Race ResultsRace Held March 07, 2004| 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. The reports will be updated at least weekly, if not more often. Pro 123 Race Report - There was a record 100 racer field today, and with it, some large primes. Two $75 primes ($50/$25) and three $50 primes meant a fast and aggressive race. A lot of familiar faces showed up including last year's overall winner Brian Wirtz (Bethel Cycle Sport) who was ably supported by his team, a new Sakonnet Technology team led by Stephen Badger, a fresh Remax team captained by former overall winner Anthony Allesio, and for this week only, an insanely aggressive University of Vermont team. Two special guests were a pair of Team Monex racers, Greg Wolf and Davide Frattini. Frattini won the amateur Giro in 2001 and raced for Allesio till last year - he had flown in from Italy the night before. Wolf just arrived East after his team's successful season start at Valley of the Sun in AZ. Both racers would influence the outcome of the race. At the beginning though, it seemed like a UVM show, with their team launching racer after racer was off the front. Noticeable in his efforts was UVM strongman Kevin Bouchard-Hall, making a couple big efforts, each one brought back by a strung out field. However, about 2/3 of the way into the 70 minute timed period, Wolf, Wirtz, and Bouchard-Hall (UVM) launched off the front. Immediately getting a gap, they set about tapping out a good gap. In fact, there were many in the large field that didn't even know they were gone. Frattini, having just raced in NYC a few hours earlier, chased down any attempts to bridge, aided by numerous Bethel Cycle Sport racers protecting Wirtz. UVM also shut down chase attempts. In the field, group after group would launch chases, only to be brought back. Finally Tim Unkert (Unattached), formerly a bronze medallist in the National Road Race, chased down a rider dangling off the front of the field, a strong looking Michael Norton (Ideal Tile). Together they got a gap on the field, although they never got in site of the break. In the end, Bouchard-Hall's efforts got the best of him as he rolled in third. Wirtz took the sprint in front of Wolf. Norton took Unkert at the line. The field sprint wound up with former Pro/1/2/3 winner Anthony Allesio (ReMax) getting a huge leadout from his team, but he pulled a cleat out in the sprint. The lone GS Mengoni racer, Rosalvert Marte, took advantage and won the sprint for 6th. With 10 paying places, Allesio still got in the money for 7th (but no points for overall) after the leadout by Chris Pile (Remax), with friendly rival Badger (Sakonnet Technology) in 8th. Richard Hollenbeck (NECSA), the first Cat 3, grabbed 9th spot ahead of the tireless Stephen Gray, who had been in a racelong break earlier in the M40+ race. Cat 3/4 Race Report - A full field (complete with waiting list) lined up ready to do battle, fighting for three $50 primes and some finish money. Familiar faces included former daily winners Vincent Cintron (Northeast Bicycles), David Kim (Westwood Velo), last year's Cat 4 champion Humberto Cavalheiro (NJRR/Signature Cycles), each with a strong team backing them. Bethel Cycle Sport had a huge team led by captain John Baxendale. Some unfamiliar faces included a strong University of Vermont team, out for a day of training. The racing started hard with all the major teams launching attack after attack. Noticeably visible at the front were two teams - Bethel Cycle and University of Vermont. With such a large field though, there were plenty of fresh legs to chase down the attacks. It seemed like every break was missing one or two teams, and those missing teams would chase the breaks down. At five to go it was still together. Although there were some last minute attacks, they were all doomed to failure. A wild field sprint ensued with Johan Koserius (Fiordifrutta) taking a great win. Aki Sato (Carpe Diem Racing) took second, with UVM racer Daniel Vaillancourt third. Kim crossed the line fourth with Cavalheiro fifth. Keith Snyder (Kissena) came in sixth and picked up the final GC points. Daniel Greenfield (Quad Cycles/Arlington Bicycle Club) took home seventh, with Bethel captain Baxendale eighth. Kim's teammate Brandon Eifrid took ninth, and Cavalheiro's teammate Kevin Haley (NJRR/Signature Cycles) snagged the last spot at tenth. M40+ Race Report - Bethel Cycle Sport, the third ranked Masters 35 team in the nation, showed everyone how they earned that recognition in the M40+ race. The only upstart was last year's overall M40+ winner, Morgan Stebbins (Westwood Velo). With Stebbins racing for Westwood Velo, it promised to be a tough race. It all started when John McGovern (Bethel Cycle Sport), last year's Cat 3 Bethel winner and current National Duathalon Champion, attacked from the start, riding teammates and opponents alike off his wheel. A chase from the defending Stebbins was marked by Bethel teammates Greg Pelican and Stephen Gray. John Interlandi (Fiordi Frutta) and Canadian Junior sensation Gavriel Epstein (CC Evesham) went along with the move too. A few hard laps brought them up to McGovern, with a now sizeable gap on the field. Epstein immediately attacked, shelling Pelican and Interlandi from the break. Eventually the lead quartet lapped the field. Epstein was content with a lap on his closest rival. However, McGovern, knowing his sprint is his weakness, launched attack after attack, trying to break clear of the field. Stebbins marked him each time and the race came down to the sprint. McGovern, having played out his solo card, gathered himself and led the field out for his team. But Stebbins showed how he won the 2003 Series by fighting off Bethel Cycle Sport's sprinter Gray. Gray got second by half a wheel, with McGovern somewhere in the field for third. Interlandi and Pelican, barely free of the field, managed to stay clear in that order for fourth and fifth. Scott Bodin (Bethel Cycle), a former silver medalist in Nationals, took the field after policing all the various counters trying to escape the field. Jon Furminger (WebEvent.Com) took seventh, with Eugene Pringle (Tri-State Velo) nabbing eighth spot. Series regular Christopher Guglielmo (CTS) got some more recognition for the CTS folks (who sponsor the Series) by taking ninth, and Bill Thompson (Bethel Cycle Sport) finished off the results by taking tenth. Womens Race Report - With the Masters (and one Junior) trying to rip the field apart, the Women's race was tough from the get-go. A large 19 racer field took to the line and had a competitive race. Other racers in the field said that the following 3/4 race was a lot easier! But that didn't concern the super consistent Laura Summers (HVVC), fresh from a training camp out West. She rocked in the sprint to take the win. Jen Magur (Verge Sport) took second, putting the Verge name in front of everyone once again (they are partially sponsoring the leader's jerseys). Dale Malkames (USI) took third, and Summers' teammate Penny Buchar (HVVC) finished fourth. Sara Pragluski (Cyclonauts), in her first crit (and second bike race) took a surprising fifth. Wendy Cohen (Hell's Kitchen Cycling) rounded out the top six. Junior Race Report - Well, before the race started, a Canadian team requested information on the Series, where to stay, etc. They showed up and their Junior racer, Gavriel Epstein, displayed strong form by joining the early (and aggressive) breakaway. Not content just to sit in, he actually attacked the break, slicing a couple riders out of it, and proceeded trade pulls with a strong John McGovern (M40 Bethel Cycle Sport). In the meantime, with first place way up the road and about to latch onto the back of the field, the other Juniors had a scrap to decide who'd get second. Barry Miller (USI) won that deal, with Kyle Foley (NECSA) getting third. Matthey Scherp (Bikers Edge) took fourth, with Steven Bruen (Fiordi Frutta) taking fifth. Mike Wiles (NECSA) rounded out the points in sixth. Cat 4 Race Report - A huge 85 racer field toed the line as this race got ready to go. Four $20 primes in 45 minutes meant a lot of fast racing. University of Vermont was easily the most recognizable team in this race, launching racer after racer, some staying away for a few laps at a time. Most came back though as the wind wore down on the solo efforts. In the end the race came down to a field sprint. Robert Scott (Cannondale) slayed all to take the top spot. Randal Henderson (Unattached) took second, with Luke Kirsch third for UVM. Daniel Sullivan (NJ Rock 'n Road) picked up fourth, followed by Cycle Center teammates Brian Sweeney and Danny Zelinski in fifth and sixth. Other paying spots were Andrew Kalter, racing for the new Northeast Bicycle team, and George Meyer, racing for Signature Cycles. Cat 5 Race Report - Due to an astonishing number of racers (over 80), there were two Cat 5 fields. In the first one, riders who are officially unattached (but wearing matching team uniforms) took first and second in an amazing sprint, finishing just clear of the field. Those two were Jason White (Unattached) and Dana Alia (Unattached). Tedd Ruma (Unattached) took third, with Edward Meyer (Dartmouth) finishing fourth for his school. Richard Linsky (Unattached) earned fifth and Scott Roth (Unattached) ended up sixth. Matt Pearson (Sleepy Hollow) took a well deserved seventh - he was one of the racers responsible for the virtually sand free pavement everyone rode on. In the second Cat 5 race, things seemed a little more chaotic, with more teams taking control of the race. But, like the first one, it came down to a field sprint. Colin Grotheer (Tokeneke Road Club) took the win, with Pat Dunlavey (University of Vermont) in second. Justin Bohan (Unattached) finished third, in front of Pascal Fernandez (USI). Alexander Timkovich (Unattached) took fifth, with Anthony Billard (Capitol Velo Club) rounding out the top six. 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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