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Wachovia Cycling Series
USA, May 31-June 5, 2005
Main Page Results & report Race Details Previous Race
Liberty Classic - June 5: Liberty Classic, 90.56km
Commentary by Kristy Scrymgeour with additional reporting by Mark Zalewski and Tim Maloney
Complete live report
08:44 EDT
Welcome to the Live Coverage of the
US Pro Championships and the Women’s Liberty Classic in Philadelphia, PA. It’s
a beautiful morning to start a bike race. Not a cloud in the sky. By the end
of the race temperature predictions are in the mid 80’s, which may be too hot
for some, but will be welcomed by others. Henk Vogels (Davitamon Lotto) of Australia
commented to Cyclingnews the other day that he hopes it is hot, as it will help
to get rid of a lot of riders near the end.
The men will start their
250km race at 9am and head out on the 23km loop for the first of ten laps. The
course heads straight along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway towards Manayunk where
riders will have to have good position to negotiate a narrowing road and a couple
of turn onto the famous (some would say infamous, depending on how much they
have hurt riding up it) Manayunk Wall. The wall is about 1.5km long and is very
steep, reaching 17% but perhaps the hardest thing about doing this climb each
lap is finding your position leading into it. If you have good position at the
bottom, the climb is made much easier but starting at the back means you lose
your momentum and you have to chase back on over top of the wall meaning less
recovery.
The descent after the wall is very fast and in the early
laps of the race it’s not too hard to regain contact with the group, but it’s
the final laps where losing touch will be the breaking point. Following the
descent, the two smaller climb up Strawberry Hill and Lemon Hill have proven
to be great places for attacks to go in the past, after which the race descends
leading back to the wide open road to the finish and the men will complete three
smaller laps which take in Lemon Hill before their finish.
The Women
will begin ten minutes after the men and will therefore be on the course at
the same time. They will complete four laps of the course for a total of 92
kilometers. A huge field of women will be on the start line today, ranging from
the very best in the world including World Champion Judith Arndt and her Nurnberger
teammate Oenone Wood who is currently leading the Women's World Cup.
08:46 EDT
Huge crowds are already lining the
course especially at the start line and at Manayunk Wall which is traditionally
a great place to watch the wall. Parties line the streets and the atmosphere
is one that cyclists never forget after racing here.
09:00 EDT
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09:02 EDT
Last year's Stars and Stripes winner
Freddy Rodriguez has also been called to the line. He won the title of US Pro
Champion last year for the third time.
Its 69 degrees at the moment
and thousands of people crowd around to watch the 23 mens teams take the start.
09:07 EDT
The race is underway. We already have
a break of three riders just slightly off the front with CSC, Subway and another
rider as the riders complete a small start loop.
09:08 EDT
The three riders have been caught
already as they head out for their first of ten big laps.
09:10 EDT
We talked to a very nervous Bobby
Julich before the race to ask him how is he. Between jittering teeth, he said
he is good, but he has his race face on today and we should see great things
from him.
09:12 EDT
Two other men have attacked. Its Jake
Rytlewski (Jittery Joe's) and Roberto Gaggioli (Monex) have a small gap. There
has already been a crash. Two Jelly Belly riders have gone down. One of them
looks like Alex Candelario who is recovering from a broken collarbone. Lets
hope he didn't re-break it.
09:14 EDT
The Jelly Belly team has come back
to help Candelario and the other rider back to the field. The other rider was
Caleb Mannion. Both are up back on their bikes. They look to be ok but Candelario
was holding his shoulder.
09:16 EDT
The women are being called to the
line now and will start very soon. This year will have a slightly different
dynamic as seven time winner of the race, Petra Rossner has retired. She is
here though as Director Sportif for the Nurnberger team.
It is very
likely that this race will come down to a sprint as usual though, as there are
so many good sprinters in the field. Oenone Wood, Regina Schleicher, Ina Yoko
Teutenberg, Tina Pic, Laura Van Gilder, Gina Grain, Joanne Kiesanowski and Olga
Slioussareva are all here among others.
09:18 EDT
The huge women's field is on the line.
Probably the biggest field ever for the women.... and they're off.
09:19 EDT
In the men's race a break of two riders,
Ari De Wilde (Nerac) and Nathanial Cornelius (Subway) have countered the break
and have a pretty good gap.
09:20 EDT
De Wilde comes through to do his turn
and the pair are working well together.
09:24 EDT
Hugh Moran (Aerospace Engineering)
is trying to bridge to the break and has about 5" on the field at the moment.
09:26 EDT
The men's break has entered Main St
ready to turn onto the climb. Health Net and Jittery Joe's are on the front
of the peloton. Moran is 15" behind the two leaders at the moment.
09:28 EDT
The men are on the climb for the first
time. Moran has caught the leaders but the field is closing in too. They are
now caught and the field is all together.
09:29 EDT
The crowds are all setting up for
a big day on the wall. Health Net are charging up the hill.
09:30 EDT 17km/233km to go
Its pretty strung
out! A Health Net rider has a small gap on the field as they go over the top
of the climb.
09:32 EDT
Mike Jones (Health Net) is the rider
off the front. He has been climbing well and may be going for the KOM classification
today. About 30 riders have a sizeable gap off the front of the men's field.
The are flying down this descent. The gap will most likely come back together
as they head into Strawberry Fields.
09:33 EDT
Discovery is on the front now setting
the pace in the mens race.
09:35 EDT
Thirty Five riders have a gap of 25"
at the moment in the men's race.
In the women's race T-Mobile are
on the front as they head onto the climb for the first time. They are working
for Teutenberg today. She is right up there next to World Champion Judith Arndt.
09:36 EDT
Matti Breschel (CSC) just stopped
for a wheel change and meanwhile in the break Timmy Duggan (TIAA Cref) is attacking
the break of 35 riders and has a small gap.
09:38 EDT
Most of the teams are represented
in the break. Duggan has been caught again and he sits at the front of the break
now.
09:42 EDT 27km/223km to go
A group of four riders
are slightly off the front of the break which still has 20" on the field as
they enter the start/finish circuit. But they are getting caught straight away.
09:45 EDT
Up in the men's break, Team Seasilver
and Discovery are setting the pace. The break is back up to 30" again. The field
is completely strung out. They can see each other as they pass on the finishing
circuit. There is a chase of 14 riders behind the main break.
09:48 EDT
Navigators is leading the break now
as they pass the finish line and head back out onto Ben Franklin Drive for their
second main lap.
Meanwhile the women are all together and the pace
is high at the moment. With so many riders in the field, many attacks will be
attempted today but with so many strong sprinters teams, I'm imagining it will
be to get away.
09:48 EDT
Now the women have a break of about
12 riders with T-Mobile heavily represented. Nurnberger are on the front of
the field chasing.
09:50 EDT 32km/218km to go
In the mens field
Health Net and Jittery Joe's chased hard and brought back the break on the fast
open stretch of Ben Franklin Drive. The average speed at this point is 26m/h
(41km/h).
09:51 EDT
Another TIAA CREF has attacked the
men's field. It is Bryan Smith.
Two riders, Jeremy Powers (Jelly Belly/PooGel)
and Roberto Gaggioli (Monex) have bridged to him.
09:53 EDT
The women have a 13 riders group off
the front with T-Mobile and Nurnberger. Quark is on the front of the chase but
the gap is up to a minute now.
09:58 EDT
A few riders in the women's break:
Christine Thorburn (Webcor), Kristen Armstrong and Kimberly Bruckner (T-Mobile),
Kristin LaSasso (Lipton) and Annette Beutler (Quark). Behind Nurnberger are
chasing hard with Quark sitting in just behind them. The chase bunch is only
about 40 riders now and they are at 1'00" with the rest of the field another
minute behind.
09:59 EDT 40km/210km to go
T-Mobile seem to have
the upper hand in this break now!
10:00 EDT
In the men's race, the break of three
riders are slowly getting caught as they head up Manayunk Wall for the second
time. So far Adam Livingston (Seasilver) has been taking the KOM points.
10:04 EDT
Also in the women's break is Ina Teutenberg
which is why Nurnberger want to bring this back. She has her two teammates working
hard for her.
Joanne Kiesanowski (Nobili) is up there too as well as Erinne
Willock (Webcor) and Zoe Owens (Lipton).
10:06 EDT
The break was caught in the men's
race on the climb and Adam Livingston took the KOM points again. Now Health
Net are attacking again.
In the women's race the gap is about 25
seconds with Nurnberger still on the front of the chase. 11 riders are in the
break.
10:09 EDT
In the men's race the large group
got caught but another group of about 30 are off the front again. Horner is
in the group, as is VanDen Broeck and Ryder Hesjedal from Discovery, Roger Hammond
also.
10:14 EDT 50km/200km to go
A third of the field
are in the front bunch in the men's field and they have a gap of 53" as they
go over Lemon Hill on their second lap. There is a chase group of 14 guys who
are trailing by 25" but they are not very organised.
10:15 EDT
The temperature is 77 degrees at the
moment on the course.
10:20 EDT
Navigators, Health Net and Prodir
are on the front on the men's break which has about a minute on the field right
now. They are riding tempo but the peloton seem to be riding faster.
Back in the field Matti Breschel was brought down in the feed zone by an Advantage
Benefits rider. Breschel was a little angry and got up and through a water bottle!
10:21 EDT
Meanwhile on Manayunk there is a manhole
cover with a big hole in it and they are trying to fix it before the men come
back around for their third lap.
10:23 EDT
Victory Brewing just had a mechanical
in the women's race and the team car has stopped.
10:24 EDT 59km/191km to go
T-Mobile riders are
still leading the break in the women's race. They gap is still at about one
minute.
10:27 EDT
Actually now the gap in the women's
field is coming down as they approach the finish line at the end of their second
lap.
10:29 EDT
An update for the women's break. Judith
Arndt and their top sprinter Regina Schleicher are both in that break and it
looks like Nurnberger are trying to protect that break from behind.
10:31 EDT
T-Mobile and Nurnberger therefore
have their protected riders in the break in Regina Schleicher and Ina Teutenberg.
This means that the break has a good chance to stay away, but Quark will be
wanting to chase. They have Beutler in there but they down have the strong numbers
like T-Mobile and Nurnberger. Nobili have their top sprinter in the group with
Kiesanowksi so they won't chase.
10:31 EDT
In the mens field Henk Vogels has
flatted and is getting a wheel from Mavic Neutral support.
10:33 EDT
The women have come through the finish
line now after their second lap, so they have two laps remaining now. The gap
is increasing again now.
In the men's race, the front group of 40
riders have 2'30" on the next group.
10:37 EDT
Arndt actually briged to the break
on the last time up Manayunk, to be up there to help our Regina. Not many other
riders in this peloton would be able to do that. Arndt is in amazing form right
now and whats very cool about her is that she is World Champion and undoubtedly
one of the strongest women in the world but she prefers working for her teammates
than actually winning herself.
10:41 EDT
Mari Holden is also in the women's
break. Thats four riders for T-Mobile. They are really working hard for Teutenberg.
Back in the peloton Vic Brewing and Colavita are chasing. A few Nurnberger riders
have actually pulled out of the race, but their top riders are up there.
10:42 EDT
It also looks like Nurnberger have
Wood up there so they also have three in the break. Amy Moore is in the break
for Victory Brewing, but she is outnumbered. Vic Brewing will want to bring
this back for their sprinter Gina Grain who came second last year.
10:47 EDT
The men's break has increased the
gap and it now sits at 3'35". The pace is fast now and some of the top riders
are in that break including Horner and Vogels. Freddy Rodriguez is not up there.
10:49 EDT
In the women's field Ina Teutenberg
is looking very good. She doesn't have to do any work in this break with her
three teammates doing the work and she can sit in and rest. She was a bit off
last week in bed with fever but she still managed to take two second place's
and a win, so she has good form.
10:52 EDT
Henk Vogels had to chase for a while
to get back on after his flat. Breschel is not yet back on after his altercation
in the feed zone but he is in a chase group of three riders with one other CSC
rider.
10:55 EDT
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11:02 EDT
Mari Holden is on the front now driving
the women's break. Webcor just attacked the sprint at Lemon Hill and caused
a slight split in the break.
11:03 EDT
It will all come back together now
as they come back down to Ben Franklin Drive towards the finish where they'll
see one lap to go. T-Mobile are back on the front driving it again with Mari
Holden working very hard.
11:06 EDT
Lynn Gaggioli is also in the women's
break. She is a good sprinter too so we have quite a few good sprinters in this
break.
11:08 EDT
The men are on the climb again and
cowbells are going bezerk.
There is an attack at the start/finish
line in the women's break. Its Tina Pic, but they are all on her. The break
are all together and the gap to the peloton is 55" with Colavita and Vic Brewing
chasing. The peloton is split and the second chase group sits at 1'25".
11:15 EDT
Its Laura Van Gilder in the women's
break, not her teammate Pic. Van Gilder has won three races in the past week
and is very excited to be in this race and likes her chances. She has been second
and third before but has always lost out to Rossner. She is a good chance today
except that she doesn't have any teammates with her.
11:17 EDT
Bruckner, now known as Baldwin after
getting married, comes through to do a turn in this break as they head along
Ben Franklin Drive towards the wall for the last time.
11:17 EDT
Sigrid Corneo is also doing some work
for her teammate and sprinter Joanne Kiesanowski. Holden moves back to the front.
11:20 EDT
Teutenberg looks good and is actually
chatting to her rival Regina Schleicher in the break right now. Looking relaxed
but I'm sure very nervous. These two have been racing against each other for
many years in Germany, since they were juniors. Both are very good sprinters
and most have predicted that it will be a battle between the two of them if
it comes down to s sprint.
I'm thinking that T-Mobile will use Kristin
Armstrong later this lap to attack and make the other teams chase. It will be
hard for them to get anything away from World Champ Judith Arndt. In fact she
may be the one attacking!
11:22 EDT
Livingston took another KOM up Manayunk
so he is increasing his lead in the KOM competition. A lot of feeding going
on in the men's field now as its getting warm.
11:23 EDT
The women are on the Manayunk wall
for the last time. Webcor on the front. Its Christine Thorburn.
11:24 EDT
Thorburn leading and she'll me trying
to make it fast so as the attacks don't go. Pucinskaite is also in this break.
She is a former World Champ as well. We have three in this bunch. Arndt, Holden
and Pucinskaite.
11:25 EDT
Thorburn sprinted at the KOM but no
other attacks eventuated. They are descending now.
11:26 EDT
They are very relaxed in the women's
break now as they hit the bottom of this hill. Its the calm before the storm,
the sprinters will be getting nervous.
11:28 EDT
In the mens race, four rider are trying
to bridge. They are Lobato (Prodir), Michaelsen and Breschel (CSC) and Marzano
(Lampre) and have been in no man's land for quite a while now.
11:29 EDT
T-Mobile on the front of the women's
break. It really doesn't look like the chase is going to get them so the winner
will be out of this break.
11:29 EDT
Its Baldwin on the front. Her and
Holden have been doing all the work keeping this break away for Teutenberg.
11:32 EDT
Pucinskaite comes through to do her
turn. She is setting things up for Kiesanowski. Tina Pic is on her wheel. It
has been difficult trying to figure out all the riders in this break. It seem
more have joined it. Pic and Van Gilder are both up there for Quark it seems.
11:36 EDT
Holden is on the front now in the
break. Arndt sitting second from the back. She is just keeping things in check
from the back, perhaps waiting to attack but very likely waiting for the lead
out she'll be doing in a bit.
11:37 EDT
A total of 13 riders are up there
in that break. Amy Moore from Vic Brewing is sitting in fourth wheel. Her team
couldn't bring this back so its up to her now for them. Gaggioli has been sitting
in all day. She is a good sprinter and could be a threat here.
11:39 EDT
The last time up Lemon Hill now. Thorburn
is going for the sprint again and will likely take the KOM competition for today.
She keeps the pace high after the sprint as they head back onto Ben Franklin
drive for the home stretch.
11:40 EDT
Arndt has attacked!!!!! She is an
amazing time trialer and has a good gap. They will have to put all their horse
power into getting her.
11:40 EDT
She has been caught though. They were
on the ball. Gaggioli is on the front now and the pace is not high. Its going
to be cat and mouse now.
Arndt goes again!!!
11:41 EDT
Nobili right on here though. Thorburn
goes, but they are on her too.
11:41 EDT
The sprinters sitting in trying to
find their place. Arndt at the back. She might even go for one more attack.
1km to go.
11:42 EDT
Armstrong on the front for T-Mobile.
Its not an easy finish because its wide open and you can see the finish for
ages. Have to be careful not to go too early.
11:42 EDT
Pic leading out, Van Gilder on her
wheel with Teutenberg just behind.
11:43 EDT
Teutenberg goes around with Schleicher
on her wheel. Its a drag race- can Schleicher come around???
11:43 EDT
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11:44 EDT
T-Mobile are very excited. Teutenberg
has a grin from ear to ear. She has been aiming for this win after having worked
so hard for Rossner and Bessette in the past!
11:44 EDT
Taking second was Schleicher, followed
by Van Gilder.
11:54 EDT 118km/132km to go
Back to the men's
race now and we are at the 118km mark. The gap has increased to over six minutes
at this point.
11:56 EDT
We talked to Teutenberg on the finish
line who is very excited. "I'm really happy. It's really nice to win a big bike
race like this."
"T-Mobile was amazing today. They did such an amazing
job. I felt really good all day. I didn't have to do a thing. It was a good
situation that the break went up the road. It made things much safer and I felt
comfortable. I was worried the last time up the climb but its seems everyone
was tired so nothing went."
Women's Results
Provisional 1 Ina Yoko Teutenberg (T-Mobile) 2 Regina Schleicher (Nurnberger) 3 Laura Van Gilder (Quark)
