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Redline Cup of Cross #3 - C3
Napa, California, USA, December 8, 2002
Wells And D'Alusio Cap Series Finale
By Dave Carr, Napa Valley Velo
Fine weather and a fast course welcomed star-studded fields to Napa Valley College for the final round of the Redline Cup of Cyclocross, Dec. 8.
With the national championships just a week away in nearby Yountville, the Redline Cup finals had dual implications: not only were the daily prizes and series win on the line, but the all-important Natz call-up rankings and World's team points also weighed heavily on racers' minds.
Riders battled on a fast course under dry conditions. Stretching from end to end of the college campus, the 2.5 kilometer circuit interspersed long sections of fast pavement with tricky curves on gravel and rough grass, with a wide-open finish on the gravel-topped college running track. Tight, tactical groups and nail-biter sprint finishes were the order of the day.
The women's race included a slate of local and international standouts including Canada's Lyne Bessette (Cyclocrossworld.com), Seattle's Anne Grande (Kona), local stars Gina Hall and Carmen D'Alusio of Clif Bar, Rachel Lloyd (Team Spine), and former national champ Shari Kain. Under pressure of the "Clif Shot Holeshot" first-lap prime, a lead pack quickly formed including Bessette, Hall, D'Alusio, Lloyd, and Nadine Bruhn (Stevens Jeantex). This elite group snaked around the circuit for several laps until D'Alusio escaped for the win, followed closely by Hall and Lloyd for an all-NorCal podium. Hall's second place was enough to capture the series win and the giant Redline Cup trophy.
Shortly thereafter, the elite men lined up the strongest field assembled in California since the 1999 San Francisco nationals, with Redline Cup leader and defending national champ Todd Wells (Mongoose), Seattle's Jonny Sundt (K2) and Dale Knapp (Kona), local hotshots Jackson Stewart (Clif Bar), Justin Robinson (Santa Cruz Spokesman) and brothers Andy Jacques-Maynes (Clif Bar) and Ben Jacques-Maynes (Santa Cruz Spokesman). Putting in a special star appearance was Thomas Frischknecht (Swiss Power) who was in the Bay Area visiting old friends from longtime sponsor Ritchey, taking time out to school the locals in the previous day's Coyote Point race.
The elite race blasted off with the field sorting itself out on the first lap of the running track before heading out into the first sections of rough grass. Frischknecht quickly assumed the lead into the course's first run-up, but gave it up a couple laps later when he slid out on a loose corner. As the race settled into a rhythm, a sizeable pack formed at the front with no rider able to forge a decisive advantage on the lightning-fast flat sections. Spectators could follow every move as the circuit looped back through the vendor expo and start-finish three times every lap.
In the closing laps everyone waited for the inevitable move, which inevitably came from race favorite Wells on the bell lap. Seconds behind Wells' victory salute, Ben Jacques-Maynes out-sprinted the ageless Steve Tilford (Shimano/Extran) and a few seconds after that, Sundt and Knapp led in the remains of the lead pack. The final overall standings were easy to calculate as Wells made a clean sweep of all three events in the Redline Cup.
In the UCI junior men's race, series leader David Fleischhauer (Rad Racing) succumbed to a puncture, but his teammate Tucker Thomas took the day and the overall win, in a series podium sweep for the powerhouse Rad Racing junior team from Seattle.
The Master 35+ race saw a hard-fought battle of local favorites such as Redline Cup series leader and Master 35+ national champ Alan Coates (Winning Wheels-Steelman) against visiting challengers including Jim Brown (Rad Racing) and Kenny Williams (Saturn Bellvue). Mark Noble (Camarillo Ravens) took the win but Coates kept the others at bay to lock the series title.
Photography
Images by Sabine Dukes/www.velobella.org
- The start of the Elite Men's race
- A crash at the back of the start pack
- A group of seven quickly formed at the front
- Thomas Frischknecht crashed mid race, but held on to finish in 16th place
- Clif Bar's Andy Jacques-Maynes concentrates on the descent
- Dale Knapp (Kona) was very active at the front of the race
- Todd Wells (Mongoose) jumped away from the group with one lap to go
- Todd Wells crosses the finish line
- Spokesman/Bullion's Ben Jacques-Maynes outsprinted Steve Tilford for 2nd place
- Shari Kain (RLX-Polo) on the start line for the Elite Women's Race
- The lead group winds around the grassy fields of the Napa Valley College campus
- Velo Bella's Shelly Whisenhant dropped from 7th to 14th after suffering a flat
- The lead group stayed together until Carmen D'Alusio attacked in the final laps
- Carmen D'Alusio (Clif Bar) rode the final laps alone for the win
- Gina Hall (Clif Bar) hung on for 2nd and retained the Redline Cup overall lead.
- James Coats (Steelman Cycles) Redline Cup leader, warms up before the Masters' race
- D'Alusio, Maile, Noble and Coats formed the early lead group
- The Masters field was strung out behind the leaders
- Coats, Maile (Clif Bar) and Williams (Saturn of Bellevue) try to chase down Mark Noble
- Clif Bar's "Buckwheat" was back in action after an early season injury
- Mark Noble (Camarillo Ravens) broke away from the lead group for the win
- Rad Racing's David Fleischhauer finished high enough to keep the leader's jersey
- Mark Noble's son, Chance, in the barrier section
- Steven Cozza, Team Swift, finished in 3rd Place
Results
Elite Men 1 Todd Wells 59.53 2 Ben Jacques-Maynes (Spokesman/Bullion St) 0.05 3 Steve Tilford 4 Jonny Sundt (K2) 0.12 5 Dale Knapp 6 Justin Robinson (Santa Cruz Spokesman) 7 Adam Craig (Giant) 0.49 8 Andy Jacques-Maynes (Solano Avenue Cycler) 1.05 9 Ryan Trebon 1.12 10 Bart Gillespie (Team Biogen) 11 Tyler Johnson (CYBC Richard Sachs) 1.13 12 Barry Wicks 1.15 13 Travis Brown (Trek/Volkswagen) 1.16 14 Erik Tonkin (Kona-Kenwood) 1.17 15 Brent Prenzlow (Celo Pacific / Canno) 1.42 16 Thomas Frischknecht (SwissPower) 1.52 17 Shannon Skerritt 2.00 18 Christopher Pietrzak (Specialized) 2.16 19 Frank Mapel 3.32 20 Joe DePaemelaere 3.33 21 Barton Bowen (Kona/Kenwood) 3.34 22 Chris McGovern (C2) 3.51 23 Richard Feldman (Durance Cycleworks) 4.01 24 Gary Thompson (Bicycle Warehouse/ G) 4.54 25 Ryan Guay 4.55 26 John Funke 4.59 27 David Wyandt (Sierra Nevada / Cann) 28 Joe McNerney (Alameda Bicycle) 5.26 29 Doug Ott (Sally Spicer.com) 5.30 30 Jackson Stewart (G.S.Lombardi Sports) 6.00 31 Jesse Scatton 6.17 32 Robert Campbell (Rad Racing) 6.22 33 Tyson Apostol (Euclid) 7.15 34 David Yeater (Team City/Mtn. Pedal) (@1) Elite Women 1 Carmen D'Alusio (ClifBar) 37.06 2 Gina Hall (Clif Bar) 0.11 3 Rachel Lloyd 0.12 4 Nadine Bruhn (Stevens Jeantex/Denm) 0.21 5 Lyne Bessette (cyclocrossworld.com) 0.46 6 Melissa Thomas (Rocky Mounts/Ritchey) 0.53 7 Ann Grande (Kona/Kenwood) 1.54 8 Rhonda Mazza (Team S&M--Vanilla Bi) 2.05 9 Stella Carey 2.06 10 Sarah Kerlin (Another Bike Shop) 2.15 11 Christine Vardaros (SallySpicer.Com) 2.16 12 Dorothy Wong (Kelly Bike Company) 2.32 13 Hillary Daniels 2.39 14 Shelly Whisenhant (Velo Bella/Monterey) 2.58 15 Kathleen Lenno 3.00 16 Helen Drumm (Team Spine) 3.17 17 Shari Kain 3.45 18 Kimberley Vandersyde (Bicycle Warehouse/ G) 3.58 19 Monica Erdosh (Palace) 4.02 20 Nichole Wangsgard (UNC Cyling) 4.25 21 Linda Elgart (Alto Velo/Webcor) 4.36 22 Anya Hinkle (3BRT/Cyfac) 5.02 23 Lauren Costantini (SyCip/Novo) 5.43 24 Hollie McGovern (Rad Racing) 7.41 25 Sheila Moon 8.01 Men B 1 Kelly Ryan (Rhodes / Century 21) 45.13 2 Jeff Herring (Kelly Bike Company) 3 Simon Vickers 0.01 4 Matt Young 0.25 5 Dave Carr (Napa Valley Velo) 0.58 6 Mike McCloskey (Santa Cruz Spokesman) 0.59 7 Jim Moser 8 Charles Ehm 9 todd cassan 1.00 10 Ben Haldeman (Fuji) 1.18 11 Tony Leal (X-Men) 1.20 12 Todd Paoletti (Solano Avenue Cycler) 1.29 13 Jason Pyzynski 14 robert nelson (Missing Link/Bianchi) 1.30 15 Page Hadden (Sycip) 1.45 16 Eric Muensterman (Eastside/Huangoche) 1.55 17 David Pauls (Palisades Mtn Sport) 18 Ross Ellison (Davis Bike Club) 2.07 19 Kris Arnott (Pikes Peak Velo) 2.09 20 Jacob Gilchrist 2.13 21 David Widmark 2.14 22 JOE ORNELAS (JHONSON BIKE) 3.10 23 aron bonar (solano avenue cycler) 3.31 24 Stephen Kent (SyCip / Novo) 3.33 25 Linde Smith (Biogen) 26 Hans Kellner (Sycip) 4.01 27 Mark Slavonia 4.08 28 Jeff Wyatt (Solano Avenue Cycler) 4.20 29 Josh Johnson (Johnson Bicycles) 4.26 30 Curtis Inglis (Eagle) 4.47 31 Jace Gifford (Hancock/McGuire) 4.54 32 Christopher Green 33 Adam Smith 5.23 34 Chris Lowe 35 Gregory Towers (Steelman Cycles) 5.30 36 Christopher Holmes 37 Andrew May (Bianchi USA) 5.57 38 Scott DeLaurentis (SCCC/Cupertino Bike) 5.59 39 Richard McElman 6.11 40 Eric Russell 6.12 41 terry tenette (Ritchey factory ride) 6.38 42 John Rowen (SyCip) 6.48 43 Patrick Sahs (Unattached) 7.01 44 Wayne Smith (Sunnyvale-Cupertino) 7.24 45 Brian Garcia (Nor Cal Velo) 7.37 46 Paul Keerner 7.59 47 Steven Woo (Los Gatos Bicycle Ra) 8.23 48 Avi Green (@1) Jr Men 17-18 1 Tucker Thomas 36.44 2 Morgan Schmitt (Rad Racing NW) 0.29 3 Steven Cozza (Team Swift) 0.37 4 Zak Grabowski (Saturn Cycling Devel) 0.38 5 Adam Switters (SGW/Bianchi/BicycleP) 1.19 6 David Fleischhauer (Rad Racing NW) 1.40 7 Mike Wentz (Rad Racing NW) 1.42 8 Nick Agate (Napa Valley Velo) 3.09 9 Chance Noble (Camarillo Ravens) 3.28 10 Luke Brechwald 4.58 11 Perry Paolini (Balance Bar - Devo) 6.37 Master Men 35 1 Mark Noble (Camarillo Ravens) 42.24 2 Kenny Williams (Saturn of Belluve) 0.10 3 Rich Maile 4 James Coats (Winning Wheels Racin) 0.11 5 Chris D'Aluisio (Specialized) 1.02 6 Mark Howland (Blackmarket Racing) 1.43 7 Todd Hoefer 1.57 8 Gannon Myall (Mako/Galaxy Granola) 1.59 9 Robert Meighan 10 Sam Giles (Pacfic Supply) 2.21 11 Greg Regan 2.22 12 Thomas Feix (Bicyclery HMB) 2.47 13 Michael Matthews (Buy-Cell .com) 2.48 14 Scott Fifield (Bike Warehouse) 15 Richard Stone 3.21 16 Mark Gilbreath 3.38 17 Doug Grattan (Unattached) 3.53 18 John Elgart (Alto Velo/Webcor) 4.06 19 Mark Abele (Diablo Cyclists) 4.11 20 Jim Brown (Rad Racing) 4.59 21 Vance Russell (Davis Bike Club) 5.00 22 James Kelleher (Ritchey) 5.14 23 Evan Adams (Hancock/McGuire) 5.15 24 Dan Sovereign (Sacramento GW) 5.16 25 John Brown (Family Cycling Cente) 5.18 26 Jon Suzuki (Missing Link/Bianchi) 5.23 27 Ron Gutierrez (SyCip) 5.42 28 Chris Allen (Clifbar) 5.50 29 Keith Packard 30 Lawrence Smith (Durance Cycleworks) 5.55 31 Fred Huxham 6.15 32 Blaise Maher (SGW/Bianchi/BicycleP) 6.22 33 Ruben Villarreal 6.25 34 Chip Baker (Sycip) 6.49 35 Chuck Scarpelli (SoulCraft) 36 Shawn Miller (Davis Bike Club) 6.50 37 Gary Erickson 7.04 38 Jeff Hane (Wrong Way/Zanotti) 7.23 39 Steve Stewart (LGBRC/Contentlab) 7.25 40 Jeff Steinhart (Team Hollywood) 7.36 41 Richard Parks (Davis Bike Club) 8.23 42 Kevin Fasley (@1) 43 Gary Noe 44 Andrew Lyndon 45 Gary Wolff 46 Tom Boardman Men C 1 Alex Rodriguez (Sacramento GW) 24.53 2 Reed Maxwell 0.04 3 Jon Erskine (LGBRC/Contentlab) 0.12 4 Eric Brown (Erio Brown) 0.51 5 Don Daniel 1.31 6 Curt Ferguson 1.54 7 John Priolo (Team-Tam) 2.26 8 Willem Pennings 2.27 9 Drew Wheeler 2.49 10 Jeremy Ferguson 3.21 11 John Silva 3.22 12 Kirk Grace 3.44 13 Gerrit VanSickle 7.37 14 Cisco Moran (surf all day) (@1) Non-elite Women 1 Robyn Fuchs 26.52 2 Michele Gibson (Team NSO) 0.33 3 Kathy Pruit 0.54 4 Susan Serp 6.34 5 Octavia Edelstein (Ritchey Factory) 8.44
