Race ResultsRace Held April 13, 2003| 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 - A relatively small field lined up for the last of the Bethel Spring Series races in 2003. With the overall GC wrapped up by Brian Wirtz (Bethel Cycle Sport), the race was really for the second GC spot and the $20 primes thrown out there. With 10 points on the line for a win today, anyone racing could take second overall as the second place rider overall Andy Ruiz (CCB/Volkswagen) had 9 points. With a number of GC no-shows, including many UCI racers now in foreign countries, the race was wide open. The most active racers initially seemed to be the warmed up Cat 3's, including riders like John McGovern (Bethel Cycle Sport) and Chris Pile (Tokeneke). As the race progressed though, riders who'd done early work found themselves without legs and dropped off the pace. Notable in their efforts were overall leader Wirtz, his teammate Scott Bodin, Raphael Diaz (Liberty Cycles), and Charles Whalen (Sleepy Hollow). John Funk (Ridgefield Bank) tried his patented attacks but to no avail. With the GC spots still available, no one could get away. It came down to a field sprint and Wirtz, paying back his teammates for their extraordinary work, led out Bodin for the win. With his previous 2 points, Bodin's total haul of 12 points netted him second on GC. It also garnered Bethel Cycle Sport the overall team prize. Wirtz finished second on the day, adding 7 points to his already secure total. Diaz took a close third to take 5 points, which with his previous 5 points gave him 10 points for third overall. His points were hard earned, including one point earned by time trialing in seventh place for virtually the whole race, only to surge in the last couple laps to catch and pass the rider in front of him to earn one point. Whalen, adding 2 points to his tally, took fourth overall with 9 points. Ruiz, absent to do bigger races, took fifth overall with his previous 9 points. Bethel Cycle Sport took the team prize, a 4 bike roof rack system from RV-INNO, a company new to the US market. The prize includes 4 fork-clamp bike mounts, bars, and feet. Cat 3/4 Race Report - Although not a record field, 79 racers showed up for a three team showdown. John McGovern (Bethel Cycle Sport) had a tenuous 2 point lead on GC. His time trialing prowess balances out his reluctance to contest field sprints and he was depending on escaping the field to score points. Second overall was held by Fernando Ferreira (Tarrytown), a savy rider who can work in breaks but can sprint as well. Third was held by Chris Pile (Tokeneke Road Club), a rider similar in proficiencies as Ferreira. Not afraid of breaks or sprints, he felt comfortable in both environments. All three brought out their teammates in an attempt to take the overall GC. McGovern actually had the entire Bethel M40+ team backing him, including super-domestique Brian Wolf and multiple winner Morgan Stebbins. Fernando brought out his squad as well, with a number of strong and savy riders like John Morales and Istvan Benyai. Pile showed up with a large Tokeneke force behind him, with standouts like Charles Mattison, Greg Bartick, Rick Spears, Brian Adler, and Mike Smallidge. The race started briskly with Bethel sending rider after rider off the front. Tokeneke was particulary vigilant at the front and spent a lot of energy motoring along at the front, with Pile comfortably tucked in behind rival McGovern. Ferreira, content to let Tokeneke work, stayed with McGovern too. Then, with $200 in primes offered over the course of about 10 laps, racers launched a flurry of attacks as individuals went after primes as large as $50 (half of them raised by friendly spectators). Bethel's M40 team gathered at the front, and after both Pile and Ferreira attempted to escape the field, McGovern launched a huge counterattack. Joined quickly by Junior overall winner Konrad Lebas (CCB/Volkswagen), strongman Dan Greenfield, and Todd Cassan (Rocinante), the 4 man group dangled just off the front. It looked shakey but then Stebbins rocketed across the gap and did some monster pulls. Suddenly, the break had 30 seconds. With literally a dozen or so Bethel teammates discouraging the chase, including a particularly attentive Wolf, Tokeneke and Tarrytown could not mount an effective chase. This did not mean they did not try - in fact, Tokeneke at times had 3 or 4 riders at the front, stringing out the field for laps at a time, but when they pulled off, an inevitable Bethel rider was there. Tarrytown put riders like Morales and Benyai at the front, but, again, the pace would drop when they pulled off. McGovern wrapped up the overall by taking 4th in the race. Ferreira, without earning any points, held his second overall. And Dan Greenfield, earning 7 points for second on the day, took third overall. M40+ Race Report - An interesting situation arose in the M40+ race when only one of the top three overall racers entered the race. All teammates, they were mainly saving their legs to help teammate McGovern in the 3/4 race. However, Stephen Gray (Bethel Cycle Sport) hopped in the race and found himself off the front with last years 3/4 winner Milton Ortiz (Cafeteros), a former pro who'd raced virtually all the pro races short of the Tour. Inevitably the duo stayed away for practically the whole race, trading pulls equally. Ortiz had the legs at the finish and won the race, with Gray taking second. Gray's 7 points put him on equal terms with teammate Morgan Stebbin's 31 points, but since Gray's final points were earned today, he took the overall. Teammate Scott Bodin took third overall without even starting, and with a dominating performace, the team took the overall prize too. A very fit William King (Yale), having returned from a West Coast racing break, took the field sprint for third, with ever present Bethel Cycle M40 Brian Wolf taking fourth. A very consistent and strong James Escobar (Honeywell) took fifth ahead of Bethel's Vassos Kyprianou, showing some sparks of form. Greg Avon (Kissena) took the final points spot in 7th place. Womens Race Report - With Alicia Geneset (Richard Sachs) absent, her overall victory was endangered only by Penny Buchar (WebEvent.com), who could win the Series by winning the day. Geneset's teammate Katrina Davis showed up solely to defend Geneset's position, and throughout the day marked Buchar. In the sprint, Davis sprinted ferociously to take the day's win, securing her teammate's overall win and her own third place overall. Buchar finished second for the day, happy with second overall but frustrated by being denied the overall victory once again. Mary Ellen Callandrillo (NJ Rock N Road/Signature Cycle) took a strong third, ahead of Cheryl Smith (Bethel Cycle Sport) and Louann Fernald (WebEvent.com). Junior Race Report - Konrad Lebas, after years of racing the Series, finally did it and took the overall win. His victory all but assured, he only had to keep an eye out on the consistent Steven Bruen (Ridgefield Bank). Devin Flaherty, part of the incredible NECSA squad, took the overall win. Lebas, with his second, clinched the overall. Matthew Sheldon (Tokeneke Road Club) took a fine third, with Bruen in fourth. Kyle Foley (NECSA) took fifth for the day. Cat 4 Race Report - With four riders easily capable of winning overall, the Cat 4 race ended up being extremely tactical. The four included current leader Humberto Cavalhiero (Cycle Center), second overall Jonathan Baxendale (Bethel Cycle Sport), third placed Anthony Restuccia (Unattached), and Kevin Haley (NJ Rock N Road/Signature Cycles). The three teams fielded their strongest riders and the race was marked by attack after attack as they tried to break each other. Andrew Lobsensz (Bethel Cycle Sport) launched an attack to soften up the two rival teams, but his move worked too well. He ended up winning the race and taking the 10 points that go with that. Behind, a furious sprint for second saw Stephen Dineley (Cycle Center) a clear winner of the sprint. Daniel Greenfield (Unattached) took a strong third for the day. Restuccia took fourth and 4 points. Jeff McKay (Ridgefield Bank) finished fifth, followed by Jon Fruminger (Tioga Velo). Cavalheiro, his overall win assured, took a final point in seventh spot. Cat 5 Race Report - With 12 racers theoretically able to win, the Cat 5 race ended up a race of nerves. Everyone marked everyone else and the race came down to a field sprint. Overall leader Jim Swiggart (Cycle Center) showed why he had the most points by winning the sprint, and with his 10 points, the overall. John Mattio (Unattached) took second, with Andrew Hollopeter (Bethel Cycle). That third was just enough to edge ahead of others to take third overall, tied on points but taking the place by virtue of a better finish in this last week. Ian Sinclair (Cycle Center) took fourth and 4 points. Noberto Olivera (Unattached) finished fifth, with Maximino Viega (Big Ring Cycling) sixth. John Loughrey (Don's Cycle) took the last point in seventh. 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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