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Saturn Rochester Twilight Criterium - 1.2
USA, June 23, 2007
Clarke makes it two on the trot
By Alan Coté
Australian Hilton Clarke (Navigators Insurance) knows there's more than one way to win a criterium. Last year, he nailed the Saturn Rochester Twilight Criterium win in a wild 50 rider pack sprint. This year, he was part of a six rider break that lapped the field, with Clarke besting his five rivals to the line.
Now in its fourth year, the Saturn Rochester Twilight Criterium included UCI points, in addition to points toward the season-long USA Cycling Professional Tour. With a wall-to-wall crowd estimated at 35,000, and $25,000 on the line in the pro-am men's race, it earned its spot in the limelight.
In the first ten laps, a break of six went clear, including past Canadian Criterium Champion Cam Evan (Symmetrics), Kodak/Sierra Nevada riders Dominique Rollin and Mark Walters, Nerac's Chris Jones, and Navigators duo Kyle Wamsley and Clarke.
While teams like Toyota-United, RiteAid, and SuccessfulLiving missed the move and drove the chase behind, the front six continued drilling the pace in a smooth rotation, opening five seconds per lap. Just after the halfway point of the two hour race, the break saw the tail of the pack, and made the connection a few laps later.
Race officials decided to let the pack sprint for the minor placings with two laps to go, and give the lead six a clean sprint among themselves for the win.
Kodak's duo, racing just blocks from its title sponsor's headquarters, thirsted for the victory. "I tried something on the backstretch," said Rollin, who recently scored three stage wins at Ireland's RAS. But as in years past, Kodak was again denied, with the six popping out of the final corner packed together.
Clarke out muscled all, coasting across the line arms aloft. "I told Kyle to ride the last lap like I wasn't here," said Clarke. "He covered anything, and then left the sprint to me."
Results
Pro 1/2 men 1 Hilton Clarke (Navigators Insurance) 2.01.32 2 Cameron Evans (Symmetrics) 3 Kyle Wamsley (Navigators Insurance) 4 Mark Walters (Kodak Gallery / Sierra Nevada) 5 Dominique Rollin (Kodak Gallery / Sierra Nevada) 6 Christopher Jones (Nerac) 7 David O'Loughlin (Navigators Insurance) 1.45 8 Sergey Lagutin (Navigators Insurance) 9 Alessandro Bazzana (Successful Living) 10 Brett Aitken (Savings & Loans) 11 Charles Dionne (Colavita / Sutter Home) 12 Gustavo Artacho (Colavita / Sutter Home) 13 Matt White (Fiordifrutta Elite) 13 Will Routley (Symmetrics) 13 Frank Travieso (AEG - Toshiba - JetNetwork) 13 Oleg Grishkin (Navigators Insurance) 13 Davide Frattini (Colavita / Sutter Home) 13 Alejandro Acton (Colavita / Sutter Home) 13 Guy East (CRCA / Sakonnet Technology) 13 John Hayes (CRCA / Sakonnet Technology) 13 Cody O'Reilly (Kodak Gallery / Sierra Nevada) 13 Jesse Anthony (Kodak Gallery / Sierra Nevada) 13 Mike Dietrich (Kodak Gallery / Sierra Nevada) 13 Darren Harry (Preferred Care Elite) 13 Colby Pierce (Shickluna) 13 Richardo Escuela (Successful Living) 13 Chuck Coyle (Successful Living) 13 Paul Ward (Nature's Path) 13 Bobby Lea (Toyota / United Pro) 13 Jake Rytiewski (RiteAid) 13 Ryan Dewald (RiteAid) 13 Mike Norton (RiteAid) 13 Bill Elliston (RiteAid) 13 Stephan Kincaid (RiteAid) 13 Adam Hodges Myerson (Nerac) 13 Daniel Holt (Nerac) 13 Zach Bell (Symmetrics) 13 Matthew Guse (Calyon-Litespeed) 13 Brooke Boocock (Calyon-Litespeed) 13 Erik Lyman (Calyon-Litespeed) 13 Hayden Brooks (Fiordifrutta Elite) 13 Ciaran Power (Navigators Insurance) 13 Alejandro Borrajo (RiteAid) 13 Peter Morse (Jet Fuel Coffee) 13 Dan Timmerman (Kodak Gallery / Sierra Nevada) 13 Curtis Gunn (Successful Living) 13 Michael Grabinger (Successful Living) 13 Christian Valenzuela (Successful Living) 13 Alex Hagman (AEG - Toshiba - JetNetwork) 13 Keith Norris (AEG - Toshiba - JetNetwork) 13 Sebastian Alexandre (RiteAid) 13 David Pell (Savings & Loans) 13 Craig McCartney (Savings & Loans) 13 Matthew Bell (CoachChris.ca / Ted Velikonja) 13 Jamey Driscoll (Fiordifrutta Elite) 56 Jacob Erker (Symmetrics) 57 Jose Manuel Garcia (Toyota / United Pro) 58 Stefano Barberi (Toyota / United Pro) 59 Burke Swindlehurst (Toyota / United Pro) 60 Peter Dawson (Preferred Care Elite) 61 Peter Mueller (Savings & Loans) 62 Andrew Randell (Symmetrics) 63 Brandon Crichton (Symmetrics) 64 David Wiswell (Nerac) 65 Phillip Gaimon (CRCA / Sakonnet Technology) 66 Svein Tuft (Symmetrics) 67 Jeff Sherstobitoff (Symmetrics) 68 Jason Skalski (Preferred Care Elite) 69 Daniel Ramsey (Successful Living) 70 Guido Palma (RiteAid) 71 Will Dickeson (Savings & Loans) 72 Phillip Cortes (Calyon-Litespeed) 73 Eugene Boronow (GS Mengoni) 74 Josh Dillon (Fiordifrutta Elite) Women 1 Jesse Maclean (Verducci / Breakaway Racing) 2 Anna Lang (Karl Strauss / SDBC) 3 Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Verducci / Breakaway Racing) 4 Merrill Collins (LaBicidetta) 5 Carl Higgins (America's Dairyland) 6 Kacey Manderfield (Verducci / Breakaway Racing) 7 Tiffany Pezzulo (Ivory Homes) 8 Veronica Martinez (JVR Sports) 9 Nina Santiago (Target Training) 10 Anna Hansgate (Terry) 11 Megan Guarnier (Terry) 12 Danielle Haulman (Hot Tubes) 13 Leeanne Manderson (Hub Racing) 14 Ireen Wieditz 15 Krystal Jeffs (Hub Racing) 16 Rosie Garlapow (Terry) 17 Kerry Lita (Terry) 18 Michele Bote (Hub Racing) 19 Arley Kemmerer (Boston Scientific) 20 Yvette Labombard (Home Performance) 21 Kathryne Carr (CL Noonan / Coast to Coast / KAM) 22 Kate Schneider (North Atlantic Velo) 23 Rebeca Jones (Hub Racing) 24 Sarah Krzysiak (Mission in Motion / TVC) 25 Kathayn Bloomington (Bikereg) 26 Deborah Fairview (Holly Loft / Kwik Fill)
