Dietrich Featured on racelistings.com

Up and coming team rider Mike Dietrich is featured on the popular race website racelistings.com. Dietrich is off to a fast start in 2003 as the winner of the Tufts Criterium and Marblehead Circuit Race. These wins were enough to boost his racing license to a Category 1 classification and he looks forward to racing Elite Nationals in Seven Springs, PA in May. You can read the interview by clicking on the riders to watch link at:

http://www.racelistings.com/home.htm

Stiler Cote Finishes Spring Campaign in Europe

Oliver has just returned to the US from a spring trip with the national team where he had a top result in Belgium at the Zellik-Gaalmardin race. He looks forward to a brief rest before racing with Fiordifrutta/Wheelworks at the Tour of CT and Elite Nationals. Below is his race description:

Zellik-Gaalmardin, Sunday April 20th, 170k

Unbelievable, 11 cobbled climbs: 5 times the bossburg, 5 times the congoburg, 1 time the muur de gerradsburgen- all lined with screaming fans. This was a "top competition" race; I guess it’s a series of under 25 UCI 1.5 races. Zesbergenprijs harelbeke earlier this month was one and today is the second race in the Belgian series. The amateur ronde van vlanderen is the 3rd part in two weeks time.

From the start we were racing the WHOLE time. The gas pedal was to the floor from the gun. At one point in the first 15 minutes of the race we blitzed down a long narrow road, I was told later by a teammate we never went below 65k/h for 10mins there...ya..single file, 200 riders, I just wondered who was doing this damage....it was Quick Step again.. after just 30k we hit the bossburg for the first time. A selection was made over the muur and soon after I found myself in a leading group of about 40 riders. I think half of Belgium was crammed along the side of the muur.

A little later I jumped with a group of 15 riders that were going clear and what formed the winning break of the day. We rode well for about 60k and then after a few more times up the bossburg it split again but this time I couldn’t hang on to the front Quick Step lead group- I was destined for the second group. The leading 8 or 9 stayed away for the win and our group (6) got caught by 10-15 others with just 15k to go.

I was just driving the group of six for 60k before, just suffering, so when our group swelled with some new fresh legs I thought it would be over for me, too many maximal efforts. I stayed with them over the congoburg one more time and came in to the finish sprinting in decent position but totally fried from a hard fast race. Still it was the final and it was no time to wimp out on the sprint completely even though I wouldn’t win.

I crossed the line 14th on the day and 7th in our group sprint. I was fairy satisfied because I had given it my all but damn, I wanted top 10 today and I let it slip by when the initial break split over the bossburg. If I could have returned to one time that day, it would have been to give everything to that moment, just channel all my potential into making that group.

You can only do this a couple times a race and at that moment I just thought it would stay together over the top. The fitness of ex-junior world champion jurgen vandenbroucke is amazing, from what I saw he was a well deserving winner, the strongest of our breakaway by far. When the gap opened on the cobbles I hesitated, working hard, but not hard enough. That was it and we could never get back again, although we were close several times. Well, another top 15 and I’m proud of the way I rode, I think it has been my best race this year- most important I saw it all go down today, I feel I am learning a lot each day.

Oliver