International Cycling Classic - Superweek - NE

USA, July 9-25, 2004

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Race 4 - July 12: Oneida Bingo & Casino Tour of Alpine Valley Road Race

Nielsen wins solo, Pic takes another long sprint, Bolian closer to Worlds selection

By Kristy Scrymgeour

Jacob Nielsen (Glud & Marstrand Horsens)
Photo ©: Kristy Scrymgeour

Jacob Nielson (Glud & Marstrand Horsens) and Tin Pic (Genesis Scuba) took out today's stage of Superweek under very hot conditions in Alpine Valley, Wisconsin. Nielsen's win will move him that little bit closer to the lead for the series and Pic's second win of three races moves her into the America's Dairyland leaders jersey going into day four of the women's series. Today's junior men's race was quite significant, as it was one four selection races for the Junior World Championships. Zach Bolian (Hot Tubes) took the win moving himself up from equal second to first place in the point's series.

The weather was perfect for racing when the Cat 3 and 4's raced in the morning, but as the Men, Women and Junior men started in the afternoon the clouds parted and the heat was exhausting. The course was laps of a 10 mile loop in the rolling farmland area of Alpine Valley, Wisconsin. In the winter this area is famous for it's ski slopes. Each lap contained two hard hill sections, the first being a short pinch which turned left at the top and after dipping slightly went straight up again on a very steepclimb, after which it continued up on a false flat for some time. In the second half of the lap was another hill section with more, short but very steep, pinches.The men raced 10 laps of the course for a total of 100 miles (160km) and the women raced seven laps for 70 miles (110km).

The men's race started aggressively and riders were off the front after only a couple of laps. By the midway point in the race, more riders had bridged and a break of seven riders had a convincing gap to the main field. In the penultimate lap the Monex rider in the break, Davide Frattini, went on the attack and gained a gap of 45 seconds over a chasing group of three riders, Nielsen, Brian Jensen (HRRC) and Walter Perez (Argentina National Team).

It wasn't until the last lap that Nielsen made his move, attacking hard and catching Frattini before going solo to the finish. Jensen moved up to finish second in front of Frattini with the Argentinian Madison World Champion, Walter Perez and the Columbian Carlos Vargas (Endeavour Cycling Team) taking fourth and fifth place repectively. Vargas' fifth place keeps him in the series lead.

The women's field
Photo ©: Kristy Scrymgeour

In the women's race the bunch stayed together for the entire race, with all break being quickly in by Pic and her Genesis Scuba Team. The pace was high on the climbs with Pic setting a high pace along with Suzanne Sonye. With two laps to go Magen Long (TDS) attacked hard on the flat section of the course for the most convincing break of the day. She held her lead over the next couple of hill sections but the move was too early and she was caught by the bunch with just over a lap to go.

In the final sprint Tina Pic came of the wheel of Sonye with almost a kilometer remaining in the race and opened up a gap that no-one could bridge to take her second win in two days. Winning the sprint from the rest of the bunch was Andrea Hannos (Rona), with Christina DeKraay (Team Fuji) taking third place.

The junior men's race was a high pressure race with so much at stake and attacks went early and often. One of the first break of the day contained a guy from all of the big teams and looked like it had a good chance of staying, but it was caught and later in the race a group of three riders got away with another two in chase. Eventually one of the riders was dropped leaving only Bolian and Alex Boyd (Major Motion Cycling Club) to work together.

The pair made it to the finish line together with Bolian taking the sprint and earning the precious points that could possibly help take him to World Championships in September. Coming in to take third place was Matthew Brandt (Nova/IS Corp) out-sprinting his breakaway partner on the line Zachary Taylor (Hot Tubes).

The four races that make up the points series for World Championship selection for the juniors are Redlands, Fitchburg, today's race and National's, which will be held next month in Park City. Bolian's win will move him into the lead and in a strong position with only one selection race remaining.

Tomorrow's Point Beer MGA Proving Grounds Road Race will be held in the town of Lyons, a little East of today's race. It is another undulating course with a lap distance of 8.9 miles.

Photography

Images by Kristy Scrymgeour/Cyclingnews.com

The women's field go through the feed zone on lap two
The men's field in the feed zone early on led by Endeavour
The men round the corner on their way to the Kniep road climb
An early break in the junior men's race
The rest of the junior peloton at the top of the wall
A three man break in the men's race
The men's field in chase of the break at least a minute back
The women's field at the bottom of the wall
Tina Pic (Genesis Scuba) and Suzanne Sonye leading the women up the climb
Rachel Couch (America's Dairyland) smiles despite the steep climb
The junior men feeling the gradient of the climb
The men's break is down to two rider mid way through the race
The men go through the feed zone feeling the effect of the heat
Tina Pic (Genesis Scuba) wins by a proverbial mile
Jacob Nielsen (Glud & Marstrand Horsens) comes in solo to take out the road race
Brian Jensen (HRRC) comes in solo to take second place

Results

Men

1 Jacob Nielsen (Glud & Marstrand Horsens)
2 Brian Jensen (HRRC)
3 Davide Frattini (Team Monex)
4 Walter Perez (National Team Argentina)
5 Carlos Vargas (Endeavour Cycling Team)
6 Brian Sheedy (Team Seasilver)
7 Ben Raby (ABD Cycling Team)
8 Frank Dierking (ABD Cycling Team)
9 Danny In't Ven (Antwerpse VC)
10 Steve Tilford (BikeSource)
11 Richard England (Team MGZT)
12 Nicholas Reistad (Endeavour Cycling Team)
13 Kasper Klostergaard Larsen (Glud & Marstrand Horsens)
14 (unknown rider) 
15 Burno Nella 
16 Sam Horn (Intermountain)
17 Ryan Nenninger (ABD Cycling Team)
18 Bryce Mead (Bianchi/GrandPerformance)
19 Aron Huerta (Village Peddler)
20 Garrett Peltonen (Endeavour Cycling Team)
21 Granam Howard (ABD Cycling Team)
22 Juan Gaspari (National team aregentina)
23 Brian Schaning (PCW Cycling)
24 Stefano Barberi (JC Investors)
25 Sterling Magnell (Sierra Nevada)
26 Brian Dziewg (Long John Silvers)
27 Fran Travieso (Cyclist Warehouse)
28 Ben Whitehead (Advantage Benefits Cycling Team)
29 Adam Mills (HRRC/Maclaren/Bike Source)
30 Tristan Schouten (UW Health)
31 Thomas Hallock (Northwest Cycling Club)

Women

1 Tina Pic (Genesis Scuba/FFCC)
2 Andrea Hannos (RONA)
3 Christina DeKraay (Team Fuji)
4 Elizabeth Morse (The Bicycle Store)
5 Brenda Lyons (ABD Cycle Club)
6 Kerry Soraci (TDS Telecom)
7 Brooke O'connor (Colavita-Bolla Racing)
8 Catherine Walberg (KENDA)
9 Alisha Little (ABD Cycling Team)
10 Megan Monroe (Sportsbook.com)
11 Cheryl Roth (Helens/Trek/VW)
12 Kimberly Strom (Bianchi/Grand Performance)
13 Rebecca Much (XXX Racing/AthletiCo)
14 Emily Gloeckerner (TDS/Shwabe)
15 Alison McNulty (Dent Wizard/Maplewood Bicycle)
16 Pam Hinton (Dent Wizard)
17 Kelly Benjamin (ABD Cycling Team)
18 Suzanne Sonye (Helens Trek/VW)
19 Sarah Tillotson (Athletes By Design)
20 Stacey Bertsch (Mercy Cycling Team)
21 Rebecca Anderson (America's Dairyland)
  
  
  
Junior men

1 Zach Bolian (Hot Tubes)
2 Alex Boyd (Major Motion Cycling Club)
3 Matthew Brandt (Nova/IS Corp)
4 Zachary Taylor (Hot Tubes)
5 Michael Chauner (Team Rio Grande)
6 Jimmy Feely (MNJRC)
7 Chris Ruhl (Team Rio Grande)
8 Michael Sheppard (Major Motion)
9 Adam Switters (Lombardi/Klein)
10 Chad Beyer (Domenics/Team Strada)
11 Brad Armstrong (Hot Tubes)
12 Clint Rogers (Lombardi Sports/Klein)
13 Josh Nagode (PCW Cycling)
14 Ulric DeYoung (UW Health/Trek/Digisound)
15 Jason Carr (Nova/IS Corp)
16 Alex Welch (Power Train)
17 Derek Laan (MNJRC)
18 Peter Stetina (TIAA-CREF/5280)
19 Todd Elenz (Advantage Benefits Group)
20 Tom French (PowerTrain)
21 Kip Spaude (GDVC)
22 Taylor Lane (Team Rio Grande)
23 Luke Pennington (Bike Gallery)
24 Wynn Roberts (Baraboo Sharks)
25 Chase Renick (Team Swift)
26 Bjorn Selander (ALAN)
27 Ryan Keels (Hot Tubes)
28 Reno Garcia (Team Swift)
29 Aaron Woolsey (Team Swift)
30 Cassel Lessinger (ISCorp/Nova)
31 Mike Margraf (Team Swift)
32 Jens Brabbit (Minnesota Junior Cycling)
33 Anton Nicola (Team Swift)
34 Joseph Iannarelli (Team Swift)
35 Benjamin Silk (Team Power Train)
36 Mike Souers (PBF/Citgo)
37 William Dehli (Stone Creek Coffee/One Percent More Racing)
38 Joseph Lewis (MNJRC)
39 Julio Jacob (unattached)