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La Vuelta de Bisbee - NE
USA, April 22-24, 2005
Prologue - April 22: Mule Pass Time Trial, 2.8 miles
Stevic starts with storming prologue
By Matt Hickman, Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Daily Review
The 27th La Vuelta de Bisbee was off and running Friday evening with the prologue.
One of the pre-race favorites, Serbian Ivan Stevic of the Aerospace Engineering team justified the hype, threatening the race record with a 9:39 climb from the Copper Queen Hotel, through Tombstone Canyon and up the zig-zagging steep climb atop the Mule Pass Tunnel.
Phil Wong, who finished 12th in last year's race, is Stevic's closest competition heading into today's road race. He sits nine seconds back while Cody Peterson of the lightly represented 3D Racing Team is third, 16 seconds back.
Tied for fourth is Wong's Team Fiordifrutta teammate Mike Dietrich, who finished sixth last year.
The team element is key in a road race such as La Vuelta and in the very early going, Aerospace Engineering and Fiordifrutta have made early statements. Aerospace Engineering put three riders in the top 10.
Another team expected to put a rider on the podium Sunday afternoon, got off to a bit of a slow start Friday. Webcor, based in California, is expected to be among the favorites, with their top breakaway threat challenging for the individual title. But its favored rider, David Clinger struggled a bit on the prologue climb, finishing 13th, 37 seconds behind Stevic.
Webcor wasn't expecting to be in Bisbee this weekend. They figured their performance throughout the season, including a third-place finish at last year's Tour de Georgia would have been good enough to qualify them for the Tour de Georgia, where Lance Armstrong is in the field.
Webcor's road manager Roger Lee said the team was disappointed in the snub and felt political factors such as sponsorship played a role in his team not being invited to Georgia. Since the Bisbee race is much smaller, Webcor has brought a smaller team. Just four riders are wearing the Webcor ensignia this weekend, but according to Marc Collard, who finished 32nd in the prologue, any member of their team could wind up on the podium.
"We don't have any true priority rider," Collard said. "We'll just see what everyone can do in the time trial. We have four strong, competitive riders." Bernard Van Ulden finished highest among Webcor riders, placing 10th in the prologue. Collard said the bigger the team, the bigger the advantage.
"The biggest thing about having numbers is that you always have a guy or two in every attack," Collard said. "If a guy breaks away you always to have representation (chasing him down.)" The team represented by the greatest number of riders is the Arizona-based Eclipse team which has 10 in the pro race. The top Eclipse finisher was Scott Blanchard in 16th, 40 seconds behind Stevic.
Fiord di Frutta is a team based in New England. With just four riders, they may find the going lonely on the open road with just four members.
But of the four, Wong and Dietrich could easily contend for the overall title, won last year by David Frattini, who is currently racing in the Tour de Georgia.
Dietrich, a Boston native, currently lives in Tucson, majoring in Finance at the University of Arizona.
Prior to the prologue, Dietrich said he considers Stevic and Clinger to be the favorites, but that his team should put he and Wong in position to make moves.
"The climb and time trial is the most important thing at this race," Dietrich said. "The time trial (Saturday) will split up the field." In the four years since race organizer Albert Hopper resurrected the once mighty race as a more modest 3-day event, the Landis/Trek/VW team based out of Phoenix has been the steady dominant force.
Last year, former champion Drew Miller finished third and in years prior, Scott Price was a champion. But both of those riders aren't racing much these days and a new look Landis team is looking for the same old success.
"I think we'll do pretty well and get some guys in the top 10," team newcomer Rob Alvarez said. "Maybe we'll even get someone on the podium."
Team Landis' best breakaway bet is Tim Carolan who placed 11th in the prologue, 35 seconds behind the leader. Ryan Blickem finished ninth, 30 seconds back and Alvarez was 23rd.
"We don't have anyone like Drew who is a pure climber," Alvarez said.
"But myself or Tim are pretty good climbers who could be there at the end." Alvarez raced with the La Grange team based in Oregon a year ago. There he met Scotland native Mike Zagorski on the two. Zagorski, who lives in Hawaii, has raced the year unaffiliated and is without a team at Bisbee.
Zagorski has been staying at Alvarez's Tucson home the last couple of days. He finished 45th in the prologue, 1:33 behind the leader.
Zagorski finished 60th with a team last year, and knows it will be tricky to beat that finish without teammates.
"When you're on your own, it's tough," Zagorski said. "You have to find people to travel with." Sean Van Horn is the lone member from his Broadmark racing team. A freshman at the University of Colorado, Van Horn won't be joining his Seattle-based team when they arrive for the Tour de Gila in Silver City, N.M. next week.
"I have finals," Van Horn explained. "I just want to see what I can do.
I'm looking to gain some fitness and enjoying the weather. If I finished in the top 20 that would be nice." In the Event B Masters' men's race, Douglas Loveday is the leader in 10:25, a second better than D.J. Fernandez. Chad Fischer sits 12 seconds back.
In the women's race, Maatje Benassi leads with a time of 12:13, followed by Brooke Ourada 20 seconds back and Carolyn Donnelly 27 seconds back.
The three-day race continues today with the Stage 1 road race beginning at 8 a.m. in Old Bisbee. The Stage 2 Warren Time trial starts at 3 p.m.
Results
Men Pro/1/2 1 Ivan Stevic (Aerospace Eng) 9.39 2 Phil Wong (Fiordifrutta ) 0.09 3 Cody Peterson (3D Racing) 0.16 4 Mike Dietrich (Fiordifrutta ) 0.22 5 Matthew Willinger (RHvilla.com) 0.26 6 Dan Timmerman (Fiordifrutta ) 0.27 7 Hugh Moran (Aerospace Eng) 0.29 8 Ryan Blickem (Landis/Trek/VW) 0.30 9 Bernard Van ULDEN (Webcor Builders) 0.32 10 Tim Carolan (Landis/Trek/VW) 0.35 11 Jonathan Garcia (RMCEF) 12 Clemente Cavaliere (Aerospace Eng) 0.37 13 David Clinger (Webcor Builders) 14 Christopher Stockburger (Team Rio Grande) 0.38 15 Kevin Rowe (Valley Athletic) 0.39 16 Scott Blanchard (Eclipse Racing) 0.40 17 John Hunt (Giant/Vill Ped) 0.42 18 Sean Van HORN (Broadmark) 0.43 19 Kyle Colavito (Eclipse Racing) 0.48 20 Christopher Monteleone (Team Rio Grande) 0.51 21 Kevin Nicol (Tokyo Joe's Cyc) 0.55 22 Grant Berry (Rky Mt Choc Fac) 0.58 23 Ryan Hamity (RMCEF) 1.01 24 Rob Alvarez (Landis/Trek/VW) 25 David Glick (Eclipse Racing) 1.02 26 Bart Fidelus (Ranchos) 1.04 27 Derik Archibald (Valley Athletic) 28 Nick Friesen (The Bike Shop) 1.06 29 Ted Huang (Webcor Builders) 30 Mike Janelle (Tokyo Joe's Cyc) 1.07 31 Curtis Gunn (Seasilver) 1.09 32 Marc Collard (Webcor Builders) 1.10 33 Michael Telega (Oakley) 34 Taylor Lane (Team Rio Grande) 1.11 35 George Ganoung (US Armed Frcs ) 36 Emiliano Jordan (Team Revolution) 1.13 37 Nathan Mitchell (TIAA CREF) 1.14 38 Paul Reichart (Team Spine) 1.16 39 Michael Nunez (Rky Mt Choc Fac) 1.19 40 Chad Hummer (CZ Racing) 1.20 41 Eric Murphy (Aerospace Eng) 1.21 42 Evan Lawrence (Team Hammer Gel) 1.24 43 Chris Crawford (Club One/PMax ) 1.25 44 David Schulhofer (Bike 'n' Sport) 45 Mike Zagorski (UNATT) 1.33 46 Shawn Olin (US Armed Frcs ) 47 Jason Karew (Eclipse Racing) 1.34 48 Nate Ross (Subaru-G Fisher) 49 Michael Gallagher (US Armed Frcs ) 50 Ian Holt (US Armed Frcs ) 51 Hugh Selby (KHSnm.com) 1.35 52 Ulric De YOUNG (TommyO Bikes) 1.39 53 Christopher Rozdilsky (Fiordifrutta ) 1.43 54 JohN Dehnert (Team Revolution) 1.44 55 Patrick Briggs (Giant/Vill Ped) 1.46 56 Chris Greene (Giant/Vill Ped) 57 Jeff Hoppert (Eclipse Racing) 58 John Salskov (CZ Racing) 1.47 59 Erik Long (Eclipse Racing) 60 Jake Hunter (Race Lab U23) 1.53 61 Trent Hornus (US Armed Frcs ) 1.58 62 Scott Hubbard (KHSnm.com) 1.59 63 Gus Gomez (Arts Cyclery) 2.01 64 Mike Hoffman (Giant/Vill Ped) 65 David Reid (Landis/Trek/VW) 66 Zac Coolman (Healthmaxx) 2.03 67 Joshua Powers (Red Rock Racing) 68 Brian Lemke (Landis/Trek/VW) 69 Andy Chocha (US Armed Frcs ) 2.04 70 Matt Lorenz (US Armed Frcs ) 2.05 71 Ernesto Ramirez (Landis/Trek/VW) 2.09 72 Jeff Parker (Eclipse Racing) 2.12 73 Matt Desmond (Bike 'n' Sport) 2.14 74 Michael Hubbard (TopPro) 75 Cameron Tongier (KHSnm.com) 2.27 76 Jason Spencer (Watermark Cyc) 2.28 77 Travis Huxman (Eclipse Racing) 2.30 78 Chris Poole (Bicycle Ranch) 2.31 79 Jonathan Massie (RMCEF) 2.35 80 Sean Coleman (BBC/USCG) 2.36 81 Tim Erwin (Bike 'n' Sport) 2.45 82 Nate Roark (Flag Velo) 83 Jamie Ryan-White (KHSnm.com) 2.49 84 Peter Schuster (Team SCHU) 2.55 85 Jonathan Mentzer (Eclipse Racing) 2.56 86 Nicholaus Schreiber (Flag Velo) 3.00 87 Brian Doege (outdoorlights) 3.01 88 Scott Kasin (Six) 3.34 89 Dan Distefano (Eclipse Racing) 4.12 Women 1 Maatje Benassi (Excel Sports) 12.13 2 Brooke Ourada (T-Mobile) 0.20 3 Carolyn Donnelly (Landis/Trek/VW) 0.27 4 Anna Milkowski (Team Lipton) 0.43 5 Heather Woodhouse (Team Kenda Tire) 0.44 6 Cynthia Mommsen (The Olympic Clb) 0.53 7 Julie Mortello (Landis/Trek/VW) 1.08 8 Merrill Sapp (Landis/Trek/VW) 1.09 9 Sheila Orem (Team Kenda Tire) 1.14 10 Lisa Hunt (The Olympic Clb) 1.25 11 Nancy Jadatz (Snow Valley) 1.32 12 Maggie Williams (Landis/Trek/VW) 1.35 13 Mary Downing (Team Kenda Tire) 1.48 14 Amanda Lawrence (Verducci Racing) 1.54 15 Heidi Clayton (UNATT) 2.09 16 Jacqi Lockwood (Team Kenda Tire) 2.10 17 Paula Higgins (Landis/Trek/VW) 2.30 18 Deb Wilson (Flag Velo) 2.32 19 Kathleen Vedock (Thunder Mtn Cyc) 2.36 20 Kristine Wilcox (Team Kenda Tire) 2.52 21 Katherine Farago (NEBC/Cycleloft) 3.04 22 Kate Gracheck (Team Kenda Tire) 3.06 23 Jennifer Stern (Team Kenda Tire) 3.13 24 Emily Baltes (ProCon) 3.18 25 Alicia Voss (Team Kenda Tire) 3.43 B men 1 Douglas Loveday (Grand Canyon R) 10.25 2 DJ Fernandes (CZ Racing) 0.01 3 Chad Fischer (CVC) 0.12 4 Brian McGuire (The Olympic Clb) 0.19 5 Kris Pagano (CZ Racing) 0.23 6 Greg Hritzo (Landis/Trek/VW) 0.28 7 David Zimbelman (Excel Sports) 0.30 8 Troy Love (CZ Racing) 0.31 9 Jon Gallagher (Cole Sport) 0.34 10 Christian Reidys (Colavita Bolla) 0.40 11 Craig Long (ProCon) 0.44 12 Joshua Liberles (Colavita Bolla) 13 DaN Armijo (NM S&W) 0.46 14 Todd Mion (Landis/Trek/VW) 0.49 15 Scott Baker (GS Tucson) 0.53 16 Link King (Watermark Cyc) 0.56 17 Eric Stephen (CVC) 1.02 18 Rick Cimaglia (Grand Canyon R) 1.05 19 Ophir Sefiha (Red Rock Racing) 1.08 20 John Sawasky (Red Rock Racing) 1.13 21 Robert Johnson (CZ Racing) 1.14 22 Ray Dunn (GS Tucson) 1.16 23 Joel Cleare (Strada Racing) 1.18 24 Kevin Riseborough (Honeywell Cyc) 25 Jon Black (GS Tucson) 26 Chris Gould (GS Tucson) 1.27 27 Scott Adams (Team Vitesse) 1.28 28 Daniel Smith (UNATT) 29 Chris Latshaw (Durango Whl Clb) 1.30 30 Jim Silverman (Flag Velo) 1.31 31 Garrett Ford (Eclipse Racing) 1.34 32 Robert Dolman (HLHAP) 33 Gerard Prosnier (ProCon) 1.35 34 John Simonson (GS Tucson) 1.36 35 William Culpepper (Flag Velo) 1.38 36 Scott Bartel (CenturyTel/VRAD) 37 Jesus Lamb (Presteza) 1.41 38 Ken Jones (CZ Racing) 39 Chris Fusselman (HLHAP) 40 Chris Rutz (CZ Racing) 1.42 41 Richard Biocca (DWC) 1.43 42 Chris Latham (Red Rock Racing) 43 Phillip Austin (HLHAP) 1.44 44 Gabriel Keck (Red Rock Racing) 45 Andy Byrnes (CZ Racing) 1.46 46 Jon Spar (Olev Rapido) 1.47 47 Stan Andrie (W MI Cst Riders) 1.51 48 Michael Cline (HLHAP) 1.57 49 Ron Ciano (Team Revolution) 1.58 50 Lindsay Crawford (G.S. Strada) 2.00 51 Bryan Antol (Red Rock Racing) 2.01 52 Mark Fosenburg (Honeywell Cyc) 2.03 53 Roger Learned (CZ Racing) 2.07 54 Joel Thompson (Southwest Hand) 55 Greg Kilroy (CZ Racing) 2.08 56 Peter Chagaris (DWC) 2.09 57 Steve Stuart (Watermark Cyc) 58 Jack Phillips (Desert Whl Clb) 2.10 59 Don Williams (Landis/Trek/VW) 60 Brian Marcucci (HLHAP) 2.12 61 Duane Mulvaney (Landis/Trek/VW) 2.13 62 Matthias Feurer (Fair Wheel) 2.14 63 William Jacobus (Orlando Rd Clb) 2.15 64 Chuck Higgins (Landis/Trek/VW) 2.19 65 Wesley James (CZ Racing) 2.21 66 Jeff Dillion (Flag Velo) 2.23 67 Andy Duvall (Presteza) 2.26 68 Jared Nelson (Flag Velo) 2.29 69 Geoff Chalmers (Team Vitesse) 2.31 70 Michael Hillenbrand (AZphalt) 2.32 71 Andrew Hong (RLR) 2.33 72 Don Langley (Morgan Stanley) 2.35 73 Mike Thiele (CZ Racing) 74 Rick Hammond (ProCon) 2.36 75 Steve Morton (Hillenbrand) 76 Jeffrey Lancaster (Durango Whl Clb) 2.38 77 Adrian Schumacher (Presteza) 2.40 78 David Green (Landis/Trek/VW) 2.42 79 Donald Guess (Honeywell Cyc) 2.49 80 Nathan Hobson (Half Fast Velo) 2.59 81 Craig Liming (Thunder Mtn Cyc) 3.00 82 Jeff Ulbrich (Team Revolution) 3.04 83 Sujeet Karna (ProCon) 3.10 84 William Bock (DWC) 3.11 85 Efraim Rojas (Honeywell Cyc) 3.13 86 Scott Baker (Honeywell Cyc) 3.20 87 Reg Dowdall (Southwest Hand) 3.21 88 Scott Rusnak (RPM) 3.24 89 Mario Medina (MTB CINCY) 3.28 90 James Buttke (Thunder Mtn Cyc) 3.34 91 Kenneth Oister (Honeywell Cyc) 3.42 92 Jorge Caviedes (Honeywell Cyc) 3.48 93 Juston Manville (N Atlantic Vel) 3.54 94 Brock Boring (CZ Racing) 4.07 95 Tyson Kinnick (Team Revolution) 4.26 96 LeRoy Bloom (Thunder Mtn Cyc) 4.28 97 Glenn Harris (Thunder Mtn Cyc) 5.03 98 Al Caccavale (Landis/Trek/VW) 6.23
