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Lehigh Velodrome
Ondra Huyett’s Golden Wheel race, Trexlertown, PA, July 28, 2006
Courtesy Lise Holben
Lehigh Valley Velodrome hosted the annual Golden Wheel Race and Corporate Challenge, hosted this year by Ondra Huyett. The night was packed with world class racing and a fun twist with eleven of the Valley’s top businesses competing against each other for the coveted Corporate Challenge trophy. With great weather, awesome racing and a great crowd turnout, the night was a huge success!
During the first set of 2k heats leading up to the men’s wheel race finals, Colavita’s Sebastian Alexandre, USA’s Jason Snow, US national team’s Giddeon Massie, Argentina’s Leandro Botasso, and Australia’s Pete Fitzpatrick qualified to move on to the handicap rounds. For the second heat it was Ryan McKenzie, Nathan Rogut, Tom Mains, Andy Lakatosh, and Clay Murfet were the qualifiers. In the final heat, Keith Thorarinson, Matt Diefenbach, Julian Cushing, Rodney Santiago, and John Manailovich moved on to the handicap round. The riders were in top form and their racing abilities were surely showcased on this night.
For the first Corporate Challenge event of the evening, the teams raced their hearts out in an Italian Pursuit to determine which companies would move on to the next rounds. The dedicated and determined Bicycling Magazine team stepped up their game and took first place with a time of 2:37, followed by Kutztown University led by the Velodrome’s own Ray Ignosh with a time of 2:39. Other teams to move on to the finals were Air Products and Lehigh Carbon Community College.
In the women’s 4 km Tempo Race, Colavita’s Ashley Kimmet dominated the field, taking first place just in front of world champion Sarah Uhl and Argentina’s Veronica Martinez. It was a strong women’s field Friday night with Erica Allar placing fourth and Kim Geist in fifth.
The men stepped up the competition in the 2000m Handicap Repechage with Rick Miller leading the pack into the last turn and winning the race by a wheel to Mike Schnabel. Tucker Brown came in a very close third place, followed by Rick Schneck and Jackie Simes.
Next up in the night’s line up was the Corporate Challenge men’s 5 Lap Final and women’s 3 Lap Final. Rich Boorse of Valley Perferred, the 2006 series sponsor, put his new found track cycling skills to the test when he won the race with Mark Harrison of Rodale in second and Brian Jeter of Mack Trucks taking third place. For the women, Cindy Long of Apogee Photonics raced past Emily Furia of Rodale for the win leaving Sallie Urffer of Valley Preferred in third.
Sarah Uhl, the 2001 Junior World Champion, brought her A-game back to T-town with her first appearance of the year. During the women’s One Mile Final, Uhl turned up the heat blowing past Fuji’s Erica Allar and Colavita’s Ashley Kimmet, making for an exciting photo finish across the line.
For the final Corporate Challenge event of the evening Bicycling Magazine would take an intense and thrilling win earning the first place trophy for 2006. Kutztown University was a close second with a four second time difference and taking the third place spot for 06 was Lehigh Carbon Community College.
The men’s Elimination was one of the most exciting events of the evening. Each lap the officials pulled one rider until it was down to the remaining three athletes. The field left on the track consisted of Australia’s Pete Fitzpatrick, Spike pro team’s Ben Barczewski and Toyota-United’s Bobby Lea. The three riders battled it out all the way through the final turn. Barczewski crossed the finish line first, just in front of Lea and Fitzpatrick. It was an exciting win for Barczewski until the officials made the decision to relegate him for moving into the sprinters lane in the third turn. Bobby Lea went on to take the win for the elimination.
The next race was the last women’s event for the night, the 2000m Handicap Final. Erica Allar, Ashley Kimmet, and Sarah Uhl had their work cut out for them, as they were placed just before the finish line and would need to ride up and around the entire field of women to win the race. The three ladies were unable to complete the task at hand and one of the starting women, Shannon Koch held onto the lead and won the race with Julie Klinger coming in second place and Veronica Martinez in third.
The final event of the evening was the much anticipated men’s 2000m Golden Wheel Race. US national team rider Gideon Massie was placed in the top position given the challenge of catching up with the rider at the front of the handicap. Massie stayed towards the back of the field looking like he may sprint in the last lap, but Argentina’s Leandro Botasso was not going to let that happen. Botasso tore past the competition crossing the finish line first, just in front of fellow countrymen Sebastian Alexandre and Guido Palma. Argentina took the Golden Wheel Race by storm wrapping up a wonderful and exciting night of racing.
Results
Event 1A men: 2km Scratch Heat 1 1 Sebastian Alexandre 2 Jason Snow 3 Giddeon Massie 4 Leandro Botasso 5 Peter Fitzpatrick Event 1B Men: 2km Scratch Heat 2 1 Ryan McKenzie 2 Nathan Rogut 3 Tom Mains 4 Andy Lakatosh 5 Clay Murfet Event 1C Men: 2km Scratch Heat 3 1 Keith Thorarinson 2 Matt Diefenbach 3 Julian Cushing 4 Rodney Santiago 5 John Manailovich Event 2 Corporate Challenge: Italian Pursuit Qualifiers 1 Bicycling Magazine 2.37.00 2 Kutztown University 2.39.20 3 Air Products #1 2.41.80 4 Lehigh Carbon Community College 2.42.70 5 Valley Preferred 2.43.10 6 Rodale 2.46.70 7 Red Robin 2.49.60 8 Air Products #2 2.49.90 9 Apogee Photonics 2.51.20 10 Mack Trucks 11 Ondra-Huyett 3.10.60 Event 3 Women: 4km Tempo Race 1 Ashley Kimmet 2 Sarah Uhl 3 Veronica Martinez 4 Erica Allar 5 Kim Geist Event 4 Men: 2000m Handicap Repechange 1 Rick Miller 2 Mike Schnabel 3 Tucker Brown 4 Rick Schneck 5 Jackie Simes Event 5A Corporate Challenge: Men 5 Lap Final 1 Rich Boorse (Valley Preferred) 2 Mark Harrison (Rodale) 3 Brian Jeter (Mack Trucks) 4 Ryan Allen (Red Robin) 5 Bob Schuster (Apogee Photonics) Event 5B Corporate Challenge: Women 3 Lap Final 1 Cindy Long (Apogee Photonics) 2 Emily Furia (Rodale) 3 Sallie Urffer (Valley Preferred) 4 Mandy Loughman (Ondra-Huyett) 5 Caroline France (Air Products #2) Event 6 Women: One Mile Final 1 Sarah Uhl 2 Erica Allar 3 Ashley Kimmet 4 Sarah Caravella 5 May Britt Hartwell Event 7 Men: 1500m “Dash For Cash” 1 Ryan McKenzie 2 Mike Schnabel 3 Giddeon Massie 4 Sebastian Alexandre 5 Nathan Rogut Event 8A Corporate Challenge: 3-4 Final 3 Air Products #1 2.44.00 4 Lehigh Carbon Community College Event 8B Corporate Challenge: 1-2 Final 1 Bicycling Magazine 2.33.70 2 Kutztown University 2.37.10 Event 9 Men: Minor Final Elimination 1 Ben Barczewski 2 Bobby Lea 3 Peter Fitzpatrick 4 David Clinger 5 Clay Murfet Event 10 Women: 2000m Handicap Final 1 Shannon Koch 2 Julie Klinger 3 Veronica Martinez 4 Kim Geist 5 Sarah Caravella Event 11 Men: Golden Wheel Race 2000m 1 Leandro Botasso 2 Sebastian Alexandre 3 Guido Palma 4 Keith Thorarinson 5 Rodney Santiago
