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Commerce Bank Triple Crown
USA, June 3-10, 2007
Main Page Results & report Next Stage
Race 1 - June 3: Tom Bamford Lancaster Classic, 85 miles
Eisel grabs rain-soaked Lancaster win
12:35 EDT
Welcome to Cyclingnews' coverage of the 2007 Commerce Bank Triple
Crown. Coverage of the first of the three Triple crown prize races, the Tom
Bamford Lancaster Classic, starts at 3pm EST (US) and we have fired up the US-based
blimp and will fly it above Lancaster (Pennsylvannia) to bring you all the action
live.
14:52 EDT
The riders are gathering at the start
and the race looks like it will go off at 3pm as planned. There is a light summer
rain falling; remnants of Tropical Storm Barry that is soaking the southeastern
portion of the United States today. Online weather forecasts call for the rain
to grow heavy toward the end of the race.
14:55 EDT
Women's race wrap-up: Ina Tuetenburg
(T-Mobile) won the women's race at the 2007 Lancaster Classic a few moments
ago, beating Laura Van Gilder (Cheerwine) and Catherine Powers (Aaron's Corporate
Furnishings) at the line.
15:01 EDT
Van Gilder won the CSC
Invitational on Saturday becoming the only person to have won the race three
times. Even though she is one of the most powerful sprinter's in the domestic
women's peloton, she initiated and won the CSC race out of a long breakaway
with Rebecca Larson (Aaron's Pro Cycling).
15:03 EDT
Riders are listening to the national
anthem. We should be underway in a moment.
15:05 EDT 137km/137km to go
And there off for the first of twelve laps of the 11.5 km circuit.
15:07 EDT
According to the promoter, "the course
begins and ends on Queen Street and heads onto Duke Street. Racers continue
along Williamson and Rockford Roads and pass the “Feed Zone” in Lancaster County
Central Park. The course is deceptively tricky as it winds through Lancaster
with many sudden short hills and sharp turns."
15:08 EDT
You can view a map by clicking on
the Stage Details link at the top of the page.
15:09 EDT
The riders are all together up the
first climb of the day.
15:10 EDT
The group is strung out on the descent
as the speed begins to pick up.
15:14 EDT
Team BMC is at the front of the race
but it doesn't look like an attempt to get away. In fact, from the blimp, it
looks like the peloton is being cautious in the early going of this race. They
in for three hours of work and with the fresh rain making the roads slippery,
it is probably smart decision to keep things under control for now.
15:16 EDT
88 David Veilleux of Jittery Joes
has jumped off the front and has a 50-meter gap at the top of Hershey Ace climb.
15:18 EDT
The group is heading downhill towards
the start/finish line now and five riders are off the front.
15:19 EDT
There are some shifting turns in the
final kilometer - including one sweep through a roundabout.
15:20 EDT
The break was caught at the start/finish
line but one rider immediately countered and five other riders went right after
him.
15:21 EDT
All together agian.
15:23 EDT
The killer wrapped up the Giro D'Italia
today - in case you're intersted in non-domestic racing :). Check out our coverage
of the
final stage.
15:27 EDT
The race is up and down the first
hill of the second lap. BMC, Kodak and Navigators are all swapping turns at
the front.
15:28 EDT
Keith Norris (AEG Toshiba) and Jeremy
Powers (Jelly Belly) led over the top of the climb.
15:31 EDT
James Meadley (Jelly Belly) has slipped
off the front. Jorge Martinez (Caico Cycling Team) is chasing him on the climb
up Hershey Avenue.
15:32 EDT
The two breakaway riders have been
caught and the peloton is all back together on the back side of the Hershey
Avenue climb.
15:35 EDT
The average speed of the race is 25.5
mph (41 km) with two laps in the books.
15:36 EDT
A counterattack has spun off after
the race entered the third lap. One of the riders is Michael Sayers (BMC). His
breakmate, Sterling Magnell (Rock Racing) has dropped back to the group already.
15:36 EDT
So Sayers comes back as well and the
entire group slows and rides curb-to-curb.
15:38 EDT
They are entering the park which contains
the circuits first hill. The skies are noticable darker than when the race started
- maybe the heavy rain is coming in after all.
15:41 EDT
THe group is strung our in a long
line after descending the climb in Lancaster County Central Park.
15:44 EDT
Ben Raby (Kodak Gallery) and Michael
Creed (Slipstream) led over the top of the second climb.
15:44 EDT
Slipstream must have been a late addition
to the race since they don't appear on our official start list.
15:46 EDT
Colvita has moved to the front - seems
like every team wants to spend a few minutes in the lead. Maybe to get a chance
to ride out of the spray of a hundred other riders wheels and deal only with
clean rain for a while.
15:47 EDT
Christian Meier (Symmetrics), Tim
Johnson (Health Net) and Mike Creed (Slipstream) are off the front.
15:48 EDT
Johnson and Creed are powerful veteran
riders. If they like their breakmate, we could be seeing the day's first successful
break forming.
15:49 EDT
Ideally though, they would get a little
more help from the group to be sure they had a chance after working in a break
that has a real chance of staying away from a peloton trying to settle things
in a sprint.
15:50 EDT
Ah, no sooner said than done; five
riders are trying to get across. We'll have those names in a moment.
15:51 EDT
And just to correct some misinformation
from early in our live coverage, there are 13 laps not 12 in the race. The race
is at ten-laps-to-go.
15:55 EDT
The riders in the break are: Svein
Tuft (Symmetrics), Matt Guse (Caylon-Litespeed), Nicholas Wait (Kelly Benifits
Strategies), Stephan Kincaid (Rite Aid), Christian Meier (Symmetrics), Tim Johnson
(Health Net), Mike Creed (Slipstream), Brice Jones (Jelly Belly), Scottie Weiss
(AEG-Toshiba) and Caleb Manion (Toyota United).
15:57 EDT
The break has opened up to 55 seconds
and is out of sight of the main peloton now. The rain has also abated. For now.
16:00 EDT
T-Mobile lacks a rider in the break
and is setting tempo at the front of the main group.
16:02 EDT
Actually, T-Mobile does have a rider
in the break - Eric Baumann - but he is sitting on and not working at all while
his team chases.
16:05 EDT
The race is about to pass through
the start/finish line and will have nine laps to go. The final straightaway
is only 300-meters long and immediately follows at tricky turn through a roundabaout.
16:06 EDT
Baumann is working in the break now.
The gap to the main group is 1:05.
16:10 EDT
Rain is falling lightly again as the
break expands its lead to 1:30.
16:13 EDT 49km/90km to go
Baumann is being very active now that he has been given the go-ahead to work
with the break, taking more than his fair share of turns up front.
16:18 EDT
The spirit of Rob McKenna from the
Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy must be pleased with the weather in Lancaster
today. The rain has started agian; still light but threatening. Rob McKenna,
of course, was minor character in the book sometimes referred to as a rain god
- he was an "ordinary lorry driver who could never get away from rain and had
a book of 233 types to prove it" (from wikipedia).
16:19 EDT 52km/85km to go
The race has passed the start/finish line again and has eight laps to go. The
feed zone, located about halfway through the course, is open now so the break
and the chase wil be getting some lunch shortly.
16:22 EDT
The ride is headed back into Central
Park.
16:23 EDT
Mike Creed has moved to the front
of the break on the climb in the park.
16:24 EDT
The break's gap is dropping. At 1:10
now.
16:27 EDT
Svein tuft (Symmetrics) is wearing
the UCI Americas Tour leader's jersey.
16:29 EDT
CSC is leading the main group and
seems to be responsible for the diminishing gap to the break (now at 1:06).
16:30 EDT
Caleb Manion (Toyota United) has flatted
and slipped off the break for a wheel change.
16:32 EDT 61km/76km to go
The gap is down to 55 seconds with plenty of racing left in the day.
16:33 EDT
Manion is back in the break after
his wheel change.
16:34 EDT
The break is heading through the start/finish
line and will have seven laps to go in the race.
16:37 EDT
A Symmetrics rider (Christian Meier
we think) also flatted out of the break. He ever made it back though and is
no with the main group.
16:38 EDT 66km/71km to go
The gap is down to 30 seconds and the break is within striking distance of the
main pack.
16:42 EDT
Trees obscured our view from the blimp
- Meieir did not fall all the way back to the main group but it stuck in the
gap to the break - at 15 seconds and still chasing. You have to admire his determination.
16:44 EDT
CSC, who had been driving the chase,
settled their tempo and have allowed the break to regain ten seconds of their
lost advantage. With more than fifty kilometers to go, they may not want to
take the break back only to see a counterattack go away and are opting to manage
the gap and bring the break back closer to the finish.
16:45 EDT
Tim Johnson has flatted and is getting
a wheel - on the same part of the course as the two riders from last lap! There
must be a seam in the road or a pothole.
16:46 EDT
The gap is back to 1:10.
16:56 EDT 77km/60km to go
We have a modification to our list of break members from race radio - Eric Baumann
(T-Mobile), Stephan Kincaid (Rite Aid), Caleb Manion (Toyota United), Mike Creed
(Slipstream), Valeriy Kobzarenko (Navigators), Nicholas Wait (Kelly Benifits
Strategies) and Scott Zwizanski (Priority Health). When it first got away, there
was some shifting and the original group lost and gained a couple of riders
before it was fully established. Those darn sneaky bike rider!
17:01 EDT
Johnson and Baumann are putting pressure
on the break, leading over the top of the climb in Central Park.
17:01 EDT
Conditions are improving as well;
the rain has stopped agian and the roads are beginning to dry.
17:02 EDT
Waite and Kincaid are falling from
the break.
17:05 EDT
The break is through the start/finish
line. There are five laps to go. The break is holding on to a 35-second advanatage
to a chaser (we'll try to identify him).
17:07 EDT
The peloton is at 42 seconds.
17:12 EDT
The race is back through Central Park
but rapidly coming back together. There will be four laps to go when the race
makes it around the circuit this time and only 50 kilometers left to race.
17:15 EDT
From the blimp, it looks like the
main group can close the gap on the hills on the streets of Lancaster. The peloton
is all single file and the gap is down to 15 seconds.
17:16 EDT 91km/46km to go
And the race is all together at 91 kilometers on the climb up Hershey Avenue.
17:19 EDT
The counterattacks are beginning.
17:21 EDT
But nothing is getting away yet as
the overall speed remains very high through the start/finish line. There are
now four laps to go in the race.
17:21 EDT
Christian Meier, who flatted out of
the original break, is attacking. Martin Pedersen (CSC) is coming with him.
17:23 EDT
The pair have a fifteen second advantage
and the field is noticably slowing.
17:27 EDT
Over the climb in Central Park, Meier
and Pederson are still away.
17:28 EDT
Down the back side of the climb, the
field is strung out.
17:31 EDT
The rain has started again. A brief,
three-man chase containg T-Mobile's Bernhard Eisel tried to get across but on
the next climb, the man group all came back together. Pederson and Meier remain
in front at 15-seconds.
17:32 EDT 101km/36km to go
Now they are caught.
17:35 EDT
The peloton is two kilometers from
the start/finish line and there are four riders trying to get away in the latest
of a flurry of counterattacks. They have a 50-meter advantage.
17:36 EDT
Two more riders have joined on as
the group passes the finish line. There are three laps to go in the race. The
six riders have a meager five-second advantage.
17:38 EDT
The break has ten seconds but we're
worried we might jinx them if we name them too soon.
17:39 EDT
But here they are anyway: Sergey Lagutin
(Navigators), Jonathan Garcia (BMC), Trent Wilson (Jittery Joes), Svein Tuft
(Symmetrics), Bernhard Eisel (T-Mobile) and Frank Travieso (AEG-Toshiba)
17:40 EDT
The break has 25-seconds as the race
moves into Central Park for the tenth time.
17:41 EDT
A light rain still plagues the race.
17:43 EDT
Alejandro Borrajo of the Rite Aid
team bridged across to the break.
17:44 EDT
At the bottom of the descent of the
climb in Central Park, the break has a 40-second gap over the main field.
17:52 EDT
The break is through the start/finish
line. There are two laps to go.
17:54 EDT
Two riders have committed to a chase
and broken off the front of the main pack.
17:56 EDT
17:57 EDT
Trent Wilson led the break over the
climb in Central Park.
17:59 EDT
Danny Pate of Slipstream is trying
to bridge out of the main pack. He is 50-meters in front of the main group.
18:01 EDT
The rain, whi has fluctuated in volume
all day, has soaked the words pretty well for the final lap. With the tricky
final corner and a short straightaway for sprinting, we might see a few tumbles
in the last kilometer.
18:02 EDT
The team cars are between the main
group and the break though - maybe the race organizers and the teams believe
the break can stay away. Which may lead to a safer final lap.
18:02 EDT 122km/15km to go
Pate has bridge successfully and is now with the break.
18:08 EDT
The break is through the start/finish
line and there is now only one lap remaining.
18:10 EDT
The gap has opened up to 1:45 with
less than one lap to go. There are a couple of climbs to get over and enough
firepower in the break that it may succeed.
18:11 EDT
The leaders are entering Central Park.
Trent Wilson is leading the group to the climb with Lagutin and Barrajo on his
wheel. Frank Pipp is in the break (we missed him earlier).
18:12 EDT
Eisel is sprinting for the top of
the climb.
18:12 EDT
Frank Travieso fell behind on the
climb but is crawling back into the group.
18:13 EDT
Jonathan Garcia (BMC) lost his line
and ended up in the grass at the side of the road for a few moments but was
able to muscle his way back onto the road and is still with the break.
18:14 EDT
Bernhard Eisel (T-Mobile) is off the
front by ten seconds after making a push on the climb in Central Park..
18:16 EDT
Eisel is out of the saddle trying
to keep his advantage.
18:17 EDT
Between the climbs in Central Park
and Hershey Avenue, there are a number of small power climbs.
18:18 EDT
Eisel is on Hershey Avenue now - which
starts out flat but contains the last significant climb of the day. Eisel is
3-kilometers away from the finish.
18:19 EDT
One rider is trying to bridge from
the original break.
18:19 EDT 135km/2km to go
Two kilometers to go. The rain is really coming down now.
18:20 EDT
The second rider has caught Eisel
and the pair have only one kilometer to go. It looks like a Navigators jersey
from the blimp. It could be Lagutin!
18:21 EDT
The pair have fifteen seconds over
the remnants of their breakaway group. There are 500-meters from the finish;
negotiating the tricky final turns.
18:22 EDT
No games on the finishing straight,
the pair are straight-up sprinting.
18:22 EDT 137km/0km to go
And Eisel gets it!
18:22 EDT
Lagutin takes second.
18:29 EDT
Well, the Commerce Bank Triple Crown
got off the wet and speedy start. Check back later tonight on Cyclingnews for
a full race report, results and photos from Lancaster. We need to
get the blimp on the ground and out of the rain (although the good news about
being rained on all day is that the blimp won't need a wash). We'll
be back with full Live coverage of the second race in the Tripe Crown; the Reading
Classic on June 7th.
