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First Union Classic - 1.3
Trenton, NJ, USA, June 6, 2002
First Union series main page 2001 Results Results Past winners
Fraser triumphs in rain-hammered First Union Classic
By Tim Maloney, Cyclingnews European editor
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In a shortened, storm-lashed First Union Classic Mercury's Gord Fraser today eked out a narrow victory over Oleg Grishkine (Navigators) with Lotto-Adecco's young Belgian sprinter Wesley Van Speybroeck in third.
Just after the start of Thursday's First Union Classic in Trenton, New Jersey, police radios crackled with the news of a fatal accident on the course. A all- terrain vehicle driven by a teenager under the influence of drugs fatally injured a pedestrian. A section of the seven mile circuit that ran through downtown Trenton, the New Jersey state capital, was sealed off by police and officials of the Mercer County Coroners Office and as dark clouds roiled the sky along the Delaware River and heavy raindrops began to pelt the riders, race organizers Threshold Sports Jerry Casale and Robin Morton and Chief Commisaire Andy McCord had to make some quick decisions in a tough spot to save the race. McCord quickly neutralized the race and had the peloton and caravan return to the start/finish zone while Casale and Morton worked with their staff to re-route the course in record time around the site of the coroner's inquest.
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With time running out before dark and the weather worsening, the shortened First Union Classic got underway 45 minutes after the intended start time and was shortened to 8 laps from the original 13. Run under quasi-apocalyptic conditions in sheeting rain and strong winds, this was no race for the faint of heart. And Chris Horner of Prime Alliance was ready for the challenge. "We were riding hard for Jonas (Carney) today; at the beginning, our (Prime Alliance) whole strategy was to go hard, to catch the guys who were napping and the guys who didn't want to race. We were on the front for the first three laps."
Prime Alliance's strategy worked; their hard tempo in the driving rain on the slippy streets of Trenton quickly split the field in three parts and after two laps of the seven mile circuit were complete, there were 60 riders up front with a group of stragglers two minutes behind.
Despite a few breaks that gained at most 30 seconds, the powerhouse teams wanted to keep the race together for a sprint finish. With darkness falling and the deluge still at full blast, Horner and Ciaran Power (Navigators) attacked in the last two kilometres. Horner said after the race, "We got away coming out of the cobblestone section (on Front Street); we had the race won, it was over...but (Power) wouldn't touch his pedals. He just wouldn't go. We had a 300 meter lead...", explained the frustrated Prime Alliance man. But after all the work by Prime Alliance to bring their sprinter Carney into play, he just didn't have good legs today.
But lurking behind the break in the last lap chaos was Canadian Gord Fraser (Mercury), who had the legs and the smarts and seized the moment. In a sprint reminiscent of his dramatic rain-soaked sprint win in Stage 1 of the 2000 Criterium Internationale, surged to a solid win. "I had to cover Horner and Hincapie a lot today; those guys were so strong," said Fraser. "As a sprinter, you can't really rely on a bunch sprint in the rain and in the end there were two guys off. It was hard to see with the darkness and the rain. I knew that if I wanted to win I had to take a chance and go get them." Despite the shortened race due to the tragic and unfortunate pre-race events, the First Union Classic in Trenton once again went to the best sprinter du jour.
Photography
Images by Rob Karman/www.roadbikephotos.com
- US Postal's David Clingerand George Hincapie share a joke on the start line
- U23 TT World Champ Danny Pate (Prime Alliance) - pushes the pace on lap 1
- Fast Freddie Rodriguez (Domo-Farm Frites) - got stuck behind in the hard tempo set by Prime Alliance early on and was out of contention
- George Hincapie (USPS) - used his awesome handling skills to lead through the trickiest corner on a very wet course
- Belgian Tom Boonen (USPS) - relished the miserable conditions, making him feel right at home
- Chris Horner (Prime Alliance) - and Ciaran Power (Navigators) attacked in the last two kilometres, but were swallowed up shortly thereafter
- Gord Fraser (Mercury) launches an attack with one lap to go
- Gord Fraser (Mercury) leads George Hincapie (US Postal) round a water-filled corner
- Gord Fraser (Mercury) edges out Wesley Van Speybrock (Lotto-Adecco) and Oleg Grishkine (Navigators) in conditions more suited to racing canoes than bikes.
Images by Jonathan Devich/TheFastrack.com
- George Hincapie (US Postal) strings out the field
- Danny Pate (Prime Alliance) spends a little time solo in the rain.
- Prime Alliance comes to the front with 2 laps to go.
Results
1 Gord Fraser (Can) Mercury 1.45.08 2 Oleg Grishkine (Rus) Navigators 3 Wesley Van Speybroeck (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 4 Ciaran Power (Ire) Navigators 5 Tom Boonen (Bel) US POstal 6 Robbie Ventura (USA) US Postal 7 Chris Horner (USA) Prime Alliance 8 Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) Lotto - Adecco 9 Marty Nothstein (USA) Navigators 10 Soren Petersen (Den) Saturn 11 Jay Sweet (Aus) Saturn 12 Cristian Pepoli (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 13 Antonio Cruz (USA) U.S. Postal Service 14 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Saeco-Longoni Sport 15 Brian Forbes (USA) Jelly Belly 16 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites 17 Oscar Pineda (Gua) 7UP-Nutra Fig 18 Thomas Gronqvist (Swe) Amore & Vita 19 Dave McCook (USA) Prime Alliance 20 Peter Rogers (Aus) iTeamnova.com
Past Winners
2001 Julian Dean (NZl) US Postal Service 2000 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Mapei-Quick Step 147.5 kms in 3.04.16 (47.00 km/h) 1999 George Hincapie (USA) US Postal 146.5 kms in 3.07.07 1998 Jan Svorada (Cze) Mapei-Bricobi 150.0 kms in 2.50.14 1999 Jay Sweet (Aus) ZVVZ-Giant-AIS
