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Top-Ten Finish at Jiminy - Monday, May 03,
2004 at 22:12 |
Saturday, May 1, the GS Mengoni Team competed in the
prestigious Jiminy Peak Road Race, held in mountainous, Hancock,
Massachusetts. With nearly 120 Professional and Elite level cyclists on
hand, this 93 mi. event was sure to be quite invigorating.
The beautiful 80 degree temperature, and sunny atmosphere, was but a
mirage of what was to come for racers in all events. As racers departed
for the first of 5 laps on this picturesque, New England parcours, the
action intensified along the rolling straight-away, just after the first
right hand turn of the course. Racers were absolutely flying along this
seemingly simple section, notching up speeds of 40-plus MPH once racers
descended the slight rollers.
However, Once the peloton made its next right-hand turn, and headed
towards the days main climb, the high speeds of a moment ago, were
abruptly reduced to 20 MPH, as excruciating wind gusts drastically
slowed this talent laden peloton. As echelons formed, the attacks became
increasingly persistent.
A strong contingent of Fiordifrutta riders were sending riders up the
road, while numerous other aspiring escapees followed suit, and
eventually counterattacked. These numerous, constant attacks seemed
endless, although they did little to unseat the majority today's
competitors.
Suddenly, however, with 2-laps completed, a very dangerous move escaped
just after the feed zone on the main climb, consisting of many of the
favorites, including Kevin Bouchard-Hall (US National Team), who was
recently awarded the blue Jersey in the Dodge Tour of Georgia, for
winning the Best Young Rider Classification. Other notable escapees
included 4 professionals, Canadian Professional Road Race Champion,
Dominique Perras (Ofoto-Lombardi Sports), Todd Herriott, a member of the
NJ-based Colavita Olive Oil Pro Cycling Team, Kirk Albers (Jelly Belly),
and finally Andrew Randell (Jet Fuel).
After some shuffling and sorting out on the tailwind rolling section,
this group was joined by GS Mengoni's Eugene Boronow, Craig Upton (CRCA
VisitBritain.com), Phil Wong and Dan Cassidy (both Fiordifrutta), Eneas
Freyre (America's Cycling Team), among a few other reputable riders. All
in all, after some attacking and more reshuffling, this powerful front
group now boasted upwards of 20 riders.
The field behind was rather complacent, as the vast majority of
prominent teams present, were indeed represented in the group ahead.
Lap-by-lap, numerous riders in the front group fell victim to the
relentless pace set by the stronger riders, as the group was constantly
whittling down.
In the final miles, Bouchard-Hall attacked, and was followed by the
Canadian duo of Randal and Perras, but on the steep pitches of the
climb, the recent revelation, Bouchard-Hall broke clear, and went on to
earn a hard fought out victory. Perras finished alone for second, as
Randell rounded out the podium. Sergio Rolando (Toga), bested Eneas
Freyre for 4th, as the remaining 5 escapees finished together for the
most part.
GS Mengoni's Eugene Boronow, held on for a very respectable 10th place
finish, just behind professional, Todd Herriott.
This report was written by:
Jason Schneider
Results:
1 Kevin Bouchard-Hall, Louis Garneau
2 Dominique Perras Brossard, Ofoto-Lombardi Sports
3 Andrew Randell, Jet Fuel Coffee
4 Sergio Rolando, GS Gotham/Toga
5 Eneas Freyre, UPMC
6 Martin Gilbert, Equipe VW/Trek
7 Craig Upton, CRCA/VisitBritain.com
8 Kirk Albers, Jelly Belly
9 Todd Herriott, Colavita/Bolla
10 Eugene Boronow, GS Mengoni
11 Philip Wong, Fiordifrutta
12 Dan Cassidy, Fiordifrutta
13 Todd Yezefski, Nerac.com
14 Jerry Kapko, Deno's Wonder Wheel
15 Scott Plante, Trek/VW/Doriti
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