November 25, 2005 - 2 UCI Wins

Jon Hamblen and Mike Cody each won a UCI race in North Carolina last weekend and you can read coverage on Velonews.com and Saturday and Sunday details on cyclingnews.com. There are also photos of Cody on the podium, Hamblen winning, and Hamblen leading the field on cyclingnews.

Hamblen Wins UCI North Carolina GP #1, November 19

Mike Cody, Dan Timmerman, and Jon Hamblen attended the NC Gran Prix weekend, the first time UCI cyclocross races had ever been organized in the South East. With the two final USGP races falling on the same days, cross racing notables were not present. However, the field consisted of a strong group of riders with fairly equal ability and strength and all hungry for UCI points. Cody and Hamblen lined up on the front row but Timmerman, who had yet to race a UCI cyclocross event and lacked any points, was forced to start at the back of the fifty man group. From the gun Hamblen lit up the race and had the field singled out for the first lap and a half. A group of eight riders formed at the front including Hamblen, Cody, Bart Gillespie (Biogen Idec), Jed Schneider (Alan Factory), Tristan Schouten (Trek/VW), Brent Bookwalter (Easton/Kona), Charlie Storm (Inland Construction), and Jason Tullous (Voodoo). Meanwhile, Dan had to fight his way through the entire field (while riding a cyclocross bike for the first time) and was making good progress towards the front of the race.

Hamblen and Cody took turns half-heartedly attacking the front group, which seemed content to ride together and stay out of the stiff headwind blowing down the backstretch. Each time they threw in an effort someone would respond and bring them back within a lap. The efforts began to take their toll with two laps to go and Mike and Jon realized that one hard effort might shed the group for good. Coming out of the woods and into the headwind, Hamblen threw down a hard acceleration to take the pavement section alone with a small gap. Cody went to the front to try and slow things down while Gillespie and Tullous chased. Jon put his head down and dropped his chain into the 12 cog, grinding out a slow cadence but increasing his lead.

With half a lap to go and the gap increasing, the chase riders began ease up, look at each other, and think about second place. Hamblen was on his way to his first UCI cyclocross win! While the guys were pondering their sprint strategies, Cody threw down into the headwind and got a small gap. Not willing to fall for the same move twice the chasers quickly organized and reeled him in with just a few turns to go before the finish. The effort blew Cody for the sprint and he was passed by two riders on the final stretch.

However, the team had won the day and put on a fantastic show with Hamblen first, Cody fourth, and Timmerman clawing his way up to tenth place on Hamblen's tiny spare bike.

Cody Wins UCI North Carolina Grand Prix #2, Hendersonville, November 20

Day two of the North Carolina GP series brought similar conditions to the previous day, with warm temps (well, warm to New England, but frigid to locals), and a similar course lay out. The end result was the same with Fiordifrutta taking home a win, but it was Michael Cody and not Jon Hamblen taking the win over a strong field in the last lap.

A two faced a course with a technical hill side section that dropped away to a flat grass criterium-esque section provided physical challenges all day, but would not prove selective enough to break up the front group. A long line of racers, almost 20 deep, wound around the course in single file for the first three laps of the race with Cody and Hamblen covering and countering attacks all day. Eventually the front group whittled down to 10 strong riders in the closing laps.

While Hamblen attacked repeatedly on the last two laps to keep the field strung out, Cody waited patiently for the final section of the course to make his move. The open course closed down after a set of double barriers that headed into the woods, up a steep dirt climb before popping out in the grass to ride a technical off camber and super steep short hill. Then there was a tight right turn leading to a 180 degree turn onto the finish straight. On the last lap Cody would exit the woods in second and follow a strong Charlie Storm onto the ride up. As riders made the slow turn and sprinted to the ride up, Cody made his move and squeezed himself between Storm and Brent Bookwalter over the top and opened up the throttle to take the win.