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Mengoni Double-Dips on Long Island - Sunday, September 12, 2004 at 23:21

 

Held in Long Island's Cedar Creek park, in Wantagh, NY, the "Tour de Parc" is a must for NY-based criterium enthusiasts, due to the friendly atmosphere the park exudes, not to mention a splendid, somewhat challenging course. This course, within miles of the famous Jones Beach, has been used for numerous National Criterium Championship events, including the 1989 Masters edition. Originally promoted by Long Island's Craig Roberts, Charlie Issendorf took over as promoter this year, and as brilliant a tactician Issendorf was on the bike, he proved just as accomplished when it comes to promoting a well-organized bicycle race. Lining up for today's featured event, the "Vito Perucci Memorial," Pro, 1, 2 category, was a concoction of renowned amateur cyclists. The strongest team present was the GS Mengoni squad, fully armed with all their riders -- most notably, Roosevelt "Pollo" Martes, the fastest sprinter currently racing in the Atlantic Region's amateur circuit. Also present was Colombian, Lisban Quintero of team Cuevas, who recently placed an unprecedented 4th for an amateur in stage 2 of the Fitchburg Longsjo Stage Race (Pro, 1, 2 category) in MA. Junior standout, Devin Flaherty (ACT-UPMC), who just yesterday out-sprinted many elite-amateurs at Prospect Park for a respectable second-place finish, was also present and sure to be of consequence. Riders faced 35-laps of this one mile course -- which offered one slight uphill, in addition to a sharp U-turn, and strong wind, due to its proximity to the ocean. After certain riders were called to the line, the starting gun was fired, as the peloton readied for battle. Immediately, Greg Durovich (East End), a brilliant pursuiter on the track, broke the ice with a strong attack on the home-straight of the course. Soon thereafter, Horace Burrows and a Sakonnet rider, chased, and joined forces with Durovich. With no GS Mengoni riders present in this move, Time Trial specialist, Jason Bremer (GS Mengoni), single-handily ended today's original move with 29-laps to-go. Bremer continued to apply the pressure to the strung out filed, until all-arounder, Eugene Boronow, suddenly attacked just before the course's U-turn, followed by Jason Schneider (both-GS Mengoni). Schneider then accelerated out of the turn, with only Lisban Quintero following. With 28-laps to go, Quintero and Schneider quickly worked together, and established a buffer of some 20-seconds. Just behind, the field was being led by teams: CRCA/Sakonnet, the Guyana National team (riding for their leader, Horrace Burrowes), as well as a few riders from the ACT-UPMC teams, in addition to many attacking opportunists. As Quintero and Schneider pressed on, the GS Mengoni team dampened numerous chasing attempts, by refusing to work with them. Nevertheless, the gap from the main pack to the leaders never exceeded 22-seconds, and that fact prompted the leaders to be on-edge throughout the entirety of the 28-mile breakaway. Quintero and Schneider got the bell-lap with a lead of 14-seconds, and it appeared the two riders would stay away. During the today's main breakaway, however, Quintero led through the Start/Finish line, while Schneider led through the technical U-turn. The two escapees exchanged efforts, and cooperated magnificently -- their only option if the move was to succeed. Thus, Schneider led through the U-turn, and pulled another 400 meters, when Quintero took over just 1000 meters from the line. Schneider then jumped Quintero with 400 meters to-go, taking the victory, with Quintero finishing a solid 2nd. Roosevelt "Pollo" Martes won the field sprint, edging out Robert Gianni of CRCA/Sakonett, after a superb lead-out by the teammate of the former, Jason Bremer. Eugene Boronow finished 5th, just ahead of Flaherty and another fine junior rider, Gavriel Epstein (CRCA/Next).

 

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Schneider was pleased with his victory, and very proud of the excellent job his trusty teammates
did in unselfishly blocking. "My teammates were great as usual, and Lisban [Quintero] really
impressed me. He is a strong, respectable rider, with promising days ahead," Schneider affirmed.
"It's a pleasure to be in a breakaway with a guy who is willing to cooperate and, if he can,
accept his deserved share of the work".

Tour de Parc
Cedar Creek Park, Wantagh, New York
Pro, 1-2-3
35-miles

1. Jason Schneider - GS Mengoni
2. Lisbon Quintero - Necsa/Cuevas
3. Roosevelt "Pollo" Marte - GS Mengoni
4. Robert Gianni - CRCA/Sakonnet
5. Eugene Boronow - GS Mengoni
6. Devin Flaherty - ACT-UPMC
7. Gavi Epstein - CRCA/Next
8. Greg Durovich - East End
9. Zoltan Tisza - CRCA/Axis
10. Brian Cooblall - Necsa

Masters category
20-miles

1. Trevor Sears - East End
2. Eugene Boronow - GS Mengoni
3. Karl Rahn - CRCA/Sakonnet
4. Roger Friedman - Visit Britain
5. Glenn Schneider - GS Mengoni
6. Chris Long - Gotham
7. Greg Lee - CRCA
8. Horace Burrowes - Guyana National

Junior Category
20-miles

1. Gavi Epstein - CRCA/Next
2. Barry Miller - USI
3. Filip Capella -

Category 3/4

1. Lisbon Quintero
2. Anthony Lowe
3. Paul Burrows
4. Istvan Beryei
5. Garrett Crooks
6. Zoltan Tisza
7. Steve Hylton
8. Tom Cipolla
9. Raj Seepersaud
10. Daniel Zmolik


Category 4/5
15-miles

1. Jan Mikko - GBSC/Festo/Bialostok Chiropractic
2. Eutemio Quintero - Columbia
3. Roger Friedman - CRCA / Visit Britain


This report was written by:
Jason Schneider / RaceListings.com