Bethel Spring Series 2006 - Circuit Francis J Clarke results

Race Reports. These are compiled from various reports sent in and may in fact be total fiction. If you would like to contribute to the race reports, please email me your experiences and observations in your race/s and your report will be anonymously included in the appropriate race reports.

Pro-1-2-3:
A moderate sized field lined up for the final Pro-1-2-3 race in the Bethel Spring Series, the Circuit Francis J Clarke, but what a field! Anthem-CCCC, intent on defending Mike McGinley's overall lead, lined up with heavy hitters Nikola Smutny, Charles Aiden, and the rest of the Anthem team. Their ideal race would have been for six non-GC racers to ride away from the field and take all the points. Failing that they would give McGinley a tremendous leadout and launch him to the line. In contrast, Sakonnet Technology, with Robert Giannini in second overall and Stephen Badger in third, lined up with only the two of them. Their goal was simple - keep it together enough so that Giannini could try and take one points place higher than McGinley. The wild card was Target Training. Although they didn't have any overall contenders, they brought in probably the heaviest hitter ever to race the course at Bethel - Alejandro Acton, on form, on fire, and fresh off a spectacular NRC win at Ojai, CA (link),

At the start, Acton was full of confidence and it showed. He put down the gauntlet by responding after a couple early attacks came back. For two laps racers desperately tried to hang onto his wheel but after he rid himself of the last one, he put his head down and went. Visibly faster and smoother than anyone out there, he proceeded to show everyone watching just what it takes to be a competitive racer on the NRC circuit.

Ultimately, he lapped the field, taking the 10 points for the win. This put pressure on the Sakonnet duo as they only had six places left to score over McGinley. The attacks came one after another but the field stayed together with a lot of work done by Sakonnet's Badger, working selflessly for his teammate's overall chances. As the laps wound down, the field stayed together. Anthem put their rider on the front and gave McGinley what should have been the ultimate leadout. But a fresh Giannini came tearing around the outside and pipped McGinley at the line. Giannini's second place put him a point over McGinley in the overall, and his seven points also wrapped up the team prize - the Sakonnet duo took the overall team prize. With the rest of the places taken by fourth placed Ed Angeli (Benidorm), a resurgent Barry Miller (UPMC) in fifth, Smutny in sixth, and seventh place Scott Bodin (TargetTraining), Badger retained his third place overall. With first overall, third overall, and the team trophy, the Sakonnet Technology team took the most trophies home per racer.

Women:
Along with a number of strong individual racers, three large teams lined up for the final women's race of the Bethel Spring Series - CT Coast Cycling, Comedy Central /New Canaan Cyclery, and Team Advil-Chapstick. The latter has been dominant in the series and with consistent turnout and consistent placings, it was only a matter of how many of their racers they could put on the podium. With Gearwork's Anna Milkowski and CT Coast Cycling's Kathleen Billington absent, no one could take the overall way from Team Advil-Chapstick. But if they could put some racers high up in the placings today, they could sweep the podium.

They immediately put the pressure on with teammates Mara Miller, Heather Labance, and Emma Nelson drawing clear. They were joined by a strong Mimi Boyle (TargetTraining), Beth Miller (North Atlantic Velo), and an understated but powerful Elisa Gagnon (Unattached). They stayed away but Team Advil-Chapstick wasn't done yet - Mara Miller and Labance went off the front to finish one-two. Nelson took third, with Boyle, Miller, and Gagnon following in that order. Reem Jishi, another Team Advil-Chapstick racer, took the seventh and final spot.

With another dominating performace, Team Advil-Chapstick took the overall with Labance, second with Nelson, and third with Miller (thanks to her big points win). There was a big difference this week versus some of the other weeks at Bethel - their racers successfully splintered a vigilant field, forcing the pace, bringing the race to the other women. Such racing is uncommon in anything but the Pro/1/2's and should be commended.

As a note, due to the positive response to the Women's Open race, this race will be permanently added to the schedule as a separate race. Thanks to the women who came out, showed their support for the race, and raced their hearts out.

3-4:
Anthem-CCCC was in the hotspot in this race as well with Peter Morgan holding the jersey from the first week. However, the last two weeks saw Morgan twice outsprinted by a brilliantly riding Bryan Haas (Bethel Cycle) and his supportive crew of Bethel Cycle racers. Anthem wanted to see the points go up the road in a break. Bethel, with a 2 point spread between Haas and Morgan, wanted to see it come down to a field sprint and gamble on Haas's form. It seemed a good gamble as he'd won two and placed third in another race.

The team outside of the overall but anxious to get in there was TargetTraining. With no Acton type racer able to race the 3-4's, and their highest points scorer Morgan Stebbins absent, it was up to the others to take the race up the road. Their attacks were hard and furious and forced Bethel to use their large squad to chase over and over. Cafeteros, whose John Morales was feeling up to snuff, would put racers on the front too. Miscellaneous other teams like the dominant 4's from Miyashoji put in their moves, but the Bethel squad would not let anyone get more than 5 or 10 seconds away, even if they had their own racers in the move. They were racing for the overall and had to risk it all. Haas had to get first or second (and beat Morgan) to get the top step on the podium. The beneficiary from Bethel's chasing was Aki Sato (Carpe Diem Racing), whose third place overall was threatened by 14 racers. As no breaks were allowed to go, he was able to let other racers protect his overall. He just had to take a decent place to protect his overall. Nursed along by his teammates, this looked to be a distinct possibility.

With 5 to go Bethel moved literally about a ten riders into the front part of the field. The worked hard to keep the pace high and contain any attacks. And although TargetTraining had a good go, Bethel kept things together for the final laps of the race. They managed to have two leadout men for Haas on the backstretch of the last lap with teammate Stephen Gray just off the front. Morgan waved off his leadout man and sat directly on Haas, with Sato directly on his wheel. It seemed to be a straightforward finish for a 2006 Bethel Spring Series race. But them Morgan lost Haas's wheel and had to go early and on his own. Haas responded immediately but Sato could not - he was out of the race. Only 50 meters later, Haas too had blown and sat up. Morgan, with all the pressure on his shoulders, had responded brilliantly and raced a perfect race. He took the win and his 10 points also got Anthem the overall. John Mattio (TargetTraining) took second in the race and fourth overall. Morales responded to his team's support and took third spot. Kevin Yarke (Therafeet Cycling) took fourth, Tom Arcari (Anthem-CCCC) took fifth as well as two primes, and seventh was taken by Christopher Kohnle (Park City Cycling Academy). Although Haas sat up, he was untouchable in second overall. Sato was fortunate enough to retain his third overall.

M40+:
The Masters race was wide open this year with past winner Morgan Stebbins (TargetTraining) absent for the day and not on form compared to previous years. The leader was William Thompson, a strong racer, a great breakaway racer, but just below the best sprinters in a mass finish. His points were hard earned, all of them in long breaks against strong fields. His slim lead was threatened by a number of racers including Andy Ruiz (CCB/Volkswagen), TargetTraining's Curtis Eastin and Scott Bodin, Tom Officer (Hudson Valley Velodrome), and his own teammate Stephen Gray.

It came down to a tight sprint and the winner was a surprisingly fast John Interlandi (Fiordifrutta) in front of Ruiz. Gray hung on grimly for third, giving him the points needed to take the overall victory. Behind the TargetTraining duo Eastin and Bodin finished fourth and fifth respectively. Rich Foley (Bethel Cycle) took sixth ahead of his teammate Thompson. Unfortunately this put Thompon at the tail end of a three way tie for second with Ruiz and Eastin. Ruiz's high place on the last day netted him second overall and Eastin's fourth for the day earned him third overall.

Cat 4:
With the overall decided for first and second, the strongest racers in the Series, John-Paul Kaminiski (Miyashoji.com) and Douglas Schwartz (TargetTraining) could relax and watch the others race for third. And although both of their teams could have been totally inert, they still managed to control things enough that the race ended in a field sprint. With about 6 laps to go Bethel's Dan ? went off the front. The plan was to go for a break, and if it didn't work, teammate Ryan Haug would counter. Unfortunately for Dan, the field was still in its mode and managed to bring him back after a few laps. Haug countered and went clear and built up a tenuous lead going into the last lap.

But it was not to be. With the field lead by overall leader Kaminiski around the sweeping turn at the bottom of the hill, Rob Marcinko (CT Coast Cycling) went early and passed Haug just before the line. Behind him Kaminiski brought the field up the hill with two teammates just behind. He went to Haug's left but Haug pipped Kaminiski at the line with Kaminiski even throwing his bike. But for Kaminiski it was purely symbolic and just a matter of pride for he had finished his total domination of the Cat 4 overall. His third place in the race was his worst place in the Series. His active and positive style of racing bodes well for this upcoming racer, and his team have demonstrated their willingness and ability to work for a designated leader. In fact, Kaminiski's Miyashoji teammates Jordan Copeland and Tom Siano, having gone to the inside line of the sprint, finished just behind Kaminiski in fourth and fifth. Brian Kelley (HVVC) was just behind in sixth, and Jay Vincent (Cycle Center) took 7th.

Cat 5's First race:
The first Cat 5 race was a straightfoward race which did not count for the overall. The almost 40 racers had the luxury of racing without the overall leaders and so could race individually as they wished. There were a number of strong attacks but they all came back. One racer selectively active was Brian Specyalski (Cyclonauts), a racer who had already placed in an earlier week. He was active in bringing back a group that had edged away off the front. In the end he finished off his work for the day by taking the sprint to win the race. George Mastrogiannis (Cycle Center) finished just behind in second, trailed by John Aizarani (CT Coast Cycling) in third and Jason Gay (Brooklyn Velo) in fourth. Jeff Chodroff (Cadence Cycling) took fifth and Peter Frenzilli (Unattached) was sixth.

Cat 5's Second race:
The overall for the 5's was still very much in the air when this very select group of Cat 5 racers started. They were all racers that had been in the front end of the splits over the past weeks and had proven themselves by earning points throughout the Series. Like last week Simon Bennet (Unattached) started the fireworks by rocketing off the front. But the rest recognized him now and never let him build a lead like he did during the Criterium de Bethel. All the top racers bridged and, the break neutralized, it was status quo again. The race was ultimately won by Chad Dalles (Unattached) who has done a spectacular series of races at Bethel and demonstrated both his riding prowess and tactical astuteness. Second was no less a rider in Jonathan Worchol (Miyashoji.com) who is itching to upgrade to join his Cat 4 teammates. Third was Gabrielle Gentile (Cafeteros). Bennet finished fourth, with Todd Gay (Bethel Cycle) in fifth, Jeremy Linder (Epic Velo/Cheshire Cycle) in sixth, and the last point for seventh snagged by Jay Vincent (Cycle Center).



	Circuit Francis J Clarke, April 9, 2006 Pro-1-2-3 1. Alejandro Acton, Target Training 2. Robert Giannini, Sakonnet Technology 3. Mike McGinley, Anthem-CCCC 4. Ed Angeli, Benidorm 5. Barry Miller, UPMC 6. Nikola Smutny, Anthem-CCCC 7. Scott Bodin, Target Training 3-4's 1. Peter Morgan, Anthem-CCCC 2. John Mattio, TargetTraining 3. John Morales, Cafeteros 4. Kevin Yarke, Therafeet Cycling 5. Tom Arcari, Anthem-CCCC 6. NA 7. Christopher Kohnle, Park City Cycling Academy M40+ 1. John Interlandi, Fiordifrutta 2. Andy Ruiz, CCB/Volkswagen 3. Stephen Gray, Bethel Cycle 4. Curtis Eastin, Target Training 5. Scott Bodin, Target Training 6. Rich Foley, Bethel Cycle 7. William Thompson, Bethel Cycle Women 1. Mara Miller, Team Advil-Chapstick 2. Heather Labance, Team Advil-Chapstick 3. Emma Nelson, Team Advil-Chapstick 4. Mimi Boyle, TargetTraining 5. Beth Miller, North Atlantic Velo 6. Elisa Gagnon, Unattached 7. Reem Jishi, Team Advil-Chapstick Juniors 1. Filip Capala, Unattached 2. Robert Schmidt, NERT-CBRC 3. Kyle Foley, Cuevas 4. Connor Sallee, Pawling Cycle & Sport 5. Graham Lang, Pawling Cycle & Sport 6. Will Cox, Pawling Cycle & Sport 4's 1. Rob Marcinko, CT Coast Cycling 2. Ryan Haug, Bethel Cycle 3. John-Paul Kaminiski, miyashoji.com 4. Jordan Copeland, Mijashoji.com 5. Tom Siano, Miyashoji.com 6. Brian Kelley, HVVC 7. NA 5's !st race 1. Brian Specyalski, Cyclonauts 2. George Mastrogiannis, Cycle Center 3. John Aizarani, CT Coast Cycling 4. Jason Gay, Brooklyn Velo 5. Jeff Chodroff, Cadence Cycling 6. Peter Frenzilli, Unattached 5's, 2nd race (for GC) 1. Chad Dalles, Unattached 2. Jonathan Warchol, Miyashoji.com 3. Gabrielle Gentile, Cafeteros 4. Simon Bennett, Unattached 5. Todd Gay, Bethel Cycle 6. Jeremy Linder, Epic Velo/Cheshire Cycle 7. Jay Vincent, Cycle Center Race Reports. These are compiled from various reports sent in and may in fact be total fiction. If you would like to contribute to the race reports, please email me your experiences and observations in your race/s and your report will be anonymously included in the appropriate race reports. Pro-1-2-3: A moderate sized field lined up for the final Pro-1-2-3 race in the Bethel Spring Series, the Circuit Francis J Clarke, but what a field! Anthem-CCCC, intent on defending Mike McGinley's overall lead, lined up with heavy hitters Nikola Smutny, Charles Aiden, and the rest of the Anthem team. Their ideal race would have been for six non-GC racers to ride away from the field and take all the points. Failing that they would give McGinley a tremendous leadout and launch him to the line. In contrast, Sakonnet Technology, with Robert Giannini in second overall and Stephen Badger in third, lined up with only the two of them. Their goal was simple - keep it together enough so that Giannini could try and take one points place higher than McGinley. The wild card was Target Training. Although they didn't have any overall contenders, they brought in probably the heaviest hitter ever to race the course at Bethel - Alejandro Acton, on form, on fire, and fresh off a spectacular NRC win at Ojai, CA (link), At the start, Acton was full of confidence and it showed. He put down the gauntlet by responding after a couple early attacks came back. For two laps racers desperately tried to hang onto his wheel but after he rid himself of the last one, he put his head down and went. Visibly faster and smoother than anyone out there, he proceeded to show everyone watching just what it takes to be a competitive racer on the NRC circuit. Ultimately, he lapped the field, taking the 10 points for the win. This put pressure on the Sakonnet duo as they only had six places left to score over McGinley. The attacks came one after another but the field stayed together with a lot of work done by Sakonnet's Badger, working selflessly for his teammate's overall chances. As the laps wound down, the field stayed together. Anthem put their rider on the front and gave McGinley what should have been the ultimate leadout. But a fresh Giannini came tearing around the outside and pipped McGinley at the line. Giannini's second place put him a point over McGinley in the overall, and his seven points also wrapped up the team prize - the Sakonnet duo took the overall team prize. With the rest of the places taken by fourth placed Ed Angeli (Benidorm), a resurgent Barry Miller (UPMC) in fifth, Smutny in sixth, and seventh place Scott Bodin (TargetTraining), Badger retained his third place overall. With first overall, third overall, and the team trophy, the Sakonnet Technology team took the most trophies home per racer. Women: Along with a number of strong individual racers, three large teams lined up for the final women's race of the Bethel Spring Series - CT Coast Cycling, Comedy Central /New Canaan Cyclery, and Team Advil-Chapstick. The latter has been dominant in the series and with consistent turnout and consistent placings, it was only a matter of how many of their racers they could put on the podium. With Gearwork's Anna Milkowski and CT Coast Cycling's Kathleen Billington absent, no one could take the overall way from Team Advil-Chapstick. But if they could put some racers high up in the placings today, they could sweep the podium. They immediately put the pressure on with teammates Mara Miller, Heather Labance, and Emma Nelson drawing clear. They were joined by a strong Mimi Boyle (TargetTraining), Beth Miller (North Atlantic Velo), and an understated but powerful Elisa Gagnon (Unattached). They stayed away but Team Advil-Chapstick wasn't done yet - Mara Miller and Labance went off the front to finish one-two. Nelson took third, with Boyle, Miller, and Gagnon following in that order. Reem Jishi, another Team Advil-Chapstick racer, took the seventh and final spot. With another dominating performace, Team Advil-Chapstick took the overall with Labance, second with Nelson, and third with Miller (thanks to her big points win). There was a big difference this week versus some of the other weeks at Bethel - their racers successfully splintered a vigilant field, forcing the pace, bringing the race to the other women. Such racing is uncommon in anything but the Pro/1/2's and should be commended. As a note, due to the positive response to the Women's Open race, this race will be permanently added to the schedule as a separate race. Thanks to the women who came out, showed their support for the race, and raced their hearts out. 3-4: Anthem-CCCC was in the hotspot in this race as well with Peter Morgan holding the jersey from the first week. However, the last two weeks saw Morgan twice outsprinted by a brilliantly riding Bryan Haas (Bethel Cycle) and his supportive crew of Bethel Cycle racers. Anthem wanted to see the points go up the road in a break. Bethel, with a 2 point spread between Haas and Morgan, wanted to see it come down to a field sprint and gamble on Haas's form. It seemed a good gamble as he'd won two and placed third in another race. The team outside of the overall but anxious to get in there was TargetTraining. With no Acton type racer able to race the 3-4's, and their highest points scorer Morgan Stebbins absent, it was up to the others to take the race up the road. Their attacks were hard and furious and forced Bethel to use their large squad to chase over and over. Cafeteros, whose John Morales was feeling up to snuff, would put racers on the front too. Miscellaneous other teams like the dominant 4's from Miyashoji put in their moves, but the Bethel squad would not let anyone get more than 5 or 10 seconds away, even if they had their own racers in the move. They were racing for the overall and had to risk it all. Haas had to get first or second (and beat Morgan) to get the top step on the podium. The beneficiary from Bethel's chasing was Aki Sato (Carpe Diem Racing), whose third place overall was threatened by 14 racers. As no breaks were allowed to go, he was able to let other racers protect his overall. He just had to take a decent place to protect his overall. Nursed along by his teammates, this looked to be a distinct possibility. With 5 to go Bethel moved literally about a ten riders into the front part of the field. The worked hard to keep the pace high and contain any attacks. And although TargetTraining had a good go, Bethel kept things together for the final laps of the race. They managed to have two leadout men for Haas on the backstretch of the last lap with teammate Stephen Gray just off the front. Morgan waved off his leadout man and sat directly on Haas, with Sato directly on his wheel. It seemed to be a straightforward finish for a 2006 Bethel Spring Series race. But them Morgan lost Haas's wheel and had to go early and on his own. Haas responded immediately but Sato could not - he was out of the race. Only 50 meters later, Haas too had blown and sat up. Morgan, with all the pressure on his shoulders, had responded brilliantly and raced a perfect race. He took the win and his 10 points also got Anthem the overall. John Mattio (TargetTraining) took second in the race and fourth overall. Morales responded to his team's support and took third spot. Kevin Yarke (Therafeet Cycling) took fourth, Tom Arcari (Anthem-CCCC) took fifth as well as two primes, and seventh was taken by Christopher Kohnle (Park City Cycling Academy). Although Haas sat up, he was untouchable in second overall. Sato was fortunate enough to retain his third overall. M40+: The Masters race was wide open this year with past winner Morgan Stebbins (TargetTraining) absent for the day and not on form compared to previous years. The leader was William Thompson, a strong racer, a great breakaway racer, but just below the best sprinters in a mass finish. His points were hard earned, all of them in long breaks against strong fields. His slim lead was threatened by a number of racers including Andy Ruiz (CCB/Volkswagen), TargetTraining's Curtis Eastin and Scott Bodin, Tom Officer (Hudson Valley Velodrome), and his own teammate Stephen Gray. It came down to a tight sprint and the winner was a surprisingly fast John Interlandi (Fiordifrutta) in front of Ruiz. Gray hung on grimly for third, giving him the points needed to take the overall victory. Behind the TargetTraining duo Eastin and Bodin finished fourth and fifth respectively. Rich Foley (Bethel Cycle) took sixth ahead of his teammate Thompson. Unfortunately this put Thompon at the tail end of a three way tie for second with Ruiz and Eastin. Ruiz's high place on the last day netted him second overall and Eastin's fourth for the day earned him third overall. Cat 4: With the overall decided for first and second, the strongest racers in the Series, John-Paul Kaminiski (Miyashoji.com) and Douglas Schwartz (TargetTraining) could relax and watch the others race for third. And although both of their teams could have been totally inert, they still managed to control things enough that the race ended in a field sprint. With about 6 laps to go Bethel's Dan ? went off the front. The plan was to go for a break, and if it didn't work, teammate Ryan Haug would counter. Unfortunately for Dan, the field was still in its mode and managed to bring him back after a few laps. Haug countered and went clear and built up a tenuous lead going into the last lap. But it was not to be. With the field lead by overall leader Kaminiski around the sweeping turn at the bottom of the hill, Rob Marcinko (CT Coast Cycling) went early and passed Haug just before the line. Behind him Kaminiski brought the field up the hill with two teammates just behind. He went to Haug's left but Haug pipped Kaminiski at the line with Kaminiski even throwing his bike. But for Kaminiski it was purely symbolic and just a matter of pride for he had finished his total domination of the Cat 4 overall. His third place in the race was his worst place in the Series. His active and positive style of racing bodes well for this upcoming racer, and his team have demonstrated their willingness and ability to work for a designated leader. In fact, Kaminiski's Miyashoji teammates Jordan Copeland and Tom Siano, having gone to the inside line of the sprint, finished just behind Kaminiski in fourth and fifth. Brian Kelley (HVVC) was just behind in sixth, and Jay Vincent (Cycle Center) took 7th. Cat 5's First race: The first Cat 5 race was a straightfoward race which did not count for the overall. The almost 40 racers had the luxury of racing without the overall leaders and so could race individually as they wished. There were a number of strong attacks but they all came back. One racer selectively active was Brian Specyalski (Cyclonauts), a racer who had already placed in an earlier week. He was active in bringing back a group that had edged away off the front. In the end he finished off his work for the day by taking the sprint to win the race. George Mastrogiannis (Cycle Center) finished just behind in second, trailed by John Aizarani (CT Coast Cycling) in third and Jason Gay (Brooklyn Velo) in fourth. Jeff Chodroff (Cadence Cycling) took fifth and Peter Frenzilli (Unattached) was sixth. Cat 5's Second race: The overall for the 5's was still very much in the air when this very select group of Cat 5 racers started. They were all racers that had been in the front end of the splits over the past weeks and had proven themselves by earning points throughout the Series. Like last week Simon Bennet (Unattached) started the fireworks by rocketing off the front. But the rest recognized him now and never let him build a lead like he did during the Criterium de Bethel. All the top racers bridged and, the break neutralized, it was status quo again. The race was ultimately won by Chad Dalles (Unattached) who has done a spectacular series of races at Bethel and demonstrated both his riding prowess and tactical astuteness. Second was no less a rider in Jonathan Worchol (Miyashoji.com) who is itching to upgrade to join his Cat 4 teammates. Third was Gabrielle Gentile (Cafeteros). Bennet finished fourth, with Todd Gay (Bethel Cycle) in fifth, Jeremy Linder (Epic Velo/Cheshire Cycle) in sixth, and the last point for seventh snagged by Jay Vincent (Cycle Center).
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