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24th Chris Thater Memorial Criterium - NE
Binghamton, New York, USA, August 25-26, 2007
2006 Results Results Past winners
Wamsley navigates to New York victory
By Kirsten Robbins in Binghamton, New York
Navigators' sprinter Kyle Wamsley out did his title as the most aggressive rider during the Chris Thater Memorial criterium, relentlessly driving the event's significant break away. When the peloton re-united in the final laps for a bunch sprint it was the young American who again stretched his legs to take the win over Ivan Dominguez (Toyota-United) and Karl Menzies (Health Net).
"I really wanted to win the race today," said Wamsley. "It is the end of a long season and I really just wanted to make it fun and give it everything I had."
Wamsley meant business from the get-go, attacking the stellar peloton on the second lap in an escape attempt. The move didn't stick and Wamsley settled back into the aggressive field to let the others have a shot.
The first significant break split from the field eight laps into the 40-lap event. It contained riders from Priority Health, United-Jamis, Rite Aid and Abercrombie and Fitch. Nerac and Kelly Benefit successfully bridge across but with no representation from Health Net or Toyota-United the break was doomed. The field re-united before a prime scooped up by Wamsley was followed by a flurry of attacks from Sierra-Nevada and Toyota-United.
With 25 laps to go Argentine newcomer Alejandro Borrajo (Rite Aid) launched a move that would have Toyota-United picking up the pieces for the remainder of the race. "I don't consider myself just a sprinter," Borrajo said. "I think I am good in many areas of this sport and today I wanted to try to win the race off the front."
Ted King (Priority Health) quickly followed Borrajo and the pair fled. The break swelled to five riders when Mark Walters (Sierra-Nevada) and Bill Eliston (Rite Aid) made contact, followed soon after by race winner Wamsley. "I bridged across by myself," said Wamsley. "I knew it was a gamble but Borrajo is really dangerous and the field just didn't seem to want to go across to them. I know from the past the breaks work really well on this course and so I took a gamble and rode up to them. I like to race aggressively and don't like to sit in so I figured I would race as hard as I could the whole race and if I won, I won."
The Toyota-United and AEG-Toshiba controlled peloton remained 25 seconds behind the break of five riders. Then, with just three laps remaining, the persistent break was reeled in setting up the field for a bunch sprint. "When we came back the field was all strung out so it was easy to play for position," Wamsley said. "My team-mate Viktor Rapinski was sitting next to Dominguez at the start of the last lap. Viktor slowed up just a little and I attacked out of turn three. I tried to take a lot of chances and big risks. I know it was a big gamble but in the end it paid off."
With Health Net leading the NRC standings over Toyota-United by a mere one hundred and some odd points, the pair were playing their own game vying for valuable points at the finish line. Health Net may have only had three riders competing, but taking third and fifth place points gave them all they needed to maintain their number one ranked team. "The problem was the NRC for us, the team title," said Menzies, with regards to his team's small lead over Toyota-Untied in the NRC standings. "Our only objective today was to make sure we stayed ahead in the NRC standings. We didn't care about who was up the road as long as we stayed glued to Toyota to keep close in the points standings. We didn't win but we took third and fifth in the race points gaining more points total than their second place today. It's a s**t way to race but that's what we came here to do."
Shawn Milne (Health Net) attacked what remained of Toyota-United's lead out with two laps to go, destroying Dominguez's protection on the last lap. "I wasn't surprised when I saw Wamsley attack because he is certainly a strong and fast guy," Menzies said. "We didn't cover Wamsley because he took up the maximum NRC points and so that was perfect for us."
Second placed Ivan Dominguez (Toyota-Untied) noted that his team couldn't have done a better job under the circumstances that the race presented itself. "It's the way it goes and it has been the same since the beginning of the year that the guys work really hard for me because I know that if they put me in good position I can be there in the sprint," Dominguez said. "I was running out of guys in the end because they were working so hard for 30 minutes to try to close the gap to the break away.
"In the very end I only had Chris Wherry with me and once he was gone I knew I was in trouble," added Dominguez. "I knew someone was going to attack, I didn't think it was going to be Wamsley because he was in the break all day. He did a great move and after he attacked Viktor slowed down but it was still too far for me to go - the guy worked really hard today."
Cliff-Ryan victorious in Thater
The women raced an aggressive 30 laps that ended with former US criterium champion Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Verducci) taking the victory ahead Kelly Benjamin (Cheerwine) and Erica Allar (Penn-State).
The race saw an unusually small women's field due to rise of strength of the American riders, many who have ventured overseas for the remainder of the season to compete in European events. But the size of the field did not make the racing any less difficult as teams present tried desperately to make a break away stick.
Lucrative primes kept the speeds high along with flurries of attacks in the first half of the race. The first break slipped off the front when Laura VanGilder (Cheerwine) countered Heather Labance (Advil-ChapStick) after a field prime.
With 15 laps to go former U23 champion Rebecca Much (Schick Razor) drove a break with Cheerwine's Leigh Hobson, the pair created a gap that stuck for several laps. While the duo reunited with the main peloton the attacking did not stop there.
TEAm Lipton's lone rider Kristin Lasasso pulled back many of the aggressive attacks coming from Cheerwine, along with contributions from Target Training's Robin Farina.
Cheerwine organised its well-known lead-out with three laps to go, but on the final lap over the climb Kathleen Billington (Schick Razor) jumped the red train. "We tried to be patient and not panic," Benjamin said. "I don't recall when we caught her but we continued with our lead out through the last corner."
"All of us were in breakaways and we didn't just sit in," added Benjamin with regards to her team's race tactics. "We were going for some of the primes and having them motivated everyone to race hard. But, it became apparent that nothing was going to stay away."
"I've never done this race before," said Benjamin. "The team was great. Its unfortunate that we didn't win but we made the race really hard."
VanGilder came through the last corner in first position ahead of Cliff-Ryan and Benjamin. "Theresa dove on the inside and I had to slow down a little me and there wasn't enough space to recover," concluded Benjamin.
Results
Pro men 1 Kyle Wamsley (Navigators Insurance) 1.51.01 2 Ivan Dominguez (Toyota-United) 0.03 3 Karl Menzies (Health Net) 4 Keven Lacombe (Kelly Benefit/Medifast) 5 Rory Sutherland (Health Net) 6 Erik Lyman (Calyon/Litespeed) 7 Emile Abraham (Priority Health pb Bissell) 8 Anibal Borrajo 9 Luca Damiani (Colavita Sutter Home) 10 Frank Travieso (AEG-Toshiba Jet Network) 11 Mark Walters (Kodak Gallery Sierra Nevada) 12 Davide Frattini (Colavita Sutter Home) 13 Alejandro Acton (Colavita Sutter Home) 14 Josh Dillon (FiordiFrutta) 15 Adam Myerson (Nerac Pro Cycling) 16 Oleg Grishkin (Navigators Insurance) 17 Gavriel Epstein (CRCA/Sakonnet Tech U25) 18 Yosvany Falcon (AEG-Toshiba Jet Network) 19 Mark McCormack 20 Frank McCormack 21 Ryan DeWald (Rite Aid) 22 Jake Hollenbach (CCB/Volkswagon) 23 Edward King (Priority Health pb Bissell) 24 Stephan Kincaid (Rite Aid) 25 Nick Friesen (Kelly Benefit/LSV) 26 Ryan Roth (Kelly Benefit/Medifast) 27 Daniel Zmolik (CRCA/Empire Cycling Team) 28 Bennet van der Genugten (A & F Pro Development) 29 Benjamin Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health pb Bissell) 30 Peter Lopinto (Kodak Gallery Sierra Nevada) 31 Scott Zwizanski (Priority Health pb Bissell) 32 Chris Wherry (Toyota-United) 33 Tom Soladay (Kelly Benefit/LSV) 0.32 34 Igor Miscki (Foundation CRCA) 0.35 35 Shawn Milne (Health Net) 0.46 36 Rich Harper (A & F Pro Development) 1.16 37 Gera Castro (Nature's Path) 38 Remi McManus (A & F Pro Development) 39 Colin Sandberg (Meredith Group - GPOA Cannon) 40 Craig Dodson (Nature's Path) 41 Mike Margarite (CRCA/Empire Cycling Team) 42 Hayden Brooks (FiordiFrutta) 43 Daniel Holt (Nerac Pro Cycling) 44 David Hoyle (Guy's Racing) 45 Jackie Simes (Pennsylvania Lightning) 46 J. Gabriel Lloyd (CRCA Remax) 47 Josh England (A & F Pro Development) 48 Brady Gibney (Team Clif Bar) 49 Jonathan Erdelyi (Metra Racing Wendys) 50 Nikola Smutny (Nerac Pro Cycling) 51 Eric Brownell (Bicycling Magazine) 52 Daniel Estevez (Hot Tubes Cycling) 53 Tucker Brown (PA Lightning) 54 Martin Lechowicz (GS Mengoni) 55 Kevin Putman (CBRC) Pro Women 1 Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Verducci/Breakaway) 1.36.55 2 Kelly Benjamin (UCI WPT Cheerwine) 3 Erica Allar (Salamander) 4 Laura Van Gilder (UCI WPT Cheerwine) 5 Jennifer Bodine (ABRT-Lattitude) 6 Sarah Caravello (Aaron's Pro Cycling Team) 7 Anna Milkowski (Unattached) 8 Heather Labance (Team Advil/Chapstick) 9 Kristen LaSasso (Team Lipton) 10 Megan Guarnier (Terry Precision) 11 Debony Diehl (Sunapee/S&W) 12 Leslie Jennings (ABRT-Lattitude) 13 Robin Farina (Target Training) 14 Rebecca Wellons (NEBC/Cycle Loft/Devonshire) 15 Jenette Williams (Hub Racing) 16 Margaret Shirley (CRCA) 17 Kathleen Billington (Schick USA) 18 Rebecca Much (Schick USA) 19 Kiroko Shimada (Target Training) 20 Leigh Hobson (UCI WPT Cheerwine) 21 Silke Wunderwald (Anthem-CCCC Cycling) 22 Laura Igoe (Tom's Pro Bike/Plan2Peak) 0.21 23 Tricia Carnila (Verducci/Breakaway) 0.46 24 Chrissy Ruiter (UCI WPT Cheerwine) 25 Hadley Trotter (HT Naturals) 8.05 26 Lisa Jellett (Verducci/Breakaway) 27 Rachel Warner (Target Training) 28 Lenore Imhof (Colavita Racing) 29 Susanne Delaney (NEBC/Cycle Loft/Devonshire) 8.10 30 Narjan Huizing (Team Tenda) 31 Yarden Golan (Target Training) 15.05 32 Maryann Martinez (Anthem-CCCC Cycling) 17.05 Cat 3 Men 1 Lewis Almonte (CRCA) 59.16 2 Dieter Drake (Westwood Velo) 3 Arjan Planting (CRCA/NY Sketches) 4 Glenroy Griffith (Team United Homes) 0.08 5 Ernest Tautkus (Exodus Road Racing) 0.12 6 Eduardo Maset (InVita Racing) 0.18 7 Thomas Wood (Philadelphia Ciclismo) 2.00 8 Timothy Klotz (Monster Health Cycling) 9 Ryan Nye (Queen City Cyclists) 2.47 10 Juan Pimentel (CRCA/Global Locate) 11 Michael Norton (Cyclonauts Racers) 12 Gavin Robertson (Major Taylor Iron Riders) 13 Kevin Yarde (Cyclonauts Racers) 14 Andrew Van Kuren (MainLine-BiKyle) 15 Brian Walburn (Unattached) 16 Jeff Murray (Anthem CC) 17 Walter Risse (MainLine-BiKyle) 18 Ryan Pomajevich (Gotham Cyclists) 19 Douglas McKeon (Cyclonauts Racers) 20 Johann Burrows (We Stand United) 21 Howard Uhrlass (CNYC) 22 Joey Piscitello (Philadelphia Ciclismo) 23 David Rusnak (Corner Cycle) 24 Lee Palmateer (CBRC) 25 Andrew Krulewitz (Cyclonauts Racers) 26 Sergey Shteyn (Ruud Racing) 27 Phill Vermette (Caboto Velo) 28 Kevin Saint Clair (MainLine-BiKyl 29 Thomas Lyons (Watchung Wheelmen) 30 Joshua Friedman (Champion System Racing) 31 Bill Wittman (MainLine-BiKyle) 32 Juan DeJesus (Cyclonauts Racers) 33 Jeff Zygo (Genesee Valley) 34 Andrew Riss (CRCA) Cat 4/5 Men 1 Danny Zotter (ROG p/b Towners) 1.00.29 2 Robert O'Malley (Sunapee S&W) 3 David Fierro (Exodus Road Racing) 4 Lawrence Uhrlass (East End/Kreb Cycle) 5 Richard Steele (Chester County Velo) 6 Joseph Bailey (Swan Cycles/Chriscook) 7 Brian Klotz (Big Horn Velo) 8 James Dutko (CBRC) 9 Eric Salzer (Chester County Velo) 10 Eric Schou (CBRC) 11 Mark Januskiewicz (Sunapee S&W) 12 Steven Gates (Paceline Sports) 13 Peter Hoag (Genesee Valley) 14 Steven Smith (Paceline Sports) 15 David Hoag (CVCC) 16 Paul Lasurdo (East End/Kreb Cycle) 17 Samuel Martinez (Team United Homes) 18 Peter Kocher (Park Avenue Bike) 19 Jeff Hoover (Maypower) 20 Benjamin Salibra (Fuji Bikes/Dick Sonne's) 21 Barry Koblenz (CBRC) 22 Jason Height (VeloSportiivo) 23 Nathan Sentz (Paceline Sports) 24 Ricardo Sanchez (Kissena Cycling) 25 Michael Kumiega (Ruud/TVC) 26 Gary Graham (TVC) 27 Benjamin Roshko, III (Colgate University) 28 Scott Graham (CNYC) 29 Steven Zotter (ROG p/b Towners) 30 Michael Meier (RUUD Racing Team) 31 Craig Banger (East End/Kreb Cycle) 32 Joe Walker (RUUD/TVC) 33 Jeff Frutchey (Big Horn Velo) 34 Charles Hamilton (FLCC/Swan Cycles) 35 George Hluck (Unattached) 36 Peter Avitable (CBRC) 37 Cory Peranich (Ruud/TVC) 38 Wade Herneisey (RUUD/TVC) 0.19
Past winners
Men Women 2006 Hilton Clarke (Navigators) Laura Van Gilder (Team Lipton) 2005 Mark McCormack (USA) Colavita Pasta Tina Pic (USA) Quark Buford 2004 Sergio Rolando (USA) GS Gotham Candice Blickem (USA) Genesis Scuba 2003 Jonas Carney (USA) Prime Alliance Tina Mayolo-Pic (USA) Diet Rite 2002 Mark Walters (Can) Team Navigators Laura Van Gilder (USA) Trek-Plus 2001 John Lieswyn (USA) 7UP/Colorado Cyclist Kristy Scyrmgeour (Aus) Saturn 2000 Mark Walters (Can) Team Navigators Katrina Berger (USA) Charles Schwab 1999 John Lieswyn (USA) Team Shaklee Susy Pryde (NZl) Team Saturn 1998 Frank McCormack (USA) Team Saturn Elizabeth Emery (USA) Team Saturn 1997 Ashley Powell (USA) Cycle Center Karen Bliss Livingston (USA) Saturn
