2nd Saturn Cycling Classic - NE

Boulder, USA, August 11, 2001

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Vaughters wins drawn out battle

By Rob Karman, cyclingnews.com correspondent

Local favourite Jonathan Vaughters won the 2nd Annual Saturn Cycling Classic over 140 miles of rough mountain terrain in a time of 6:50:58, almost a half hour faster than last year's winning time. Riding for the composite Handle Bar and Grill team, the Credit Agricole rider had tough competition from Mercury's Chris Horner and only slipped away from him on the final finish circuit through the town of Breckenridge.

Starting in the city of Boulder, CO at an elevation of 5390 feet, the race was animated by an early break of 8 riders that formed only 5 miles into the race on the early slopes of the category 2 Wondervu climb. Most of the major teams were represented and the gap quickly grew to just over 7 minutes by the summit of the category 3 Golden Gate Road climb.

A quick descent into the gambling town of Black Hawk saw Kirk O'Bee take the sprint through town which meant he just had to finish within the time cut for a $5000 bonus. O'Bee would manage to hold on to finish 14th for a nice paycheck.

Out of Black Hawk the riders ascended the aptly named Oh My God Road. Steep pitches of up to 20% followed by a treacherous dirt descent that was not for the faint of heart. A hard right turn at the bottom brought the leaders out on the frontage road to interstate 70 though Idaho Springs and up to Georgetown. The gradual pitch allowed a large regrouping of the shattered field while Jeff Hartmann (Trek/VW, New Belgium Beer) decided to go it alone off the front of the early break. A chase group of 7 including 3 Saturns and 2 Mercurys pulled back the tiring remnants of the break and by the base of the Hors Categorie Guanella Pass it was Hartmann forging ahead on his own with a group of 11 close on his heels.

Almost as soon as the road turned upward the anticipated attack came. Burke Swindlehurst (Navigators) accelerated and was quickly marked by Chris Horner (Mercury). Horner then counter attacked and left them all struggling behind him while he seemingly floated up the dirt climb right past Hartmann and on to the 11,671 foot summit. Down below, Vaughters rode in the 2nd chase group with last year's winner Scott Moninger (Mercury) on his wheel. Halfway up the mountain the climbing specialist from Denver decided to test out his form, unsure of how he would fare. The acceleration exploded those around him and by the summit he had brought back Swindlehurst and was closing in on Horner.

All of the top three took a cue from Moninger's victory strategy last year and switched to mtn bikes for the descent, though more for a safety and resting advantage than a quest for speed. In fact, Floyd Landis (Mercury) was actually catching the leaders on his road bike with an awe inspiring display of bike handling skills. At the bottom of the descent it was Horner with a slight advantage over Vaughters, Swindlehurst, and Michael Barry (Saturn).

That trio soon swallowed up Horner as they headed west on Highway 285 toward the 2nd category climb of Kenosha pass. Horner would not work in the group though as he had teammates Chris Wherry and Floyd Landis chasing not too far behind. Wherry left Landis behind on the rolling, windy road between Kenosha and Red Hill passes to join the four leaders and shift the odds in favor of Mercury. Within seconds of Wherry joining the break, Horner tried an attack, but it was short lived as Vaughters was quick to respond.

The now 5 strong lead group rode steadily together over the category 4 Red Hill Pass and it looked like the race would come down to a climber's showdown on the category 2 Hoosier Pass, the final climb of the day, but it was not to be. Vaughters attacked on the gentle down slope leading into the town of Fairplay and Horner was the only one who could respond. A hard right and they were turning north toward the continental divide. Up the gentle lower slopes of Hoosier pass they worked together building a lead over the other three and all the way up to the 11,547 foot summit they matched each other pedal stroke for pedal stroke. No sudden accelerations, just a constant steady pace that no one else could match.

Down the other side they sped toward the ski town of Breckenridge spinning out their biggest gears. After 140 miles, 7 mountain passes, 2 bumpy dirt descents, and 14,000 vertical feet of climbing, the outcome of the race came down to a one lap sprint around the same course the women had raced a criterium on just minutes earlier. With a brand new car on the line, Vaughters made his move in turn two of the crit course and got a gap that he held to the finish, arms raised in victory.

Results

Men - 225 km/140 miles
1 Jonathan Vaughters (USA) Handle Bar & Grill                 6.50.58 (32.95 km/h)
2 Chris Horner (USA) Mercury                                     0.03
3 Chris Wherry (USA) Mercury                                     2.36
4 Michael Barry (Can) Saturn
5 Burke Swindlehurst (USA) Navigators                            3.57
6 Floyd Landis (USA) Mercury                                     9.02
7 Danny Pate (USA) Prime Alliance                               11.40
8 Soren Petersen (Den) Saturn                                   12.42
9 Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (USA) Tokyo Joe's/Gatorade Energy Bar
10 Carl Swenson (USA) Tokyo Joe's/Gatorade Energy Bar           12.46
11 Walker Ferguson (USA) Tokyo Joe's/Gatorade Energy Bar        14.55
12 Jesus Zarate (Mex) Tecos Turbo                               15.47
13 Trent Klasna (USA) Saturn                                    17.37
14 Kirk O'Bee (USA) Navigators
15 Brendon Vesty (NZl) Navigators
16 Scott Moninger (USA) Mercury
17 Travis Brown (USA) Trek/VW-New Belgium Beer                  19.02
18 Arquimides Lam (Mex) Tecos Turbo
19 Skyler Reeves (USA) Tecos Turbo                              20.39
20 Florencio Ramos (Mex)                                        20.41
21 Michael Tobin (USA) Jamba Juice
22 Dariusz Wojciechowski (Pol) Handle Bar & Grill
23 Nathan Busch (USA) Rio Grande/Monsoon Racing
24 Jeff Hartmann (USA) Trek/VW-New Belgium Beer
24 Matt De Canio (USA) Saturn Cycling Team
24 Andy Bajadali (USA) Excel Sports Boulder
24 Eric Wohlberg (Can) Saturn Cycling Team
24 Jose Castell (Luis Mex) Tecos Turbo
29 Chris Brennan (USA) Rio Grande/Monsoon Racing
30 John Osguthorpe (USA) NutraFig
31 Steven Perrins (USA)
32 Nico Toutenhoofd (USA) Excel Sports Boulder
32 Frank Mapel (USA) Tokyo Joe's/Gatorade Energy Bar
32 Joel Alamillo (Mex) Tecos Turbo
35 Mark Southard (USA) Trek/VW-New Belgium Beer

From this point on it is not known who completed the distance 

36 Scott Price (USA) Landis/Trek/VW
36 Barkley Robinson (USA) Team Steamboat
38 Jon Stierwalt (USA) Celestial Seasonings
39 Shawn Mitchell (USA) NutraFig
40 Charlie Hayes (USA) Excel Sports Boulder
41 Andrew Miller (USA) Landis/Trek/VW
42 Zachery Vestal (USA) Jamba Juice
43 Ross Schnell (USA) Tokyo Joe's/Gatorade Energy Bar
43 Pete Swenson (USA) Tokyo Joe's/Gatorade Energy Bar
45 Juan Gabriel Sanchez (Mex) Tecos Turbo
46 Steve Crowley (USA) Vitamin Cottage/Morgal Bismark
47 Jason Travis (USA) NutraFig
48 Mike Janelle (USA) Tokyo Joe's/Gatorade Energy Bar
49 Mark Schwab (USA) Excel Sports Boulder
50 Andy Applegate (USA) Jamba Juice
51 Eric Schwartz (USA) Jamba Juice
52 Pete Vordenberg (USA) Tokyo Joe's/Gatorade Energy Bar
53 Brian Ellis (USA) Jamba Juice
54 Chris McGovern (USA) Zaxby's Cycling Team
55 Cody Waite (USA) Prime Alliance
56 Michael Larsen (USA) Prime Alliance
57 Gabriele Rompollo (Ita) Handle Bar & Grill
58 Dave Aschwandgen (USA) Trek/VW-New Belgium Beer
59 Brian Todeschini (USA) Celestial Seasonings
60 Ben Zambrana (USA) Team Steamboat
61 Ryan Starr (USA) Jamba Juice
62 Joby Siciliano (USA) Jamba Juice
63 Evan Ruzanski (USA) Trek/VW-New Belgium Beer
63 Andrew Clark (USA) Rio Grande/Monsoon Racing
65 Roger Cox (USA) Team Steamboat
66 Jeff Pink (USA) Rio Grande/Monsoon Racing
66 Kevin Nicol (USA) Celestial Seasonings
66 Thomas Cooke (USA) NutraFig
66 Steve Tibbitts (USA) NutraFig
70 Joey Pinkerton (USA) Vitamin Cottage/Morgal Bismark
71 Ian Prichard (USA) Team Steamboat
72 Daniel Doornbos (USA) Landis/Trek/VW
73 Jim Mohan (USA) GS Ciao
74 Chris Munro (USA) Vitamin Cottage/Morgal Bismark
75 Chris McGee (USA) Jamba Juice
76 Michael Scherer (USA) Prime Alliance
77 Alex Candelario (USA) Zaxby's Cycling Team
77 Billy Masterson (USA) Zaxby's Cycling Team
79 Nat Campbell (USA) Vitamin Cottage/Morgal Bismark
80 Brand LeMaitre (USA) Jamba Juice
80 Joe Sternberg (USA) Team Steamboat
82 Dejan Smaic (USA) Celestial Seasonings
83 Richard Gangl (USA) Handle Bar & Grill
84 Devens Hamlen (USA) GS Ciao
84 Eric Nussbaumer (USA) GS Ciao

Presumed DNF 

DNF Thomas Frischkorn (USA) Mercury
DNF Phil Zajicek (USA) Mercury
DNF Christopher Fisher (USA) Saturn Cycling Team
DNF Harm Jansen (Ned) Saturn Cycling Team
DNF Tim Johnson (USA) Saturn Cycling Team
DNF Eric Jones (USA) Tokyo Joe's/Gatorade Energy Bar
DNF Rishi Grewal (USA) Handle Bar & Grill
DNF Chris Baldwin (USA) Navigators Cycling Team
DNF Glen Mitchell (NZl) Navigators Cycling Team
DNF Michael Creed (USA) Prime Alliance
DNF Jeff Corbett (USA) 7-UP/Colorado Cyclist
DNF Ryan Guay (USA) 7-UP/Colorado Cyclist
DNF John Lieswyn (USA) 7-UP/Colorado Cyclist
DNF Clark Sheehan (USA) 7-UP/Colorado Cyclist
DNF Doug Ziewacz (USA) 7-UP/Colorado Cyclist
DNF Dirk Friel (USA) Zaxby's Cycling Team
DNF Mike Ley (USA) Zaxby's Cycling Team
DNF Scott Weiss (USA) Zaxby's Cycling Team
DNF Erik Kuhlman (USA) Landis/Trek/VW
DNF Doug Loveday (USA) Landis/Trek/VW
DNF Brian Hludzinski (USA) Jamba Juice
DNF Dwight Hall (USA) Trek/VW-New Belgium Beer
DNF Fred Gluck Jr. (USA) Excel Sports Boulder
DNF Jonathon Hiedemann (USA) Rio Grande/Monsoon Racing
DNF Jacob Rosenbarger (USA) Rio Grande/Monsoon Racing
DNF Joe Taddeucci (USA) Vitamin Cottage/Morgal Bismark
DNF Jon Tarkington (USA) Vitamin Cottage/Morgal Bismark
DNF Frank Overton (USA) Vitamin Cottage/Morgal Bismark
DNF Marc Gullickson (USA) Vitamin Cottage/Morgal Bismark
DNF Paul Colllins (USA) GS Ciao
DNF Josh Harrod (USA) GS Ciao
DNF Alan Butler (USA) NutraFig

DNS John Talley (USA) Celestial Seasonings
DNS Travis Baugh (USA) GS Ciao

Starters: 117
Classified: 20
Women's Miss & Out Criterium
1 Dede Demet-Barry (USA) Energy Bar/Olbas
2 Anke Erlank (RSA) Saturn
3 Sarah Konrad (USA) Boise Cascade
4 Lyne Bessette (Can) Saturn
5 Anne Lannan (USA)
5 Anne Lannan (USA)
6 Beth Leasure (USA)
7 Brenda Black (USA)
8 Rebecca McClintock (USA)
9 Karen Bockel (USA)
10 Julie Boylan (USA)
11 Carla  Flores (USA)
12 Leslie Lowery-Abate (USA)
13 Kerry Soraci-schmatz (USA)
14 Cheryl Binney (USA)
15 Amy Jamison (USA)
16 Gretchen Reeves (USA)
17 Emily Gloeckner (USA)
18 Kerry Barnholt (USA)
19 Stacey Spencer (Can)
20 Margell Abel (USA)
21 Kristin Downs (USA)
22 Susan Einberger (USA)
23 Leah Reeve (USA)
DNF Kristy Scrymgeour (Aus)
DNF Kimberly Bruckner (USA)
DNF Suzanne Sonye (USA)
DNF Kimberly Davidge (Can)
DNF Gail Longenecker (USA)
Men's Category 3 Criterium
1 Larry Smith (Centennial, CO) 
2 Matthew Walp (Golden, CO) 
3 Elias Bachmann (Boulder, CO) 
4 Tim Faia (Frisco, CO) 
5 John Seehafer (Louisville, CO)
6 Broc Thompson (Lafayette, CO)
7 Nick  Traggis (Louisville, CO)
8 Mike Trecker (Aspen, CO)
9 Brian Bruggeman (El Jebel, CO)
10 JJ  Rodman (Boulder , CO)
11 Emery Legg (Aurora, CO)
12 Patrick Owen (Denver, CO)
13 Luke Mason (Dillon, CO)
14 Greg  Taft (Stevens Point, WI)
15 Steve Huyler (Frisco, CO)
16 Scott Bourque (Breckenridge, CO)
17 Frank Abate (Parker, CO)
18 Stephen Boston (Highlands Ranch, CO)
19 Mike Mitchell (Boulder, CO)
20 Evan Wasserman (Breckenridge, CO)
21   
22 Micheal Parks (Denver, CO)
23 Tim Godby (Louisville, CO)
24 Jeff Leschner (Littleton, CO)
25 Ian MacGregor (Boulder, CO)
26 Hank Esperon (Avon , CO)
Men's Category 4 Criterium
1 Josh Seldman (Colorado Springs, CO)
2 Roger Rains (Ft Collins, CO)
3 Mark  Thompson (Breckenridge, CO)
4 Greg Ludke (Edwards, CO)
5 Barry Hanson (Dillon, CO)
6 Rick Hannah (Highlands Ranch, CO)
7 Hal Clark (Breckenridge, CO)
8 Jeff Cospolich (Breckenridge, CO)
9 Doug Manno (Denver, CO)
10 Paul Jamison (Dillon, CO)
11
12
13 Graham Bremner (Breckenridge, CO)
14 Marc Birdsill (Silverthorne, CO)
15 Lance Miller (Highlands Ranch, CO)
Junior Men's Criterium
1 Scott Tietzel (Boulder, CO)
2 Allen Krughoff (Boulder, CO)
3 Mikkel Christensen (Evergreen, CO)
3 Ben Seltzer (Boulder, CO)
5 Ia  MacGregor (Boulder, CO)
6 Tyson Lancaster (Tucson, AZ)
7 Brandon Weil (Boulder, CO)
8 Jason Short (Thornton, CO)
9 Peter Horn (Boulder, CO)
10 Ben Stewart (Vail, CO)
11 Braden  Bringham (Vail, CO)
12 John Downs (Aurora, CO)
13 Kevin Soller (Breckenridge, CO)