Redlands Classic

The team took part in their first NRC event of the season as a team.  We sent 6 riders to the Redlands Classic in Redlands California last weekend.  The event was a 4 day stage race and a great way for the guys from New England to test thier form against the rest of the pro peloton.

The race started with a 5k hilly prologue.  I think the best way to put this day is a quote from Chris Jones on his blog “Short, but hard day at the office. 5K of false flat to straight uphill racing. We didn’t fare so well today, but watch out for us tomorrow…” http://crjonez.blogspot.com/.
 

Chris was correct and Day 2 was much better for the team.  It was 150km stage with a long climb at the finish.  Going into the base of the final climb we had two riders with the lead group Todd Yezefski and Chris Jones.  Then some bad luck struck Todd and he flatted.  With a slow wheel change any hope of him finishing with the leaders was gone.  However, Chris continued on and finished a great 18th on the day with all the big leaders of the race.  This finish moved him up to to 20 overall on GC.
 

Day three was the crit.  A stage suited for our team.  We fared pretty well placing two riders in the top 20.  Adam in 9th and Todd in 20th.  Chris maintained his GC position.
 

The final day was the toughest.  The road race was completed over 10 laps of a 12k course.  The team however did what it had to do and helped Chis maintain his top 20 in GC.
 

Additionally this past weekend David Wiswell stayed in the Northeast and won two races in New Jersey.
 

Pro 1-2-3
PLACE RIDER  TEAM
1 Wiswell David Nerac Pro Cycling
2 Simes John (Jackie) Pennsylvania Lightning
3 Lundgren Kenneth Central Northeastern
 

Not bad for the guys second race weekend of the season.  The team heads back to the east coast this week for the start of the New England season in Marblehead Mass.  Hopefully thier good legs from this past weekend will carry them to victory this weekend.

 

 

 

Add comment March 28th, 2007

San Dimas Stage Race

It was a strong start to the season for the boys in purple.  Team Nerac took part in this past weekends San Dimas stage race.  This was the first race for many of the team members and a chance for all of them to race together as a group for the first time this year. 

The race started on Friday with an uphill time trial.  The guys all tried to pace thier effort not knowing how much they had in them for this first big effort of the season.   Each rider felt great after the TT and all finished with a lot left in the tank.  A good sign for things to come as it is still very early in the season.

Day 2 was the road race.  It was completed over ten laps of a nine mile course.  The teams goal was to get some riders in the break and hopefully jump a few spots on GC.  The plan worked to perfection and Chris Jones was able to get in the break and finished a solid 5th on the day catipulting him up to 12th on GC.

The final day was the criterium.  The race was held on a fast six corner course in downtown San Dimas.  The teams goal was to get Chris into a break and hopfully get him into top ten overall in GC.  This plan was set on the back burner half way through the race as both Adam and Aidan joined a break of about 10 riders.  The break got over a minute on the field until the final few laps when the field really started to chace hard.  The gap was brought down to about 30 seconds until Adam told Aidan to go to the front and drill it as he was feeling good for the finish.  Aidan made a huge effort sacrificing himself for the team.  His effort kept the break away and Adam sprinted his way to a solid third place finish and the first podium of the year. 

Add comment March 19th, 2007

Season Underway

The team has finally begun the start to its season.  The team is still spread across the country with riders in on the West Coast getting in their last few training rides before the racing starts with San Dimas and Redlands.  Those riders still on the East Coast are beginning to find there racing legs as well.  In this past weekends action David Wiswell a new member of the team and coming off a victory in the sprint Competition at the Tour of Belize took part in the Ris Van Bethel.  Below is a race report from the event.
 

The P/1/2/3 race was fast from the start. Notable starters included pros Mike Norton (Rite-Aid) and David Wiswell (Nerac).  Both were unafraid of being active and were constantly at the front.  Fiordifrutta had a full complement of racers and were visible in virtually every move, chasing down breaks they missed and trying to make other ones.  But as one rider put it, it was a fast, fast day.  ”A lot of strong guys and no breaks means nothing got away”.

Norton led a half dozen riders at the bell with perhaps a 5 meter gap to the field.  The Bethel police officer on duty, having been educated on the fine points of bike racing and drafting (“it’s like motorcycle racing”) thought perhaps this wasn’t the best move for the Rite Aid pro.  But drawing on a decade of circling the course, Norton managed to ride away from the other riders.

Eneyas Frere (Target Training) was best of the rest, followed by Wiswell.  CRCA’s John Loehner nabbed fourth, and long time Series racer Chris Rozdilsky (FiordiFrutta) fifth.  Rounding out the points places was last year’s dominant Cat 3/4 winner, Peter Morgan (Anthem-CCCC)
 

Pro-1-2-3
1.  Mike Norton, Rite-Aid
2.  Eneas Freyre, Target Training
3.  David Wiswell, Nerac
4.  John Loehner, CRCA
5.  Chris Rozdilsky, Fiordefrutta
6.  Peter Morgan, Anthem-CCCC
7.  Robert Giannini, Sakonnet Technologies
8.  Kevin Molloy, Empire
9.  Jacob Hacker, Unattached
10.  Justin Lindine, Target Training
 

Add comment March 13th, 2007