Race Results2005 Ronde de Bethel| Pro 1/2/3 | Cat 3/4 | Masters | Women | Juniors | Cat 4 | Cat 5 |
| Pro 1/2/3 | Cat 3/4 | Masters | Women | Juniors Cat 4 | Cat 5 | These race reports are personal and hearsay observations by the writer. If you would like to send in race information, please do. If you would like to send in race information, please do. If you think there should be more said in a report, send in some comments. If you think a report is wrong, let me know. The reports will be updated at least weekly, if not more often. Pro 123 Race Report - A chilly and overcast day greeted the P/1/2/3 field. Returning was the defending champion Tim Unkert (Unattached), twice winner Brian Wirtz (Bethel Cycle Sport), former winner Eneas Freyre (Targe), and neo-pro Michael Norton (Nerac). Other strong men include race movers like Chris Pile (CRCA), Dan Greenfield (DK Cycling), Mike McGinley (CVC), and a hearty loooking Matthew Jamieson (Cogwild Cycling). After a relatively leisurely start, where riders took turns pulling for a bit and everyone caught up on their on-the-bike chatter, things started to string out a bit. Norton kept going for the primes, eventually winning three of them. The last prime sprint, won by Norton with Freyre taking the second spot, set the scene for a huge attack as the front riders never sat up after the sprint. Norton, Freyre, and an attentive Pile launched off the front as the front of the field disintegrated. Within two laps the break consolidated as those feeling frisky (who said that in what race?) left those feeling tired and moved off the front. Although two riders came off during the break, a core of eight riders set about gaining time in a serious fashion. Unkert, McGinley, Wirtz, and Greenfield were all there. After 30 minutes the break approached the back of the field. Norton and Greenfield launched a flurry of attacks, looking for weakness in the break, but the break stayed together, lapping the field. The field, pulled off the course at the bell, cleared the course, leaving the eight riders to duke it out amongst themselves. Incredibly, Matthew Jamieson (Cogwild Cycling), last year working to place in the 3/4 races, launched himself totally clear and took a clean sprint. McGinley, closing the gap, just could not do it and took a well earned second. Freyre took fourth just behind Wirtz, and Greenfield took fifth ahead of a fading Norton. Cat 3/4 Race Report - A strong complement of riders lined up for the first 3/4 race of the Series. With last year's overall podium lined up - Morgan Stebbins (Fastar), Aki Sato (Carpe Diem Racing), and David Kim (Westwood Velo), each with strong supporting riders, the race promised to be a difficult one. Mix in protagonists like Portugese Fernando Ferreira (Fastur) with a rash of strong teammates, Stephen Gray (Bethel Cycle Sport) and his strong support team including the likes of Brian Wolf, Brian Haas, and Greg Martin, and the race promised to be an exciting one. The start was quick, with Stebbins and Gray trying to get away in the opening stages of the race. But with legs a bit fatigued from the hard fought M40+ race, they came back. A number of breaks went away but inevitably the field would chase them down. The most threatening attack was by two riders, a Westwood Velo rider and a DK Cycling rider. They had a thirty second gap with less than 10 laps to go and it looked like they might make it. With teammates trying to disrupt the chase, it took the cohesive strength of Bethel Cycle Sport and Northeast Bicycles to bring back the break. Massive pulls by Wolf, Haas, Martin, Stebbins and others brought the break back in quick order. The field approached the last laps together. Racers went to the front to string things out for their friends and teammates. Stage One Cycling, Westwood Velo, Bethel Cycle, and Fastar all had leadout trains going into the finale. Sato opened the sprint but was caught and passed by Stebbins and then pipped at the line by John Morales (Cafeteros). Todd Crisafulli (Solutions Cycling) took fourth, with Monte Frank (Zephyr Cycling) and Jamin Turits (North Atlantic Velo) taking fifth and sixth respectively. M40+ Race Report - Once again the race ended up dominated by the two racers who diced for the overall lead in 2004 - Morgan Stebbins (Fastar) and Steve Gray (Bethel Cycle Sport). Other strong men included ever present Andy Ruiz (CCB Volkswagen), former 3/4 overall podium finisher Jorge Ortiz (Cafeteros), Stebbin's Fastar teammate Scott Bodin, and the Whalen brothers (Rob and Charles) from Sleepy Hollow. The race kept together until a series of attacks exploded the field. A small spill motivated riders to go a bit faster and shortly thereafter the inevitable break came from Stebbins and Gray. Ruiz, the Whalens, and Ortiz latched on, but Stebbins and Gray went again, taking off on their own. At the finish, after a long hard break, Stebbins won from Gray. Ruiz, having gone on his own a few laps back, took a lonely third. Ortiz got by the Whalens to take fourth, with Rob and Charles getting fifth and sixth. A short bit back was the field, led in by Bodin and Jim Escobar (Honeywell Cycling). Womens Race Report - A relatively large field of 20 women started the race. But with the M40+ romping around the course, the women stayed together, shedding a rider here and there, till the final sprint. There a strong Anne Marie Miller (Verizon Wireless) took the sprint ahead of defending champion Jen Magur (Team Biovail). Robyn Passander (Capital Velo) took third, with Emma Nelson (Bicycle Workshop) fourth. Kathleen Billington (Fuji) edged out Elizabeth Seward (CRCA) for fifth. Junior Race Report - The small junior field stayed together in the larger pack, isolated only when it was time to sprint. With a bit of confusion, Barry Miller (USI) won the sprint twice after he and Pascaual Caputi (Cafeteros) sprinted a lap early. Kyle Foley (Cuevas) took third. Cat 4 Race Report - A large field took to the course with some familiar names in there. A fast and ferocious sprint saw Ian Sinclair (Northeast Bicycles) take a clear win from Carlos Quintero (Cafeteros). John Teal (Tokeneke Road Club) led in the rest of the field for third, with Matthew Pearson (Sleepy Hollow Cycling Club) fourth, Jeffrey Von Dauber (Trailblazer) fifth, and Stephan McDonnel (Bethel Cycle Sport) rounding out the top 6. Cat 5 Race Report - The first Cat 5 race (there are two a week scheduled due to the demand on this race) was a textbook work by the Bethel Cycle Sport team. Six teammates worked flawlessly together to set up their sprinter Frank Dally. Dally responded by taking the sprint, after a leadout by teammate Eric Scarborough and some softening up work by jay Moody, Mark Flannigan, Jim Spinner, and Dana Perry. In fact, their leadout was strong enough to get Moody fourth and Flannigan fifth. Gerry Clapper made the most of the situation by getting a strong second for Beniform/Createx Colors and Joe Tramontano took thir for Northeast Bicycles. Andrew Zalasin (Unattached) did a strong ride to get sixth. In the second Cat 5 race, things went a little less planned but with the same results. Bethel Cycle Sport again won the race with Andrew Hackel, with Justin Bohan (Unattached) getting second. Northeast Bicycles had a trio of riders behind, with Jay Daily in third, Victor Jerez in fifth, and Gus Pecunia in sixth. Christian Forsyth (Unattached) nudged inbetween them to get fourth. If you have race reports, descriptions of crashes/near crashes/exciting incidents, team reports, please contact me. I will post everything that seems half truthful on the site.
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