Chris Thater Memorial Criterium - NEBinghamton, NY, USA, August 26, 20012000 Results Women's results Men's results Past winners Strong Survive and win, as Lieswyn, Scrymgeour take Chris Thater MemorialBy John Alsedek Prior to the running of the fifth annual Chris Thater Memorial, the talk was about how it was a criterium for non-criterium riders, that it was a race where the strong generally flourish. And that's just what happened today, as John Lieswyn (7 UP/Colorado Cyclist) and Kristy Scrymgeour (Saturn) turned in bravura performances off the front of the pack to take the wins in the Men's and Women's events. First up was the Pro/Elite Men's event: 50 miles on a technical 1.2 mile circuit in suburban Binghampton that included six corners and one climb per lap. It has traditionally been a course that has rewarded aggressive riding...and John Lieswyn is nothing if not aggressive. After seeing a number of early breakaway attempts, some of which included Lieswyn himself, come to naught, the 1999 winner took the bull by the horns and spearheaded the eventual winning move, with Scott Moninger (Mercury) the only rider able to stay with him. While the duo never gained more than 20 seconds, their margin was just enough, as Lieswyn held off Moninger for the win, with Saturn's Mark McCormack leading in a 20-rider chase group for third, just eight seconds in arrears. It was an especially satisfying win for Lieswyn, who, after finishing third overall in the 2000 Pro Tour, was having a season of 'much effort, little reward' "For sure, it was great to win here today. After winning it two years ago, I knew that I had a good shot if I rode aggressively, but smart. And the team was great - thanks to all my 7 UP/Colorado Cyclist teammates!" The aggression continued two hours later, as the Elite Women competed in their 35-mile event. Due to a scheduling conflict with another major women's event, both Saturn and AutoTrader.com came into the Chris Thater Memorial with smaller-than-usual contingents. But it didn't seem to matter much, as Saturn continued to do what it has done in every other Pro Cycling Tour Women's event: dominate. Just seven miles in, Saturn rider Kristy Scrymgeour attacked solo for a prime; a chase group of seven quickly formed, and it looked as if they would catch Scrymgeour and make a strong breakaway of eight. But they never did: the combination of Scrymgeour's time trial prowess - she's a former Australian National Time Trial (and Criterium) Champion - and some ace blocking by Saturn mate Anna Millward proved to be too much, and Scrymgeour ended up lapping the main field - and nearly the chasers as well! - to win handily...though she wasn't sure it was going to work out that way. "I thought for sure that I'd gone too early, but my legs felt good today, and Anna did a great job of controlling the chase." Tina Mayolo-Pic (AutoTrader.com) took the seven-rider sprint for second, with Joanne Kiesanowski (Procter & Gamble/Women's Health) snagging third. In the overall Pro Cycling Tour standings, there were no major changes as Saturn's Trent Klasna and Anna Millward continue to hold commanding leads in the Men's and Women's categories, respectively. The next stop on the Pro Cycling Tour is in the Bay Area on September 8th-9th for the San Rafael Grand Prix (Women only) and the San Francisco Grand Prix (Men only). Women: Scrymgeour powers away to winSaturn's Kristy Scrymgeour escaped to eventually lap the field in the women's edition of this year's Chris Thater Memorial Criterium. Scrymgeour made her move in a well-timed attack, catching and taking on a lead break of seven that included team-mate Anna Millward and was unable to organise a chase before Scrymgeour consolidated her lead by lapping the bunch with 5 laps to go. Saturn team reportThe Saturn Team won the Chris Thater Memorial today, one of the 15 stops of the US Pro Tour. The challenging criterium is held in remembrance for Chris Thater, an athlete killed by a drunk driver. Organized and promoted to bring awareness to the dangers of drunk driving, the Chris Thater Memorial has become one of the top criteriums in the US. The Saturn Team had limited numbers for both the men's and women's races. Six of the women were in Quebec competing at the GP Fem du Quebec. The women's 35 mile criterium, held on the same technical course as that of the men's race began with an early break of six gaining time on the main group. Saturn teammates Anna Millward and Kristy Scrymgeour were both in the break. Half way through the race, Scrymgeour attacked the group, lapping the field for an admirable win. In the sprint for second it was Autotrader's Tina Mayolo over Joanne Kesenowski (Proctor and Gamble). Millward finished fourth, but managed to extend her lead of the Pro Tour. The next stop of the Pro Tour is September 8 and 9 in San Francisco. Autotrader team reportAutoTrader.com's Tina Mayolo finished in second place in this year's Chris Thater Memorial Criterium. The race, was combative from the gun as the prime bell, laced with $100 primes, was rung every three laps. Following the first prime bell, three riders were off the front. On the coverage, was AutoTrader.com's Marjon Marik, who latched onto the three riders with no problem. Immediately following the prime, the critical attack was made on the backside hill. A break of seven riders moved to the front and became the winning move of the day. Those riders included: Tina Mayolo (AutoTrader.com); Anna Millward & Kristy Scrymgeour (both Saturn); Laura Van Gilder (VeriZon); Roz Reekie-May (UPMC Pittsburgh); Cheryl Binney and Joanne Kiesanowski (both P&G). Following the move of this break was an attack by Scrymgeour, who remained away for the remainder of the race. The break of chasers could not organize enough to put a serious threat on Scrymgeour and eventually came down to a sprint of their own for second place with AutoTrader.com's Tina Mayolo leading out the sprint and holding it to finish second place. P & G's Kiesanowski finished third, while Kelly McCombi-Cally won the field sprint for eighth. Results1 Kristy Scrymgeour (Aus) Saturn 1.36.16 2 Tina Mayolo-Pic (USA) AutoTrader.com 2.35 3 Joanne Kiesanowski (NZl) Procter & Gamble/Women's Health 4 Anna Millward (Aus) Saturn 5 Laura Van Gilder (USA) VeriZon Wireless 6 Cheryl Binney (USA) Procter & Gamble/Women's Health 7 Roz Reekie-May (NZl) UPMC/Pittsburgh Cycling 8 Kelly McCombi (Aus) Australia 1 lap behind 9 Charmain Breon (USA) Talgoamerica.com 10 Kimberly Bruckner (USA Saturn Men: Lieswyn in attacking style7UP-Colorado Cyclist's John Lieswyn rode an attacking race to take the win in the men's event. Inspired by the race's numerous primes, an in-form Lieswyn attacked repeatedly, wearing down his opponents until only Scott Moninger of Mercury could answer his final attack, the other members of the previously nine-strong breakaway group either unwilling or unable to chase. Saturn team reportThere were only four Saturn Men on the start line, as both Ivan Dominguez and Pro Tour Leader Trent Klasna did not race due to illness. Without Klasna, the Saturn men's goal was to defend his lead from Navigator's Vasilli Davidenko. Navigators, present with a strong team of 10, did an excellent job trying to take advantage of Klasna's absence, but in the end it was the Mercury and 7-Up Teams who were able to capitalize on the early aggressive moves. A small break escaped containing eventual winner John Lieswyn (7-Up) and Mercury's Scott Moninger along with Saturn's Soren Peterson. After many attacks, Lieswyn and Moninger jumped clear of the small group with Lieswyn winning the two up sprint over Moninger. Saturn's Mark McCormack bridged to what was left of Peterson's group attacking on the last time up the hill. He soloed into the finish for third. The Saturn Men successfully defended Klasna's lead of the Pro Tour, despite his absence. Navigators team reportThe Navigators Cycling Team went to Binghamton, New York for the Chris Thater Memorial Criterium today in pursuit of repeating the victory that Mark Walters' earned for the team last year. Although Mark is currently representing his home country of Canada at the Pan-Am Games in Medellin, Colombia, the rest of the squad traveled to this popular race, just a few hours from the team's New Jersey base. With Pro Cycling Tour and NRC points on the line and representation from all of the major squads in attendance, it was going to be another blistering criterium. For the early stages of the race, the field was alternately strung-out, or strung out with riders attacking off the front. One of the early animators was Navigators' Kirk O'Bee, fresh from winning the USPRO Criterium Championship last week. Also active was 7-Up's John Lieswyn who has been showing good form of late. With about 10 of the 39-laps completed, a group of nine finally moved clear of the main pack and gained about 15-seconds. Over the next four or five laps, the composition of the break changed as some riders were bridging up to it, and others were being dropped from it. When the dust settled, it was a group of 14 that included three Navigators, two Mercurys, two 7-Ups, a Saturn and a handful of riders from the stronger amateur and Division III teams. Over the next eight laps, the gap slowly increased until it reached 1:40 on the pack, which meant that the break was more than a half-lap ahead of the now-sluggish peloton. The Navigators trio continued working hard with several others, but the attacks were now coming hard and fast. A hard attack by Lieswyn for one of the lucrative primes gave him a 10 second lead on his breakaway companions. Four others bridged up creating a split in the breakaway. However after a few laps the two groups rejoined, but the attacks continued. With three riders in the group, the lion's share of the work was on the shoulders of the Navigators squad. Another hard attack by Lieswyn was answered by Mercury's Scott Moninger. As the duo rode away, the rest of the group continued to look to the Navigators to bail them out again. As the lap cards were showing about 9-to-go, the remainder of the breakaway was drifting back to the bunch, as the Navigators started setting up their blue train in preparation of a field sprint. With no help from the others, the men in blue drilled the front of the peloton absorbing the remnants of the escape group, on their way to taking 1:10 out of the breakaway pair over the next eight laps. Unfortunately, they came up short of the two strong leaders going into the final sprint lap. In the end, it was Lieswyn followed by Moninger with Mark McCormack (Saturn) in third and Navigators' Vassili Davidenko in fourth. Although the big prize escaped the team this week, Navigators' Davidenko moved up into second place overall in the Pro Cycling Tour point standings with four events remaining. He also leads the BMC Software G.P. with two events remaining in that competition. Results1 John Lieswyn (USA) 7 UP/Colorado Cyclist 1.55.25 2 Scott Moninger (USA) Mercury 3 Mark McCormack (USA) Saturn 0.08 4 Vassili Davidenko (Rus) Navigators 5 Graeme Miller (NZl) NetZero 6 Derek Bouchard-Hall (USA) Mercury 7 Oscar Pineda (Gua) 7 UP/Colorado Cyclist 8 Jeff Hopkins (Aus) Embassy International/Grange Insurance 9 Harm Jansen (Ned) Saturn 10 Michael Sayers (USA) Mercury Past winners2001 Kristy Scrymgeour (Aus) Team Saturn 2000 Katrina Berger (USA) Charles Schwab Men 2001 John Liewsyn (USA) 7Up-Colorado Cyclist 2000 Mark Walters (Can) Team Shaklee 1999 John Lieswyn (USA) Team Shaklee 1998 (2) Frank McCormack (USA) Saturn 1997 Ashley Powell (USA) Elite 1996 Scott Mercer (USA) Team Shaklee 1995 Frank McCormack (USA) Saturn 1994 Roberto Gaggioli (Ita) Coors 1993 Mark McCormack (USA) IME-Bolla Past winners by Mario Stiehl, Berlin |