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18th Annual North Jersey Cycling Classic
Park Ridge, NJ July 14, 2003
Walters jump starts season with win
By Thomas D. Gibson
Mark Walters of the Navigator Professional Cycling Team captured his second title on Sunday at the 18th annual North Jersey Cycling Classic, crossing the finish line more than a minute ahead of the field. Walters lapped nearly the entire field of 80 riders, including his Navigator teammate Vassili Davidenko, en route to the team's third victory at this event over the last five years. "It's always good to win," said Walters. "I've been a little bit short on wins this year. This is really the start of my season."
The race, which in the past has finished on a downhill, was changed to present a new challenge, a possible flat high-speed sprint finish. The new first turn, formerly the third, is tighter than 90 degrees and is at the base of the 20 percent grade ascent referred to as "The Wall."
"I wanted to make sure I stayed up front," said Walters. "I also wanted to be the first to the corner. That made it a little easier on me and little hard for everyone else."
The six-time Canadian national champion last won the NJCC in 1999 and came in a close second in 2001. After finishing fifth last year, Walters was more than happy to reclaim the top spot on the podium along with a $7,000 payday.
Walters attacked early on lap four at the base of "The Wall." Lap after lap he built up a 1 minute, 30 second lead ultimately catching the main pack on lap 19.
Once off the front, Walters settled into what he thought would be an unchallenged victory. However, Scott Zwizanski of Team Snow Valley also saw the race slipping away quickly and took off on a solo effort to try and bridge the gap to Walters. Zwizanski's narrowed the gap to Walters, nearly 18 seconds at one point, but he could not get any closer. "I ran out of gas and couldn't keep closing the gap," said Zwizanski. "But Mark is one of the strongest riders in North America. I had no problem losing to him."
Once Walters became aware of Zwizanski's efforts he increased his cadence and never looked back knowing that his Navigator teammate Davidenko was fending off the day's only chase group consisting of Ofoto-Lombardi's Peter Lopinto and Gerardo Castro of UPMC.
Kevin Monahan of 7-Up/Maxxis on the last time up "The Wall" took a flyer off the front of the main pack and caught the chase group heading into the last turn, which turned into a photo finish for third place.
Results
Pros 1-2, 25 laps 1 Mark Walters (Navigators) 2 Scott Zwizanski (Team Snow Valley) 3 Peter Lopinto (Ofoto-Lombardi) 4 Gerardo Castro (UPMC) 5 Kevin Monahan (7-UP/Maxxis) 6 Alvaro Tardaquila (UPMC) 7 Mike Barton (Popa Wheelies) 8 Chris Peck (Wheelworks/Cannondale) 9 Doug Ziewacz (7-UP/Maxxis) 10 Oscar Pineda (7-UP/Maxxis) Cats 3-4 1 Troy Kimball (Westwood Velo) 2 Jonathan Keephart (Northeastern Hardware) 3 Jared Bunde (Kissena Sports) 4 Eric Berend (CRCA Conrad’s) 5 Luke Krisch (Univ. of Vermont) Cat 5, eight laps 1 Greg Cosgrove (Westwood Velo) 2 Zack Zeist (Westwood Velo) 3 Fred Mauar (Westwood Velo) 4 George Chatyrka (Breakaway Endurance) 5 Mara Miller (Oneday)
