Team Nerac/OutdoorLighting Pro Cycling » race update

Rochester Twilight and Cox Charities

dwerling — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 03:59:36 +0000

What a weekend for the Nerac Pro Cycling Team.Â The weekend started off with the Rochester Twilight Criterium.Â The race is in its fourth year and what a race it is.Â This year the event was upgraded to UCI 1.2 status and is part of the inagural US Pro Tour.Â

This was an important race for the team and although we were short staffed going into the event due to some illness the team rose to the occasion.Â Within minutes of the start Chris Jones joined Navigatores Hilton Clark and Kyle Wamsley, Kodak’sÂ Domonique Rolling and Mark Walters, and Symmetrics Canadian Criterium champion Cameron Evans.Â Â

The six riders quickly gained an advantage and about half way through the race lapped the field.Â Because the riders lapped the field this ment that the field would finish with two to go and the leaders would continue on to complete the final two laps.Â Chris was able to hold strong with the leaders and got a great result for theÂ NeracÂ squad.Â Â

Results:

1 Hilton Clarke (Aus) Navigators Insurance 2:01:32 (28.37mph/45.46kph)
2 Cameron Evans (Can) Symmetrics
3 Kyle Wamsley (USA) Navigators Insurance
4 Mark Walters (Can) Kodak
5 Dominique Rollin (Can) Kodak
6Â Christopher JonesÂ (USA) Nerac

On Sunday the squad made the long trip from Rochester, NY to Providence, RI to take part in the Cox Charities Cycling Classic.Â It was once again a great day for the Nerac Pro Cycling team.Â

In the first 10 laps of the race a group of 15 riders got off the front containing three Nerac riders (Chris Jones, David Wiswell and Alec Donahue).Â We had good numbers in the break but were not totally confident with our numbers considering how many good sprinters were represented.Â The break gained a max advantage of 1 minute but with ten laps to go the gap was quickly coming down.Â This is when Nerac rider Chris Jones and Alejandro Berrajo from Rite Aid went off the front.Â The two riders worked well together and it came down to the final 200 meters with the field coming up fast Alejandro won the sprint ahead of Chis who held on for a stong 2nd place.Â Adam Myerson rounded out the Nerac performance in 7th place.

Crystal City, Harlem, and Housatonic

dwerling — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 17:00:31 +0000

This past weekend Team Nerac was split up a bit sendingÂ riders to a couple ofÂ different events along the east coast.Â The first event of the weekend was the Crystal City Classic in Arlington, Virginia.Â We had five riders competing in this event.Â The team was lead by Adam Myerson who finished a strong 10th on the day after spending the majority of the day in the breakaway.Â

On day two three riders Adam, Dan and Dave took part in the historic Harlem Classic Criterium while another squad took part in the Housitonic road race which is the Connecticut State Road Race Championships.Â

Â The team in Harlem took third on the day behind a great leadout.Â At the Housatonic road race Chris Jones finished 6th on the day which was good enough to claim the Connecticut State Road Race Championships.

Here is a link to some great photos from the Harlem Classic.

Podium Sweep

dwerling — Tue, 15 May 2007 01:49:54 +0000

It is the second time this season that the Nerac Pro Cycling Team swept the podium.Â This time it was at the Sterling road race another classic New England race.Â Most of the guys were back together this weekend from the USA Crit series and the Tour of Virginia.Â After the hard racing that the guys have been doing we were expecting to have a good day.Â However it wasnâ€™t going to be easy as there were other proâ€™s represented in the field from Colavita and Kelly Benefits. Â

The race started off steady with no major attacking until lap three or so of the seven lap race.Â It was at this point that Al Donahue got off the front with New England powerhouse Skip Foley.Â The break didnâ€™t last too long and they were caught by the field.Â A counter attack went and Chris Jones went off the front with former Nerac now Kelly Benefits pro rider Justin Spinelli.Â These two were accompanied by long time New England fast guy Amos Brumble.Â The three of them stayed away until one to go when only Chris and Justin were able to hold the pace up front.Â With one lap to go the attacks started and Nerac was able to place three guys in a four man chase group.Â They caught the two leaders and then Aidan Charles went to the front and drilled it immediately gaining a huge gap over the field.Â All six of the riders worked well together until the last couple of miles when we started attacking the other two riders.Â Our tactics worked to perfection and Chris Jones was able to solo in for victory followed by Adam in second and Aidan in third.Â Al rounded out the day of Nerac dominance in six place.Â

This was a great result for the team and a great confidence booster going into a major part of the season.

Nerac to USA Crits SE

dwerling — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 00:39:15 +0000

Nerac Pro Cycling Team announces today its roster for the upcoming USA Crits SE series.Â The team will be sending six riders to this eight race series.Â Headlining the squad will be Adam Myerson a crit specialist.Â He will be accompanied by track sprinters David Wiswell and Todd Yezefski, and strongmen Dan Holt, Patrick Walsh and Aidan Charles.Â Check back on Saturday for daily updates on how the guys are making out.Â For more info on the event check out the USA Crits SE Series website.

Battenkill Roubaix

dwerling — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 02:39:53 +0000

Roubaix is a 80 mile road race that has multiple sectors ofÂ steep dirt climbs. This unique challenge drew 125 riders from the U.S. and Canada, and included riders from five professional squads.Â Alec Donahue was the Nerac representative, and had a tough job ofÂ staying out of trouble on the dirt, and monitoring any threatening moves. The field whittled down significantly over the first few road and dirt climbs, however the pace between the inclines was moderate. It looked like most riders were waiting for the last climb at the 75 mile mark to make their moves, or to hold the group as long as possible. Riders from the Kelly and Symmetrics teams tried to escape on the flats preceding the final challenge, but were not successful. Fior di Frutta set their team on the front for the last climb and split the group. Over the top there were two from Fior, two from
Colavita and one Nerac rider. The group worked on the steep descent, but was
caught after a few miles of less than stellar cooperation. The last few
miles were all downhill to the finish, and a group of twenty formed. A Jelly
Belly rider jumped early for the sprint, but faded early. The Nerac rider
was out kicked in the final 40 feetÂ but held on for seventh.
This race is a challenge for equipment. There are technical descents, huge
potholes in the dirt sections, and it finishes with a demanding field
sprint. All the gear worked great.

Nerac 4th at Jacksonville NRC

dwerling — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 23:45:45 +0000

This past weekend Nerac Pro Cycling Team participated in the Jacksonville Cycling Classic.Â The race started off fast and Chris Jones was able to get in a break of three riders.Â The break immediately gained time on the field due to the help of some strong thunder storms.Â Half way through the 90 min event the trio lapped the field.Â

Another group of 4 riders was then also able to ride off the front and they two lapped the field.Â With the group all together and seven riders who lapped the field the race would come down to a field sprint for those riders.Â Chris called on the help of his teammates to keep him at the front going into the final laps.Â Chris was guided through the final couple of turns by Adam Myerson and David Wiswell.Â Unfortunately the guys were boxed in on the final turn and were forced back into the field.Â

In the end Chris was able to manage a 4th place finish followed by Adam in 11th, Dave in 16th and Dan in 25th.Â This was a good result for the team and a great way to prepare for the upcoming USA Crit South East Series.

Instant Classic

dwerling — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 17:33:04 +0000

Is the only way to describe the inaugural edition of the US Cycling Open in Richmond Virginia. The riders woke up to less than ideal conditions, 30 degrees and Snowing!!! Not what was expected but the course which was described as a Belgian Classic was getting the weather conditions to match.

The guys were very excited to compete in the spotlight of NBC with the Nations best cyclist all in attendance. The riders were all feeling strong coming off a great winter in Tucson and an early season race schedule in California.
Team Director Dave Werling told the guys to be very aggressive from the start and to try and get in the early move which we all expected to happen. However this plan backfired possibly due to the poor weather conditions but no break got away on the 60 mile flat run into the circuits in downtown Richmond.
With all the riders still feeling strong we rode at the front on the technical 5.5 mile circuit which consisted of a cobbled climb up Libby Hill and a fast cobbled descent. It was defiantly a challenging circuit. Despite the solid legs most of the guys had we ran into some bad luck and suffered a couple flats and a crash from our team leader on the day Chris Jones.
In the end the day didnâ€™t go as planned but the guys all felt that the fitness was there and look out for them next weekend in Jacksonville.