Gateway Cup - NE

St Louis, Missouri, USA, September 3-6, 2004

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Stage 2 - September 4: Greentree Park

One-two for Health Net; Hannos rides smart

By John Musselman, www.stlbiking.com

The Greentree Park Criterium tested the recovery speed of the racers legs. The previous nights' race ended at 11:00 PM and this race gave them only about 15 hours rest. The St. Louis summer heat peaked and racers absorbed the punishment as they tackled the only venue with a hefty climb out of the back loop towards the windy summit through the start/finish area. Only the strong survived. Racers were dropping out of the field at an alarming rate even though coaches and spectators along the hill climb tried their best to rally the intangible extra strength from their riders.

Teammates John Lieswyn and Olympian Jason McCartney showed the field no mercy by expanding their lead each on each lap. The field just let them go, knowing they would deal with the fact the best they could get would be third place. Before the race was over half the field dropped out conserving their strength for the next two days of racing. Not wanting to disappoint his hometown fans Dan Schmatz, riding with a broken spoke, spirited from well within the field with Frank Pippin in tow to finish 3rd and 4th respectively. John Lieswyn won hoping to finish what he failed to finish the night before.

The women's race was one of the weekend's highlights as Team RONA's Canadian Andrea Hannos rode strongly throughout the day and took 1st place with Kori Kelly placing second. The line has drawn in the sand and it looked like a battle could be brewing for the reminder of the weekend. Andrea is a biologist with degrees from the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Midwestern State University in Texas. She'll be using her outstanding ability to ride smart for the duration with two more venues to follow. Kori Kelly found that winning the night might have taken its toll. Kerry Soraci took a shot with a few laps remaining to break away but her effort fell short. She'd been not feeling well and a complete recovery was still to come.

Results

Pro/1/2 Men 
 
1 John Lieswyn
2 Jason McCartney
3 Dan Schmatz
4 Frank Pipp
5 John Puffer
6 Paul Nelson
7 Brad Huff
8 Zach Reed
9 Jeff Hartman
10 Aaron Smathers
11 Rory McAdams
12 Josh Carter
13 Drew Detels
14 Ryan Nenninger
15 Robert Quinn
16 Kurt Fletcher
17 Reed Mumford
 
Pro/1/2/3 Women 
 
1 Andrea Hannos
2 Kori Kelly
3 Mindi Martin
4 Sarah Tillotsun
5 Alison McNulty
6 Stacey Bertsch
7 Carla Farrell
8 Kerry Soraci
9 Carrie Cash
10 Pam Hinton