Dietrich Top Amateur at Green Mountain Stage Race, Aug 29 - Sept 1

Fiordifrutta/Wheelworks took on their final stage of the season over the labor day weekend in Vermont. The seven mile mass start hillclimb on Friday saw Curt Davis and Don Mills chase down early breakaway attempts on the flat section of the course, while Hamblen, Dietrich, and Peck climbed to 4th, 8th, and 17th places respectively.

Saturday's circuit race saw an escape by four professional riders who were able to hold off a strong chase from Fiordifrutta/Wheelworks. Mark Walters (Navigators), Cameron Hughes (Lemond Fitness), Mark McCormack and Tim Johnson (Saturn) rode to a four minute gap ahead of the giant field sprint for 5th place. Our boys were disappointed, but vowed to make a strong comeback in the next day's road race.

The queen stage of this race saw riders climb over two of the biggest summits in Vermont, Middlebury Gap and Appalachian Gap. The team was extremely aggressive throughout the race and managed to spring Dietrich and Davis loose in a small group in the closing miles of the stage. Davis took strong pulls to help increase the gap to the field, and Dietrich finished on the podium in fifth place as the first amateur. Hamblen climbed well to a 14th place finish on the day.

Sunday's Burlington Criterium didn't see many changes to the overall rankings, with Dietrich and Hamblen finishing up in 6th and 10th places in the general classification.