to start at 3:30pm and the first pro man at 4:30pm (start list here).

Stage 2 on Friday July 4, is the Wachusett Mountain Road Race where riders will repeatedly face a grueling 11-mile course. On the final lap, the riders veer off the circuit for the spectacular finish at the 2,000-foot summit of Wachusett Mountain. Starting at 12:30pm the pro men will do 9 laps or 104 miles (167 km)  and at 12:42pm, the women will race 6 laps or 69 miles (111 km).

Saturday July 5 brings Stage 3,  the Fitchburg State College Circuit Race, around  3.1-mile (5 km) loop with approximately 100 ft. of climbing per lap. The pro women do 11 laps or 34 miles (55 km), and the pro men race over 24 laps or 75 miles (121 km).

The final stage on Sunday July 6 is the Workers Credit union Downtown Criterium in Fitchburg. The course has remained unchaged for decades, a flat 3-corner crit with a hairpin turn over 0.9 mile (1.4 km) city streets. Starting at 2:05pm, the pro women will race over 28 laps and at  3:30pm, the pro men will do 55 laps.


Startlist here.
Coverage  Worcester Telegram & Gazette Online.

In 2005, Jonathan Page and his then team Colavita/Sutter Home pulled an upset in the final stage, taking the 3 steps on the stage podium and moving Page from 3rd on GC to the top in the overall. Watch video:

NRC Standings as of June 30

Kyle Wamsley (Colavita/Sutter Home) took home the victory in the 22nd race on the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar, the Cox Charities Cycling Classic.  In the 23rd competition on the 2008 NRC, the Chevron Manhattan Beach Grand Prix, Rashaan Bahati (Rock Racing) earned the win in the men's criterium contest, while Brooke Miller (Tibco) won the pro women's race.

With 17 men’s races and 19 women’s events on the 2008 NRC now complete, the top 5 are:

Men's Individual Standings
1. Rory Sutherland (AUS/Health Net-Maxxis) 1396
2. Ben Jacques-Maynes (Watsonville, Calif./Bissell) 643
3. Ted King (Brentwood, N.H./Bissell) 622
4. Anthony Colby (Durango, Colo./Colavita-Sutter Home) 501
5. John Murphy (Athens, Ga./Healthnet-Maxxis) 499

Men's Team Standings
1. Health Net Pro Cycling Team presented by Maxxis 2631
2. Bissell Pro Cycling Team 1984
3. Colavita/Sutter Home Men's Cycling Team presented by Cooking Light 1756
4. Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 1520
5. Successfulliving.com presented by Parkpre 1271

Women's Individual Standings
1. Anne Samplonius (CAN/Cheerwine) 805
2. Joanne Kiesanowski (NZL/Team Tibco) 770
3. Leigh Hobson (CAN/Cheerwine) 765
4. Laura Van Gilder (Cresco, Pa./Cheerwine) 757
5. Tina Pic (Dahlonega, Ga./Colavita-Sutter Home) 747

Women's Team Standings
1. Cheerwine Professional Cycling Team 3331
2. Aaron's Cycling Team 2316
3. Colavita/Sutter Home Women's Cycling Team presented by Cooking Light 1954
4. Team Tibco 1920
5. Valuact Capitol Cycling Team 1148


For complete 2008 NRC Individual and Team Standings, click here.

The next race on the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar is the 2.3-rated Fitchburg Longsjo Classic in Fitchburg, Mass. which takes place July 3-6.

Last Saturday, Wamsley sprinted to victory at Cox Charities Cycling Classic

The Cox Charities Cycling Classic, in its seventh year and for the first time on the NRC, was held last Saturday June 28 in Providence RI. Kyle Wamsley (Colavita/Sutter Home) easily outsprinted his 2 breakaway companions and  was easily able to celebrate victory by two bike lengths. Garrett Peltonen (Bissell) and Matt Johnson (CRCA/Empire Cycling) came in second and third respectively.

The race was aggressive from the start as primes were on the hook for most of the first 20 of the 50 laps around the 1-mile course.  But everytime a move was made following the rush to the money line,  a constant headwind that blew down the back straight along the Providence River would seem to set them back.

Finally about mid-way through, under the impetus of a $150 prime,  a dozen from the 110-man field escaped, including Wamsley, Peltonen and Johnson.  Toyota-United's Ivan Stevic led the charge to try and bring them back and with 14 laps to go the field reeled them in. But experienced Johnson immediately counter-attacked and Wamsley and Peltonen jumped with the move.

The trio worked well together, the Colavita/Sutter Home team rode at the front of the field making it difficult for other teams to chase and the escapees made it to the finish line 24 seconds ahead of the field.

In the  race press release, when asked if he was surprised at his podium placing, Johnson credited his wife’s presence at the race. He also revealed that he had just completed an 11 hour work shift the previous day.


photo courtesy of VelocityResults

Stuff:

• Photos Steve Hopkins Photography.
• 10-minute video taken by fan roaming around the course.
• Full results here

Catching up with Dan Ramsey post MBGP

Time Pro's Dan Ramsey, racing solo at the Manhattan Beach Grand Prix - as his team had sent a full squad to the Tour of Pennsylvania - pulled out a few attacks and escaped with Kayle Leogrande (Rock Racing) in the first half of the race. The duo was reeled in and Dan went for it a few more times.

Time Pro Cycling is a new team for 2008. Under the leadership of Eric Saunders, the team's goal is to give young riders a shot at becoming professional bike racers. The 29-year old Ramsey was brought in to share his experience and knowledge from years of racing, including 6 years as an amateur in Italy.

What was the plan today as you are racing solo?
For me trying to be aggressive, other than Mike [Easter, Time Development Team] here, we're not exactly on the same team but if we can help each other, it's always a good thing, Mike got a top ten [note – Mike finished eleventh]. For me, I'm only going to win in a breakaway, I know that this race comes down to field sprint every year, but I had to give it shot.

Everytime I saw you and Kayle Leogrande in the break, you seemed to be in front. Was Kayle working in the break?
Kayle was pulling, he was hurting more that I was, I had to make sure, we had to stay together. If I tried dropping him, it wouldn't do me any good for me. Actually when I attacked, I told him to go with me. I made sure I had him because I knew that Rock Racing was the team to beat today so it was perfect to have their team block for us.  I wouldn't have been happy to take second place but in a sense second place at this race for me would have been a great result because it's normally, you know he could have sat on and taken the win, in that sense second place is good enough for me. You know you're going to get brought back, you give it a shot though, maybe a small group could have bridged up with a Toyota rider and one or two other teams represented and the race could have been over, but....

You tried a few other moves later in the race [after the 2-man break was reeled in].
I tried a few more times but towards the end a few guys attacked and I followed but then it was just Caleb Manion and myself who were just going for it, everybody was kind of following. Toyota-United was really trying to go for it because they knew that had a little bit of a shot at the end and Rock Racing was chasing.

What is it like to be an 'old' guy on your team?
It's good, a few times I've cracked a bit, I had to go drinking one night on my own to kind of calm down, get away from the boys, get drunk. Sometimes they get on my nerves.  (laughs)   I'm really happy, they're a real good group of guys, I think that at least a few of them have the potential to race in Europe in the next 5 years, they are some really good guys on the team. Actually the program is really good, we're pretty damned disorganized and we're a cluster half the time but I don't mind because I knew it was going to be that way, it's fun, we have fun together, we enjoy ourselves. The guys are learning a lot this year, the whole team is learning, Adam Myerson and myself and Jon Hamblen were all hired to kind of teach them and at the end of the day, the guys have learned a lot, they're teaching me because everybody learns, we are all learning from each other which is pretty cool.

Post MBGP chat with Jelly Belly's Brad Huff

I caught up with Jelly Belly's Brad Huff after the Manhattan Beach Grand Prix. With only 2 teammate, Matty Rice and Nic Sanderson, Brad finished third in the bunch sprint.

Since his return to racing earlier in June after knee injuries kept him away in the beginning of the season,  the 29-year old  has been showing great form with top 3 finishes at Commerce Bank Leigh Valley Classic, stage at Joe Martin Stage Race and a stage win in Tour of Arkansas.

In mid-June, Brad Huff, Mike Friedman, Colby Pearce and Bobby Lea competed in the track Olympic trials and when we talked, USA Cycling had not announced the squad for the Olympic games. Today, the Olympic team was announced and it included Lea with an automatic selection and Friedman with a discretionary nomination for the Madison.

What was the plan today with only 3 Jelly Belly riders racing?
We had a little of combine with Team Type 1, they're good friends of Matty Rice, we tried to work together throughout the race, not freaking out, paying attention, being patient. It usually comes down to a field sprint, we got lucky.  Actually it's not luck, it's a lot of risk, it gets really dangerous because it's hard enough where it weeds out people but then it's not hard enough because everybody can kind of jump around you coming into the corner so you have to be really attentive and stay on the gas until the last moment and then slide right in.

Tell me about the last corner.
I came into the last corner probably third... Freddie Rodriguez and Nic Sanderson. Nic Sanderson crashed, caused Freddie to crash and I came through the corner first so I just had to go, I couldn't float it. I pretty much wound out Rahsaan and Ricardo Escuela, I got them up to speed and all they had to do was give a little pop. You know I was content with that because it kept me out of trouble, if I had tried to float it a little then they would have been more of a swarm so it's just better if I really stay on the gas and risk losing to possibly win.


How are you since returning from your knee injuries?  It was a knee injury right?
Knee injuries and stuff, I'm just happy. I'm just happy, to have a podium place was even better. My team is really supportive, they really believe in me and it makes me feel good so that's why I gut it out and tried to hold on.


Have you heard about the selection for the Olympics?
Not yet, I know the truth and Mike Friedman is definitely the first pick of the group. Even if I don't get picked, my best friend gets to go to the Olympics, it's like a dream come true no matter what happens.

So (in closing)  is everything okay with your knee?
Yeah, I'm just getting old. (laughs).

Photos from the Women's race at Manhattan Beach Grand Prix

More photos in gallery

Photos from the Men's race at Manhattan Beach Grand Prix

More photos in gallery

Brooke Miller wins bunch sprint at Manhattan Beach Grand Prix

It came down to a bunch sprint at the women's race at the Manhattan Beach Grand Prix on Sunday June 29.  Tibco's Brooke Miller outsprinted last year's winner Laura Van Gilder (Cheerwine) and Jen McRae  (Advil/Chapstick) to take the win.

Attacks were tried during the 40-minute criterium on the bent-paperclip-shaped course but nothing was allowed to get away. ith 2 laps to go, New Zealander Alison Shanks (Jazz Apple) put out a dangerous move that quickly established 10 seconds to the field but Tibco's Amber Rais chased her down and the finish came down to a bunch sprint.

Friend Ken Conley has posted his usual great photos at kwc.org
My photo gallery
Full Results at usacycling.org

Post MBGP comments with Rock Racing's Rahsaan Bahati and Fast Freddie Rodriguez

Comments from a very relieved and happy Rahsaan Bahati and Fast Freddie Rodriguez after Bahati won for the second year in a row the Manhattan Beach Grand Prix last Sunday.

Rahsaan Bahati

About the win.
It's like a monkey off my back, it's weird going into a race that you've won the previous year, to have all my family out here, Rock Racing sponsored it. It's a lot to accomplish you know in one race, to entertain you guys, represent the sponsors well and to win the bike race, and as a team today, phenomenal.

About the teamwork from his Rock Racing team.
Like I said 100 percent phenomenal. Each guy rode exceptionally well, I was proud to be a part of Rock Racing today with all the pressure we had to come through, to ride the way they did, I was very proud of them. Sometimes in the race I had to yell just to keep them encouraged and motivated to do the right things in the race and not get lazy. I'm telling you, I know it sounds generic but the team did everything right today.

About having Fast Freddie as his leadout.
In Harlem we finished second, I was very disappointed and after the race I was very down on myself and Freddie just pulled me aside and said 'you just have to keep faith and follow me' and I didn't do that in Harlem, I got a little nervous, got swarmed and didn't follow my leadout guy. Today, it was more hectic, you have better guys, it's a better field here and I just kept telling myself 'don't let go of his wheel', I swear I didn't look up I just watched his cassette for the last two laps and it worked out.

Fast Freddie Rodriguez

About the race.
We wanted to put out a good show, this is LA baby, this is where I grew up. We wanted to put out a good show. I got taken out in the last corner, I came in second around the last corner leading out Bahati and the guy in front of me, I knew he took it a little too hot and he basically took me out. Luckily Bahati was three or four guys behind and we pulled it out perfectly.

Rahsaan Bahati wins Manhattan Beach Grand Prix - again

On Sunday June 29, the 47th Chevron Manhattan Beach Grand Prix was held in perfect weather for a bike race, sunny skies but not too hot. As the defending team with sprinter Rahsaan Bahati and presenting sponsor, the pressure was on the Rock Racing team.  And the squad delivered the goods.

Bahati won the bunch sprint avoiding the crash on the final turn that took down his leadout man Fast Freddie Rodriguez (see photos of the crash here).  Coming right behind him were Ricardo Escuela (Successful Living) and Brad Huff (Jelly Belly) who also avoided the crash.

As one of the few teams with a full roster present, Rock Racing controlled the front of the field. A 2-man break of Dan Ramsey (Time Pro) and Kayle Leogrande (Rock Racing) escaped during the first half of the race but was eventually brought back.  But that didn't stop Ramsey from trying again later in the 80-minute of racing around the paperclip-shaped 1.4-mile course but everything was brought back in time for the final bunch sprint. Ramsey did get a few primes for his trouble tho.

Of note, Toyota-United's Ivan Dominguez was registered to race but due to lower-back problems decided to sit this one out but was present to cheer on his teammates.

Race report on RoadBikeReview.com
Read Marco Fanelli's account of the race.
Friend Ken Conley has posted his usual great photos at kwc.org
My photo gallery
Full Results at usacycling.org