USA Espoirs & Junior Road Championships - CNGainesville, FL, USA, August 2-5, 2001Main page Results Previous day Day 2 - August 3: Espoir Road Race, 184 kmFriedman captures USCF Espoirs National Road RaceBy John Alsedek On a day when yesterday's stars Michael Creed and Danny Pate failed to shine, Pittsburgh's Mike Friedman outsprinted Austin, Texas native Ian Dille to win the 180-kilometer USCF (United States Cycling Federation) Espoirs National Road Race today. Held on a 10.2-kilometer circuit south of Gainesville, the rolling hills, heat, and humidity were expected to make the race one of attrition. And that's just what happened...though not quite the way that was expected. Going into the event, the hot tips included the time trial gold and silver medallists, Michael Creed and Danny Pate, as well as defending USCF Espoirs National Road Champion Brice Jones. But it was instead local rider Daniel Holt who attacked just two kilometers in and soon had twenty seconds on the field; though no one knew it at the time, Holt had begun the decisive move. He was quickly joined by Calvin Allan (Elko, NV), Matt Dubberly (Los Gatos, CA), and Tim Reinhart (Macungie, PA), giving the breakaway attempt the horsepower it needed to gain time on the lethargic field. As the race went on, small groups of riders would bridge across from the field, until a lead bunch of 28 had formed by the 120-kilometer mark, with a lead of over three minutes on the rest. Meanwhile, as the race was disappearing up the road because of the aggressiveness of some riders, others were causing nothing but frustration further back. Having already missed out on the big move, the race's big stars tried to get some sort of chase going, but were stymied by the negative riding of others, who would chase them down when they attacked, but offered little assistance in chasing efforts. Eventually, they gave up and rode out the distance; Jones finished 18th at 4 minutes down, Creed placed 33rd with the same time, and Pate ended up 72nd - the last official finisher - five minutes in arrears. However, that takes none of the luster away from the riders in the breakaway, a mixture of familiar faces and hitherto unknowns who were united by a common goal: the urge to compete. As the race entered the final forty kilometers, the action really began to heat up, as the break splintered into two smaller groups. And then 'the move' came: Friedman and Dille attacked on the climb to the start/finish area with just two laps remaining...and nothing happened. "We blew it," said third-place finisher Ryan Miller (Kirkland, WA) later. "When those guys went up the road, we all just looked at each other to start chasing, but nobody did it until it was too late." Working smoothly together, the duo managed to stave off a late charge by the chasers and stay away until the finish, where Friedman led out from the bottom of the climb to win convincingly over the gallant Dille. Afterwards, Friedman admitted that the hot, humid weather conditions had taken a toll ("Actually, I don't know. I'm too sweaty to be able to tell!", he said tongue-in-cheek) but added that "everyone had to deal it, so it was an even factor. It was a tough race and a great course." His coach, Mike Fraysse - a former USCF President - agreed: "This was a very European-style sort of course - very good. It was a fitting National Championship, and a hard-fought race." Results1 Mike Friedman (Mike Fraysse's Sport Resort) 4.31.19 2 Ian Dille (Mercy Cycling Team) 0.02 3 Ryan Miller (Prime Alliance) 0.37 4 Matt Dubberley (Los Gatos Bicycle Racing Club) 0.38 5 Ian Stuart (CRCA/GS Mengoni) 0.39 6 Tim Reinhart (Saturn Development) 7 Mark Fitzgerald (Swamis Cycling Team) 0.40 8 David Johnson (Net Zero) 9 Peter De Vore (Lombardi Sports /OFOTO) 0.42 10 Brad Buccambuso (Jelly Belly) 0.43 11 Justin Gilmore (Zaxbys) 0.44 12 Patrick Mc Carty (Mercy Cycling Team) 13 Jon Retseck (Mercury Cycling Team) 0.46 14 Dylan Taylor (Zaxby's) 15 David Wenger (Mercy Cycling Team) 3.05 16 Peter Knudsen (Momentum Expedition/Croll) 3.08 17 Shawn Milne (Wheelworks/Cannondale) 4.06 18 Brice Jones (Mercy Cycling Team) 19 Rahsaan Bahati (Mercury Cycling Team) 4.07 20 Willie Steinbrecher (Team RPM) 21 Jackson Stewart (Olympic Club) 4.08 22 Matt Wilson (CRCA/GS Mengoni) 23 James Madera (SBBC) 4.09 24 Phil Southerland (Zaxbys) 25 Jason Klikna (Sierra Nevada/Bicycles Plus) 26 Cody Harple (Essex County Velo) 4.10 27 Jason Schneider (Ready Pac-Knapp's Team Racing) 28 John De Long (Saturn Development) 29 Daimeon Shanks (Hutch's) 30 Jestin Kuettel (Jelly Belly) 31 Conor Hurley (Trek/VW/Goodales) 32 Nathan Treto (Mercury Cycling Team) 4.11 33 Michael Creed (Prime Alliance) 34 Zach Zimmerman (Bike Doctor/Cannondale) 35 Jason Fernschuss (Webcor/Alto Velo) 36 Jason Moore (Beans/Reinhardt) 37 Trevor Thomas (West Michigan Coast Riders) 4.12 38 Michael Norton (Somerset Wheelmen) 39 Matt Walczak (Cityscape - Higher Gear) 40 Drew Deters (Atlanta Cycling) 41 Gregg Germer (NECSA/Fraysse's Sports Resort) 42 Ryan Mc Kinney (William & Mary Cycling) 43 Shaun Moffett (ORC) 44 Matt Mccarthy (Realitybikes.com) 45 Jonathan Baggett (Hilton Head Velo) 46 Robbie Yost (YMCA/Sun & Ski Cycling) 4.13 47 Curt Garin (Zaxbys) 48 Ben Earl (Safefit) 49 Ryan Dewald (Beam Reinhardt) 4.15 50 Adam Watts (W. Michigan Coast Riders) 51 K.C. Kopper (NECSA) 52 Josh Anthony (Saturn Development) 53 Nat Campbell (Vitamin Cottage/Morgul Bismark) 54 Dale Suttle (Mercy Cycling Team) 55 Tim Henry (Zaxbys) 4.16 56 Todd Campbell (Blue River Bicycle Club) 4.17 57 Mark Walchinsky (Ready Pac-Knapp's Team Racing) 4.18 58 Zachary Walker (Olympic Club) 59 Jed Schober (Red Glare Cycling) 60 Josh Klikna (Sierra Nevada/Bicycles Plus) 4.19 61 Ryan Yee (Wings/Lipovitan Bike Club) 62 Jeff Pink (Rio Grande/Monsoon) 4.20 63 Daniel Holt (Ringling Bicycles) 4.21 64 Kyle Wamsley (Main Line Cycling Club) 4.22 65 Austin King (Team RPM) 4.25 66 Joseph Alachoyan (Ideal Tile/Brielle Cyclery) 67 Tom Gathright (YMCA/Sun & Ski) 4.27 68 Devon Hoff-Weekes (Lombardi Sports / OFOTO) 4.28 69 Michael Luther (Ready Pac-Knapp's Team Racing) 4.38 70 Michael Kehrberg (Tortuga) 4.55 71 Frank Dierking (Great Dane Velo Club) 72 Danny Pate (Prime Alliance) 4.59 73 Ryan Trebon (K2//d.O. Inc.) 6.27 74 Alan Rigby (TVBC/Celebrex) 12.28 75 Bryce Mead (Trek/VW/Mr K's) Courtesy of veloresults.com |