First Union Classic - 1.3

Trenton, USA, May 30, 2000

1999 results Results Preview Past Winners

Fast Freddie Fries Fraser

By Tim Maloney, cyclingnews.com correspondent

It's been a good second year for Fred Rodriguez at Mapei-Quick Step. The Emereyville, CA resident who lives in Europe has been strong all year and had already notched 4 pro wins in Europe this year, including a tough stage in 4 Days Of Dunquerque. But none was sweeter or more suprising than Rodriguez's win in Trenton on Friday nite, where his speed and strength dominated sprint specialists Gord Fraser (Mercury) and '99 Trenton Classic winner George Hincapie (USPS) in the final rush to the line.

"I'm really pleased," Rodriguez told cyclingnews.com. "My guys took me up to the front and I was able to work off the Mercury and Postal leadouts. "Run over 13 laps of an almost flat and technical out and back course, Trenton is traditionally one of the fastest races in North America. On a hot, humid late spring afternoon and an average speed over the 91 miles of over 29.5 mph, the 2000 edition didn't disapoint for non-stop action.

After a few groups got away during the first half of the race, it wasn't until 7 laps to go that the first serious move stuck. Saturn's flying Dutchman Harm Jansen attacked and Polish rider Piotr Przydzial of the Mat-Ceresit team went with him. The duo stretched their lead to 50" after a lap, but the impressive seafoam and silver train of Mercury pounded away behind the two fugitives.

With 5 laps to go, Jansen's & Przydzial's freedom was ended and it was gruppo compatto with 35 miles left to race. The heat and humidity and hard tempo set by Mercury up front took its toll, with only 40 riders remaining with 3 to go. Alessandro Guerra (Saeco Valli & Valli) decided to give his legs a try at 30mph and he was soon joined by Jacob Moe Rasmussen (Memorycard-Jack & Jones) and Franky Van Haesebroucke (Navigators). This trio had their freedom for one and a half laps, but when USPS decided to pull the three riders back for a sprint finish, speedy Dylan and strongman Benoit Joachim did yeoman's work for Postal and they were reeled in.

As the streaking peloton dove right onto Barracks St. and the technical backside of the course, the seafoam and silver train of Mercury was at the front again, with USPS right there. Frankie Andreu & George Hincapie were eyeing Henk Vogels and Gord Fraser, but they didn't really pay attention to Rodriguez as he positioned himself alongside.

When the sprint trains streaked right again onto West State Street with the finish in sight, George and Gord went, but right there with them was Fast Freddie. "Fred has been strong all season, right from the beginning...we're very pleased with his progress," Mapei-Quick Step director, Marc Sargeant, told cyclingnews.com. And it was newfound strength, coupled with his already fast finish that put the young American on the top step of the podium in Trenton.

Results

1 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Mapei-Quick Step                  3.04.16 (47.00 km/h)
2 Gordon Fraser (Can) Mercury Cycling Team
3 George Hincapie (USA) US Postal Service
4 Eddy Gragus (USA) Jelly Belly
5 Henk Vogels (Aus) Mercury Cycling Team
6 Nicolay Bo Larsen (Den) Memory Card-Jack & Jones
7 Jacek Mickiewicz (Pol) Mróz
8 John Lieswyn (USA) Team Shaklee
9 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Saeco-Valli & Valli
10 Harm Jansen (USA) Saturn Cycling Team
11 Mark McCormack (USA) Saturn Cycling Team
12 Antonio Cruz (USA) Saturn Cycling Team
13 Piotr Zaradny (Pol) Mat-Ceresit CCC
14 Julian Dean (NZl) US Postal Service
15 Marco Villa (Ita) Alexia Alluminio
16 Arkadiusz Wojtas (Pol) Mróz
17 Kevin Monahan (USA) 7Up-Colorado Cyclist
18 Cezary Zamana (Pol) Mat-Ceresit CCC
19 Jacob Rasmusssen (Den) Memory Card-Jac&Jones
20 Vassili Davidenko (Rus) Navigators Cycling Team
21 Mark Walters (Can) Navigators Cycling Team
22 Timoty Jones (Zim) Mobilvetta Design-Rossin
23 Giusseppe Giuliano (Can) Jet Fuel Coffee Cycling Team
24 Ryan Guay (USA) 7Up-Colorado Cyclist
25 Kirk Albers (USA) Jelly Belly
26 Russel Miller (USA) Team Shaklee
27 Franky Van Haesebroucke (Bel) Navigators Cycling Team
28 Matthew Gilmore (Bel) Memory Card-Jack & Jones
29 Peter Wedge (Can) Team Shaklee
30 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Saeco-Valli & Valli
31 Floyd Landis (USA) Mercury Cycling Team
32 Derek Bouchard-Hall (USA) Mercury Cycling Team
33 Remigius Lupeikis (Pol) Mróz                             0.15
34 Bjarke Nielsen (Den) Memory Card-Jack & Jones
35 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Alexia Alluminio                   0.32
36 Benoît Joachim (Lux) US Postal Service                   0.40
37 Seth Pelusi (USA) Saturn Cycling Team                    0.47
38 Paul Martin (USA) Navigators Cycling Team
39 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Mapei-Quick Step
40 Leif Hoste (Bel) Mapei-Quick Step
41 Juan Pineda (Dom) 7Up-Colorado Cyclist                   0.57
42 Mike Sayers (USA) Mercury Cycling Team
43 John Peters (USA) Mercury Cycling Team                   1.18
44 Jonathan Hall (Aus) Festina-Lotus                        1.30
45 Slawomir Chrzanowski (Pol) Mat-Ceresit CCC               1.35
46 Jakob Storm-Piil (Den) Memory Card-Jack&Jones            1.58
47 Jonathan Atkins (USA) Zaxby's Cycling
48 Alessandro Guerra (Ita) Saeco-Valli & Valli              2.07
49 Marty Jemison (USA) US Postal Service
50 Anton Villatoro (USA) 7Up-Colorado Cyclist
51 Steve Sevener (USA) Zaxby's Cycling                      3.56
DNS John Bickmore (USA) Yahweh Tokyo Joe
DNF Nicola Chseini (USA) Mapei Quick Step
DNF Philippe Koehler (Fra) Mapei-Quick Step
DNF Gianni Faresin (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step
DNF Arvis Piziks (Lat) Memory Card-Jack & Jones
DNF Michael Sandstod (Den) Memory Card-Jack & Jones
DNF Frankie Andreu (USA) US Postal Service
DNF Dylan Casey (USA) US Postal Service
DNF Stefan Kjaeraard (Nor) US Postal Service
DNF Levy Leipheimer (USA) US Postal Service
DNF Kirk O'bee (USA) US Postal Service
DNF Kirk Willet (USA) Mercury Cycling Team
DNF Will Frischkorn (USA) Mercury Cycling Team
DNF Christopher Pic (USA) Mercury Cycling Team
DNF Roy Knickman (USA) Mercury Cycling Team
DNF Mike Barry (USA) Saturn Cycling Team
DNF Bart Bowen (USA) Saturn Cycling Team
DNF Erin Hartwell (USA) Saturn Cycling Team
DNF Robert Ventura (USA) Saturn Cycling Team
DNF Brian Walton (Can) Saturn Cycling Team
DNF Adham Sbeih (USA) Navigators Cycling Team
DNF Burke Swindlehurst (USA) Navigators Cycling Team
DNF Jonathan Hamblen (USA) Navigators Cycling Team
DNF Todd Littlehales (USA) Navigators Cycling Team
DNF Elliot Hubbard (GBr) Navigators Cycling Team
DNF Matthew Koschara (USA) Navigators Cycling Team
DNF Jesse Keefer (USA) Nutra Fig - Noni
DNF Jason McCartney (USA) Nutra Fig - Noni
DNF Donald Reeb (USA) Nutra Fig-Noni
DNF Jamul Hahn (USA) Nutra Fig-Noni
DNF John Foster (USA) Nutra Fig-Noni
DNF Ronnie Schmeer (USA) Nutra Fig-Noni
DNF Alex Gardner (USA) Nutra Fig-Noni
DNF Ryan Allison (USA) Nutra Fig-Noni
DNF Clark Sheehan (USA) 7Up-Colorado Cyclist
DNF Mike Ley (USA) 7Up-Colorado Cyclist
DNF Steve Speaks (USA) 7Up-Colorado Cyclist
DNF John Corbett (USA) 7Up-Colorado Cyclist
DNF Oscar Pineda (Dom) 7Up-Colorado Cyclist
DNF Mike Creed (USA) 7Up-Colorado Cyclist
DNF Oscar Cavagnis (Ita) Alexia Alluminio
DNF Eddi Serri (Ita) Alexia Alluminio
DNF Maurizio Semprini (Ita) Alexia Alluminio
DNF Aldo Zennetti (USA) Alexia Alluminio
DNF Torsten Nitsche (Ger) Saeco-Valli & Valli
DNF Valentino China (Ita) Saeco-Valli & Valli
DNF Danny Pate (USA) Saeco-Valli & Valli
DNF Piotr Wadecki (Pol) Mróz
DNF Eugen Wacker (Kgz) Mróz
DNF Piotr Chmielewski (Pol) Mróz
DNF Grzegorz Wajs (Pol) Mróz
DNF Sebestian Wolski (Pol) Mróz
DNF Dariusz Wojciechowski (Pol) Mróz
DNF Graeme Miller (NZl) Team Shaklee
DNF Eric Wohlberg (Can) Team Shaklee
DNF Jonas Carney (USA) Team Shaklee
DNF Glen Mitchell (NZl) Team Shaklee
DNF Adam Laurent (USA) Team Shaklee
DNF Jamie Carney (USA) Team Shaklee
DNF Colby Pearce (USA) Team Shaklee
DNF David Mccook (USA) Team Shaklee
DNF Andrew Randell (Can) Jet Fuel Coffee Cycling Team
DNF Jason Crookham (Can) Jet Fuel Coffee Cycling Team
DNF Heath Cockburn (Can) Jet Fuel Coffee Cycling Team
DNF Kevin Field (Can) Jet Fuel Coffee Cycling Team
DNF Charly Gorman (Can) Jet Fuel Coffee Cycling Team
DNF Sean Kelly (Can) Jet Fuel Coffee Cycling Team
DNF Piotr Przydzial (Pol) Mat-Ceresit CCC
DNF Krzystof Szafranski (Pol) Mat-Ceresit CCC
DNF Marcin Gebka (Pol) Mat-Ceresit CCC
DNF Steve Hegg (USA) Jelly Belly
DNF Scott Cochran (USA) Jelly Belly
DNF Norm Carter (USA) Jelly Belly
DNF Adam Livingston (USA) Jelly Belly
DNF Mariano Friedick (USA) Jelly Belly
DNF Matt Minard (USA) Jelly Belly
DNF Josh Collingwood (Aus) Jelly Belly
DNF Luke Stockwell (USA) Zaxby's Cycling
DNF Ryan Barnett (USA) Zaxby's Cycling
DNF Micah Rice (USA) Zaxby's Cycling
DNF Thomas Mulkey (USA) Zaxby's Cycling
DNF Thomas Kalstrup (USA) Zaxby's Cycling
DNF Jason Jones (USA) Zaxby's Cycling
DNF Jesse Lawler (USA) Zaxby's Cycling
DNF Antoine Bodwin (USA) Yahweh Tokyo Joe
DNF Jim Laporte (USA) Yahweh Tokyo Joe
DNF Joby Siciliano (USA) Yahweh Tokyo Joe
DNF Alex Nunez (USA) Yahweh Tokyo Joe
DNF Travis Hutchinson (USA) Yahweh Tokyo Joe
DNF Navaro Ayala (USA) Yahweh Tokyo Joe
DNF Tim Erwin (USA) Yahweh Tokyo Joe
DNF Troy Reynolds (USA) Yahweh Tokyo Joe

Results courtesy of Domenica Lewis, First Union Cycling

Preview

By John Alsedek, cyclingnews.com correspondent

Trenton is a city of 90,000, located about 45 miles northeast of Philadelphia. Though its roots in American history go back to the Revolutionary War, Trenton is best known as the state capital of New Jersey. It has hosted the First Union Classic since 1993.

Race Day Forecast: partly sunny with a 30% chance of late day showers, and a high temperature of 86 degrees.

What are the odds?

...that the First Union Classic will be decided by:

*a breakway group of more than two? Pretty slim. While the Trenton course features plenty of corners through which attackers can gain ground and 'hide', they're all in one two-mile section; the remainder consists of a fairly straight out-and-back which leaves breaks in plain sight. The odds: 50:1

*a solo rider who is just being caught by the pack? A little better. Navigators' Matt Koschara won in that way in '95, and Tuesday's First Union Invitational was decided in a similar manner. Still, it's unlikely that the field will let that happen twice in one week. The odds: 25:1

*a field sprint? A lot more likely. This race has been decided by field sprints for the past four years, and, since most of the strongest teams have guys capable of winning a bunch dash, it makes that possibility a lot more probable. The odds: even

What's the word from the riders?

Todd Littlehales, Navigators

"In the four years I've done it, I've gotten top-ten all four times, but, not having won it, I'm obviously challenged by it as well. It's the sort of race that, when you look at it, it seems likely that a field sprint will happen...but it's not always a field sprint, so it's exciting in that respect. Having the Euro guys come over adds a whole new element; they're guys you haven't raced against before, so you don't know who's a threat or not, or even whether they're racing for the win or not."

Dave McCook, Shaklee

"Me and Jonas (Carney) are going to work for a field sprint- we both have a good thing going on right now. Other teams, like Saturn, are probably going to want to do a breakaway. The course is pretty technical and there are usually a lot of flats, so anything can happen. Breakaways are possible- it all depends on how the race goes and who wants to chase."

Steve Sevener, Zaxby's

"I think every team has a sprinter to rely on- from Jonas Carney to Henk Vogels to Robbie Ventura- someone to launch up there at the end. It's a hard race, but it's not like the other First Union races- the others are more selective. Trenton is a bit of a different race- it's the kind of race I'm looking for!

Past Winners

1998 Jan Svorada (Cze) Mapei-Bricobi	150 kms in 2.50.14
1999 George Hincapie (USA) US Postal 	146.5 kms in 3.07.07

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