Race ResultsRace Held March 28, 2004| 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 - Another battle royale for the overall took place with Brian Wirtz (Bethel Cycle) and overall leader Tim Unkert (Unattached) shaking the ground whenever they clashed. Unkert seemed strangely calm in the first part of the race as little breaks kept going up the road and just as quickly coming back. With Bethel Cycle covering moves and some opportunistic teams trying to work off one another, nothing seemed to stick. Finally, with a small group holding steady at 35 seconds, Unkert made a move, Wirtz marking him immediately. Unkert dragged the field around for a while then sat up. He then took off again, this time with only Wirtz and Kurt Hackler (Axis) for company. After a few hard pulls, Unkert rode the other two off and went off on another solo move. The field, pulled hard by Bethel Cycles, Stage One, and Sakonnet Technologies, kept Unkert within sight. With his gap shrinking each lap, he had only a 30 meter lead at the bell. Incredibly, one hard lap later, he crossed the line about 10 meters in front of a furiously sprinting Anthony Allesio (ReMax) to take a super close finish. Rich Hollenbeck (NECSA) took a great third spot, a bit behind Allesio but well clear of the next finisher. Wirtz managed to hang on for fourth, and John Legere (Benidorm/Createx) took a great fifth. Steve Badger (Sakonnet Technology) took sixth after a lot of hard work, followed by Andrew Hollopeter (Bethel Cycle Sport) in seventh. Brian Girard (Stage One) wound up eighth and Junior sensation Gavriel Epstein (CC Evesham) finished ninth. Dan Staffo (Verge Sports) took a fine tenth after doing a lot of work in the 3/4 race. Cat 3/4 Race Report - With David Kim (Westwood Velo) and Aki Sato (Carpe Diem Racing) tied at 10 points each, the day promised to be an exciting one. No one could forsee just how exciting it would become. Westwood Velo was vigilant in marking moves, but when a promising one went up the road, Kim would go with it. His teammate Morgan Stebbins was the wild card and his moves garnered a lot of attention. The huge field would not let anyone go though and the viscious headwind up the hill blew away any aspirations of a heroic solo break. With that the field roared into the last five laps gruppo compacto, all together. Northeast Bicycles, with their sprinter Vincent Cintron, looked to leadout the field with a few hundred meters to go but a Verge rider took over and did a massive pull to the hill. Cintron jumped, followed by an attentive Stebbins. Sato, dragged into position by teammate Joe Bitetto, jumped after them with Kim glued to his wheel. A massive pile up brought down about 30 racers just behind and to the left. Cintron, the wind melting his legs, slowed dramatically at the line, as did Sato. Stebbins sprinted clear of the bunch to take the win. Kim, Sato, and Cintron crossed the line virtually together but the camera showed Kim clearly ahead of Sato with Cintron just behind. Robert Scott (Cannondale) took fifth and Don Snoop (Verge Sports) sixth, both having avoided the carnage. Rich Foley (Bethel Cycle Sport) finished seventh, followed by Michael Spanenberg (DCA), John Morales (Cafeteros), and John Monson (Fiori Fruitta). Stebbin's win catapults him into second overall, a point behind teammate Kim. Sato drops to third overall. M40+ Race Report - A massive headwind on the hill kept the field together although Bethel Cycle Sport tried to get a few moves going with Joe Regan. One such move drew two Juniors including strongman Gavriel Epstein but Regan came back to the field. In the end it was Westwood Velo doing a big leadout for overall leader Morgan Stebbins (Westwood Velo). He returned the favor by taking the win, in front of the Bethel duo Scott Bodin and Stephen Gray. Stebbins' teammate Thomas Evans wound up fourth, with another couple Bethel riders Brian Wolf and Greg Pelican in fifth and sixth spots. Gene Pringle (TriState Velo) took a strong seventh. Bethel took eighth with Rich Foley, John Interlandi (Fioi Difruitta) ninth, and Jon Furminger (HVVC) finished off the top ten. Womens Race Report - No Report yet Junior Race Report - No Report yet Cat 4 Race Report - No Report yet Cat 5 Race Report - No Report yet About Carpe Diem | ||