2nd Saturn Cycling Classic - NEBoulder, USA, August 11, 20012000 Results Start list Past winners Live report Results and report Photos PreviewBy Rob Karman The numerous cyclists and cycling fans in Boulder, CO have been seeing stars the past few days. Stars of the US cycling scene that is, as the area's biggest race draws North America's top cyclists to compete for a the bragging rights of finishing the toughest race in the US, combined with a $75,000 prize list including a new Saturn VUE Sport Utility Vehicle for the winner. The 2nd annual Saturn Cycling Classic Boulder to Breckenridge road race will be contested over 140 miles (225 km) of the most grueling terrain the Colorado Rockies have to offer. Run last year as the Zinger Cycling Classic, there were only 20 official finishers and the time cut had to be extended to allow for those 20 as the promoter wanted to award all the prize money they had scheduled. Scott Moninger of the Mercury Team finished the epic course over seven mountain passes (three cat. 2, one cat. 1, and one Hors Categorie) in just over 7 hours, easily longest race on the US professional road calendar. 90% of the course is over 9000 feet (2600 meters) with two passes over 11,000 feet. Consider that the highest point of this year's Tour de France was just under 7000 feet and you can see that this race will be one of attrition. The racers will start in Boulder, CO where the great plains meet the Rocky Mtns and head straight into the front range to tackle the category 2 climb to the town Wondervu, covering 3286 vertical feet in the first 20 miles. From there they will turn south and start eyeing each other for the intermediate sprint points in the gambling casino towns of Black Hawk and Central City. The Black Hawk Sprint will be the big prize as points will go 10 places deep toward determining the who walks away with a bonus $5,000 at the day's end. 50 points will be awarded to the first one over the line with only 5, 4 and 3 points available in the other 3 sprints. There is a catch though, in order to collect the sprint bonus, riders must finish the race within the time cut of 5% of the winner's time. Last year there were only 4 riders that close and none of them had spent energy at the intermediate sprints. The major obstacle of the race besides the length and altitude and the two descents from the categorie 2 Oh My God Road and the Hors Categorie Guanella Pass. They are steep, off camber, no guard rail descents on washboard dirt roads. Not only will the riders' endurance be tested, but also the durability of their equipment. Several riders, including MTB Junior World Champion Walker Ferguson, have been spotted in a local bike shop pondering their wheel and tire selection. With 80 accumulated miles of climbing, light weight is obviously desirable, but at what cost to durability on a bumpy dirt road with steep drops off the side. Last year's winner Scott Moninger actually switched to a mountain bike for the long descent down Guanella Pass. The rules state that the bike must come from the team car traveling within the race caravan, so unless a team has several riders in the front group, everyone but the leader must fend for themselves. Race favourites Scott Moninger (Mercury): defending champion with local knowledge, lives in Boulder so he is accustomed to altitude, and has a strong team to back him up. "I probably have less of an advantage this year since it is not a new course and more people have seen and ridden it, but this year there are four guys on my team who are potential winners. Last year I was the only one." Carl Swenson (Tokyo Joe's/Gatorade Energy Bar): 2nd in 2000. Also a Boulder local. Pro Mtn Biker and candidate for the Cross Country Ski Team at the Olympics this winter. Steve Larsen (Prime Alliance): Pro Mtn Biker who recently turned heads by setting a new course record for the bike en route to winning a half-Ironman Triathlon. He's got the technical skill from the dirt, the endurance from triathlons, and as a former Giro finisher when riding for Motorola he probably knows a thing or two about road racing tactics Tim Johnson (Saturn): National Cyclo-cross Champion, 3rd place at 2000 U23 'Cross Worlds. Has been riding on the road with Saturn all year. Could this mean he has the endurance to put his cyclo-cross skills to work in this 7 hour epic? Rishi Grewal (Handle Bar and Grill): After a year of 'retirement', Rishi has been breaking records on the 24 hour off road racing scene. Altitude and endurance are his forte. Jonathan Vaughters (Handle Bar and Grill/Credit Agricole): Super talented climber who lives in Denver, CO. He spends most of his time in Europe these days, but pre-rode most of the course on Thursday. His only comment about the course? He responded with his usual wit by saying "It took a loooong time."
Start listMercury Saturn Cycling Team
1 Scott Moninger (USA) 11 Michael Barry (Can)
2 Thomas Frischkorn (USA) 12 Matt De Canio (USA)
3 Chris Horner (USA) 13 Christopher Fisher (USA)
4 Floyd Landis (USA) 14 Harm Jansen (Ned)
5 Chris Wherry (USA) 15 Tim Johnson (USA)
6 Phil Zajicek (USA) 16 Trent Klasna (USA)
17 Soren Peterson (Den)
18 Eric Wohlberg (Can)
Tokyo Joe's/Gatorade Energy Bar Handle Bar & Grill
21 Walker Ferguson (USA) 31 Jonathan Vaughters (USA)
22 Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA) 32 Rishi Grewal (USA)
23 Mike Janelle (USA) 33 Dariusz Wojciechowski (Pol)
24 Eric Jones (USA) 34 Richard Gangl (USA)
25 Frank Mapel (USA) 35 Gabriele Rompollo (Ita)
26 Ross Schnell (USA)
27 Carl Swenson (USA)
28 Pete Swenson (USA)
29 Pete Vordenberg (USA)
Navigators Cycling Team Prime Alliance
41 Chris Baldwin (USA) 51 Rusty Beall (USA)
42 Glen Mitchell (NZl) 52 Michael Creed (USA)
43 Kirk O'Bee (USA) 53 Steve Larsen (USA)
44 Burke Swindlehurst (USA) 54 Michael Larsen (USA)
45 Brendon Vesty (NZl) 55 Danny Pate (USA)
56 Michael Scherer (USA)
57 Cody Waite (USA)
58 Kirk Willett (USA)
7-UP/Colorado Cyclist Tecos Turbo
61 Jeff Corbett (USA) 71 Joel Alamillo (Mex)
62 Ryan Guay (USA) 72 Lam Arquimides (Mex)
63 John Lieswyn (USA) 73 Jose Castell (Luis Mex)
64 Clark Sheehan (USA) 74 Florencio Ramos (Mex)
65 Doug Ziewacz (USA) 75 Juan Gabriel Sanchez (Mex)
76 Jesus Zarate (Mex)
Zaxby's Cycling Team Landis/Trek/VW
81 Dirk Friel (USA) 91 Daniel Doornbos (USA)
82 Mike Ley (USA) 92 John Koenig (USA)
83 Alex Candelario (USA) 93 Erik Kuhlman (USA)
84 Billy Masterson (USA) 94 Doug Loveday (USA)
85 Chris McGovern (USA) 95 Andrew Miller (USA)
86 Scott Weiss (USA) 96 Scott Price (USA)
Jamba Juice Trek/VW-New Belgium Beer
101 Andy Applegate (USA) 111 Dave Aschwandgen (USA)
102 Brian Ellis (USA) 112 Travis Brown (USA)
103 Brian Hludzinski (USA) 113 Dwight Hall (USA)
104 Brand LeMaitre (USA) 114 Jeff Hartmann (USA)
105 Chris McGee (USA) 115 Tom McLaughlin (USA)
106 Eric Schwartz (USA) 116 Evan Ruzanski (USA)
107 Joby Siciliano (USA) 117 Mark Southard (USA)
108 Ryan Starr (USA)
109 Michael Tobin (USA)
110 Zachery Vestal (USA)
Excel Sports Boulder Rio Grande/Monsoon Racing
121 Andy Bajadali (USA) 131 Nathan Busch (USA)
122 Fred Gluck Jr. (USA) 132 Andrew Clark (USA)
123 Charlie Hayes (USA) 133 Jonathon Hiedemann (USA)
124 Mark Schwab (USA) 134 Jeff Pink (USA)
125 Nico Toutenhoofd (USA) 135 Jacob Rosenbarger (USA)
136 Randy Whicker (USA)
Vitamin Cottage/Morgal Bismark Recycled Cycles
141 Nat Campbell (USA) 151 Brian Ecker (USA)
142 Steve Crowley (USA) 152 Travis Ellis (USA)
143 Chris Munro (USA) 153 David Rickter (USA)
144 Joey Pinkerton (USA) 154 Brian Rinkenberger (USA)
145 Joe Taddeucci (USA) 155 Don Wesley (USA)
146 Jon Tarkington (USA)
147 Frank Overton (USA)
148 Marc Gullickson (USA)
Celestial Seasonings GS Ciao
161 Kevin Nicol (USA) 171 Paul Colllins (USA)
162 Dejan Smaic (USA) 172 Devens Hamlen (USA)
163 Jon Stierwalt (USA) 173 Josh Harrod (USA)
164 John Talley (USA) 174 Jim Mohan (USA)
165 Brian Todeschini (USA) 175 Eric Nussbaumer (USA)
176 Travis Baugh (USA)
NutraFig Team Steamboat
181 Alan Butler (USA) 191 Roger Cox (USA)
182 Thomas Cooke (USA) 192 Ian Prichard (USA)
183 Shawn Mitchell (USA) 193 Barkley Robinson (USA)
184 John Osguthorpe (USA) 194 Joe Sternberg (USA)
185 Steve Tibbitts (USA) 195 Ben Zambrana (USA)
186 Jason Travis (USA)
Past winnersMen 2000 Scott Moninger (USA) Mercury Women 2000 Nicole Reinhart (USA) Saturn |