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Highland Park Cyclo-cross/Verge MACCS #5 - C2Jamesburg, New Jersey, USA, November 12, 2006White and Bruno Roy win with styleBy Kirsten Robbins in Jamesburg, New Jersey Bruno Roy uses her technical talentMaureen Bruno Roy (Independent Fabrications) showed the women’s field how to win in style by winning the race from the gun. Her main competitors were Deidre Winfield (Velo Bella-Kona) and Melanie Swartz (Velo Bella-Kona). "The first lap is always the hardest," Winfield said. "You go from standing at an almost resting heart rate to as high as your heart rate is going to do all day in the first thirty seconds. So it is easy to feel like you are struggling a little bit but after a few laps you get used to the lines you are taking and start to get into a rhythm. As the race went on I felt better and better. The race began in much the same fashion as the day before, with Bruno Roy flying off the start line. The difference was that today no one could catch up to her." I was able to keep the gap I opened up in the beginning today," Bruno Roy said. The circuit was drenched from rain and mud guided the riders around the circuit. These undesirable race conditions called for adaptive, technical bike handling skills in order to be successful. "The rain changes the conditions of each lap and it requires a lot of skill, really controlling your bike and allowing your bike to lead the way with out fighting it," Bruno Roy said. "It was less about how strong you were in terms of power and speed and more about working with the changing conditions and letting that be part of how you are riding." Barring mechanicals, Bruno Roy sewed up the win after the second lap increasing her lead over Winfield significantly. "Roy had a really good start and I was timid riding through the mud at the beginning of the circuit," Winfield said. "Roy is really good at the technical section and I am not. I may have been able to ride a little better but I was worried about falling. This type of course and conditions is not my strength. I was getting a little frustrated out there." Velo Bella-Kona started the race with four strong riders, placing three in the top five. Melanie Swartz began today’s race with a slight disadvantage weighing against her. "I had a problem clipping in my pedals with a new set up today," Swartz said. Swartz began the race near the back but managed to muscle her way back into third place by the finish line. "My goal for this race was to be conservative and ride conservative to not fall down at all," Swartz said. "I knew that if I fell I would have to take that energy and use it to catch up. The conditions were really wet and muddy so I decided to use Michelin Muds with a really low pressure, 20psi. But as long as I was conservative and light on the bike I was ok for me. I also tried to have as much fun as I could out there. On the first lap we had four of us in the top five, which shows that we are definitely the east coast mud team." Bruno Roy has been racing at the elite level for two years and plans to continue to rise to the top. Her display of technical ability today showed the talent in the rising star. "This is my second year really being an elite racer and I really like the rain," Bruno Roy said. "I find that on a day-to-day basis I can’t compete with someone who has been road racing for ten years. Those riders have so much fitness and strength already in their legs. So the rain and the mud evens out the playing field a little. You can’t help but have fun out there when it is weather like this, it feels like I am just out there playing." White wins his wayMatt White (Fiordifrutta) dazzled the crowds with his second stylish solo win. The soloist left Chris Horner (Specialized) tracing his tracks into second place and his teammate Jamey Driscoll (Fiordifrutta) in a battle for third. "It was a similar race to last weekend in that I just went out there and rode as hard as I could," White said. "But, rather than it being so tactical, I just went out there and slugged it in the mud and rain today." Today marks White’s second UCI win this season. "It is unbelievable and I am so excited about winning another UCI event," White said. "Winning both races in the same style is a testament to my strength and not my tactical ability. I seem to be riding better when I can just ride my own race, go as hard as I can go and not think about tactics too much - I am not the smartest bike racer out there. Rain poured on the men’s field turning the circuit into a mudslide. It was Michael Cody (Fiordifrutta) who took the lead from the start, forcing the field into slick corners faster than they could handle. "I had a great start today but almost did a high speed dismount at the start," Cody said. "Today was all about keeping speed and bombing through the mud. I think if you respect the mud a little it will take you where you want to go. I fell back a bit after the first lap and was able to work my way back up to Jamey who placed third. I spent the whole race five seconds behind Jamey and a few seconds ahead of Frattini." White was able to sit back and stay safe for the first half lap watching his teammate carve the path that he would later follow to his win. "On the first lap I was letting Cody do most of the leading and he was taking some good lines and gapping people," White said. "On the back section of the course on a down hill corner I came out of it in front and got a small gap on everyone. I went hard for the first four laps and then kept it steady to the end. I wanted to make sure that I had a good gap over guys like Powers." Horner surprised the field by positioning himself at the front early on in the race and putting in on the line for second place. Horner used his power to push through the mud a little more to make up for his lack of experience in cyclo-cross." I didn’t know I would be better in the mud and rain," Horner said. "What it boils down to is that there is a very small speed you can ride through these corners at because of the rain and mud and the rest of the time you are converting back to power." "What happened today was that the technical skills were not as drastically changed for me as some riders with more technical skill because the corners had to be ridden slow, I am willing to take the corners at nine miles an hour on a wet day with these guys. But I am not willing to take the corners at twenty miles an hour on a dry day with these guys. So the wet conditions evened out the race for me today and let my power play a bigger roll. Also, it was not until the last laps that I started realizing which lines are the best take. Every race is a new experience for me and takes me some time to ride it right. Although Fiordifrutta out numbered the field, team tactics did not play a role in White’s win. "We had a large team today but there was no team tactics involved on a day like today," White said. "But, there is not much a team can really do. There was no attacking out there, it was more about seeing a gap open and pushing it a little bit harder." The Verge MAC series is currently being lead by the Italian rider Davide Frattini (Colavita Olive Oil/Sutter Home Winery). Frattini and his national teammate Luca Damiani participated in their final cyclo-cross event in the USA. "It was a really positive month for racing and to get fit to start our season in Europe," Frattini said. "We want to say thanks to all the promoters for the great events - See you next year." PhotographyFor a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here Images by Dennis Smith/www.dennisbike.com
Images by FJ Hughes Photography/www.FHughesPhoto.com
Images by Konstantin Sergeyev/Konstantin Sergeyev Photographic
ResultsElite Men 1 Matt White (USA) FiordiFrutta 59.44 2 Christopher Horner (USA) Specialized 0.29 3 Jamey Driscoll (USA) FiordiFrutta Elite Cycling Team 0.36 4 Michael Cody (Ita) FiordiFrutta Cycling Team 0.50 5 Davide Frattini (USA) Colavita Olive Oil/Sutter Home 1.08 6 Tristan Schouten (USA) Trek/VW/Michelin 1.35 7 Christopher Jones (USA) TARGETRAINING 8 Jonny Sundt (USA) HagensBerman LLP 2.41 9 Justin Spinelli (USA) RGM WATCHES - RICHARD SACHS - REX CHIU 3.21 10 Matt Kraus (Ita) Alan Factory Team 3.46 11 Luca Damiani (USA) Team FIDIBC.COM VC ARBEDO 4.53 12 Weston Schempf (USA) FORT Factory Team 5.00 13 David Wyandt (USA) HRS-Rocklobster 5.25 14 Brian Hayes (USA) RGM WATCHES - RICHARD SACHS - REX CHIU 6.44 15 Jed Schneider (USA) Alan Factory 6.51 16 Greg Marini (USA) coffee plus inc. com 7.15 17 Ryan Leech (USA) Meredith Group-GPOA-Cannondale 7.26 18 Charles Pendry (USA) Inland Construction - BTD 7.28 19 Peter Rubijono (USA) Harris Cyclery/Igleheart Frames 8.00 20 Stephen Cummings (USA) Meredith group GPOA Cannondale 8.27 One lap down 21 Robert Giannini (USA) CRCA/Sakonnet Technology U25 22 Myles Romanow (Can) Wildthyme/IF 23 Peter Morse (USA) Jet Fuel Coffee 24 Nathan Wyatt (USA) Sram/Caroiina Fatz 25 Stan Jurga (USA) Independent Fabrication/Channel Cafe 26 Nathan Deibert (USA) Holmes Cycling 27 John Minturn (USA) Team Hotel San Jose DSQ Zoltan Tisza (USA) Rocky Mountain Elite Women 1 Maureen Bruno Roy (USA) Independent Fabrication/Wheelworks 34.39 2 Deidre Winfield (USA) Velo Bella-Kona 1.45 3 Melanie Swartz (USA) Velo Bella - Kona 2.42 4 Amy Wallace (USA) RGM WATCHES - RICHARD SACHS - REX CHIU 3.24 5 Betsy Shogren (USA) FORT Factory Team 3.35 6 Anna Milkowski (USA) Velo Bella-Kona 3.45 7 Mandy Lozano (USA) Cheerwine Cycling 3.54 8 Stephanie White (USA) Velo Bella-Kona 5.06 9 Erica Yozell (USA) FORT Factory Team 5.19 10 Rebecca Wellons (USA) Gearworks/Spin Arts Cycling 5.50 11 Megan Bilodeau (USA) NCC/BikeReg.com 5.59 12 Megan Elliott (USA) Specialized 6.22 13 Catherine Johnson (USA) Pro Peloton Racing 6.35 14 Kathleen Billington (USA) TARGETRAINING Professional Women's Cycling T 7.04 15 Lynda Maldonado (USA) Human Zoom 7.30 16 Brenda Bahnson (USA) Independent Fabrication 7.40 17 Lisa Vible (USA) C3/ADG/Joe's Bike Shop 8.06 18 Heidi Von Teitenberg (USA) C3/ADG/Joe's 8.35 One lap down 19 Lisa Most (USA) Wissahickon 20 Clara Beard (USA) Cheerwine Cycling 21 Kristine Church (USA) Human Zoom/ Pabst Blue Ribbon 22 Tammy Ebersole (USA) Evolution Racing Juniors 1 Andy Gallagher (USA) Liberty Cycle 37.07 2 Erik Kristiansen (USA) Skylands Cycle 3 Ian Harris (USA) CRCA Junior Development 4 Cam Mancuso (USA) A.C.T./Skylands 5 Matthew Spinks (USA) Skylands Cycling 6 Tyler Brown (USA) Bike Line/LWA 7 Adam Schlauch (USA) Somerset Wheelmen One lap down 8 Max Mancuso (USA) Skylands Cycling 9 Dag Anderson (USA) Somerset Wheelmen 10 Erik Moyer (USA) Grommit Cross Junior Women 1 Nina Santiago (USA) High Gear 35.29 B Men 1 Chad Totaro (USA) Team Human Zoom / Pabst Blue Ribbon 40.34 2 Matthew Ferrari (USA) Mt Nittany Wheelworks 0.16 3 Erik Leaver (USA) NCVC/Inova Health System 4 Chris Mayhew (USA) Wissahickon 5 Jeremy Dunn (USA) Harris Cyclery/Igleheart Frames 6 Gregory Lindstrom NY Hunt Valley Bicycles/Marathon Roofing 0.50 7 Matt Budd (USA) Budd BikeWorks 8 Nick Bennette (USA) Princeton University 9 Jeff Busch (USA) North Atlantic Velo/Classbook.com 10 Aaron Oakes (USA) Iron Horse New England 11 Ray Ignosh (USA) Gotham Cyclists 12 Ethan Townsend (USA) First State Velo Sport 13 Daniel Brill (USA) Team Beacon 14 Marc Vettori (USA) FORT Factory Team 2.01 15 Roger Foco (USA) Skylands Cycling 16 Colin Sandberg (USA) Meredith Group-GPOA-Cannondale 17 Kevin Kralik (USA) Guy's Racing 18 Morgan Gerlak NY C3/ADG/Joe's 19 J Gabriel Lloyd (USA) Columbia University 20 Eric Morgan (USA) Wissahickon 21 Charles Florek (USA) Rutgers University Cycling Team 2.36 22 Brian Wolff 2.53 23 Chris Harshman (USA) ABRT/Team Snow Valley 3.04 24 Luke Sauder (USA) Hunt Valley Bicycle/Marathon Roofing 3.26 25 Donald Snoop (USA) JR. 3.27 26 Adam Szczepanski (USA) Wissahickon 3.38 27 Zach Adams (USA) FORT Factory Team 3.47 28 Wade Hess (USA) Team Beacon 4.00 29 Andrew Crooks (USA) NYC Velo 4.02 30 Bernard Mcdonald (USA) C3/ADG/Joe's 31 Patrick Brady (USA) Team Beacon 4.34 32 Brian Burgess (USA) Team Beacon 33 Emerson Loustau (USA) BICYCLE THERAPY 34 Mark Vareschi (USA) Rutgers University Cycling Team 35 Don Yungher (USA) Rutgers University Cycling Team 36 Keith Licata (USA) Team Bulldog/Campmor 37 Joshua West (USA) Bikeman.com 38 Ryan Pomajevich (USA) Gotham Cyclists 5.28 39 Greg Martin (USA) Independent Fabrication 40 Paul Walsh (USA) SKYLANDS CYCLING\Sussex Bike 41 Chad Culbertson (USA) CRC of A / Hart's Racing 5.59 42 Bruce Freehoff (USA) Team Beacon 43 Frank Zgoda (USA) Sotheby's/Strictly Bicycles 44 Jay Nossen NY Rutgers University Cycling Team 45 Justin Lubley (USA) CRCA bandits 46 Zac Felpel (USA) Red Rose Rockets 8.11 One lap down 47 Jason Parkin (USA) CRCA/Blue Ribbon-Translations.com 48 Eben Weiss (USA) GS Gotham 49 jay Downs (USA) FORT Factory Team 50 James Furman (USA) Skylands Cycling 51 Robert Wolff (USA) Team Carl Hart Bicycles B Women |
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