December 26, 2006 - Cyclocross Season Review

Fiordifrutta 2006 Cyclocross Season Review

The Fiordifrutta team is one of the few squads that puts in a full cyclocross season after the road racing finishes up for the year, and 2006 was our best cross year to date. The team posted 15 wins (5 in UCI races) and 33 top-3 finishes which gave our sponsors a tremendous amount of exposure.

Matt White and Jamey Driscoll were our superstars with Driscoll winning the collegiate national championships, the Crank Brothers US Grand Prix Series for under 23’s, and taking 4th spot at the under 23 National Championships. Matt White showed tremendous improvement from 2005, winning 3 UCI races and finishing as the top amateur in 8th place at the elite National Championships. White and Cody finished 3rd and 9th in the National Calendar Series for cross racing, and were the only two amateur riders in the top 10.

Michael Cody and Dan Timmerman also scored UCI wins, new team member Cory Burns took the NY state title, Josh Dillon overcame some early season endo problems to score some wins, and even the old guard of Johs Huseby, Chris Peck, and Curt Davis managed to use their wobbly knees to scale the podium steps a half dozen times between them.

Highlights from the fall months are below along with a complete list of results.

August/September
The cross season started early this year for Matt White and Michael Cody as they rolled down to the NJ State Fair on August 11th for a 1st and 3rd place under the lights at the evening event. White would wait another month until September 10th for his next cross race, which was also a win in Northfield, MA. The first UCI races of the year were in Vermont in late September and Dan Timmerman, who had suffered through sickness for the end of the road season, put it all behind him to finish 2nd the 1st day. The second day’s race saw Fiordifrutta riders gobble up UCI points for 5th (White), 6th (Driscoll), and 7th (Timmerman) places.

October
The month of October started right away with two wins on the 1st of the month, as Peck and Cody teamed up to win the Pittsfield, MA race while Timmerman won a local event in Ithaca, NY. Timmerman would score a win just two weeks later in the second race of the NY state series in Syracuse, and Cody took the squad’s first UCI win of the year in Ohio on October 15th at the Bio Wheels Cross.

The New England Verge Series also started up in October and Matt White posted strong results in the first two races in Maine with a 3rd and 4th, and the points helped began his quest to take the series leader jersey. Dillon and Peck also cleaned up in the local races with Dillon taking a win and a 2nd at Catamount in VT, and Peck just missing out with three second place results in Southington, Ashford, and Manfield, CT.

Jamey Driscoll took 1st and 2nd for the under-23 men in the first Crank Bothers US Grand Prix series races of the year in Gloucester, MA, and committed to traveling to Colorado and Portland in November to try to retain the series leader’s jersey.

November
November began with two UCI races in New England that were part of the Verge series. Farmington, CT saw White and Cody take 3rd and 5th. White put in a spectacular solo win the next day in Northampton, MA and Johs Huseby sprinted around Mark McCormack for 3rd place! The win put White in the series leader’s jersey. Dan Timmerman also gained some UCI points from placing 2nd in Canada’s only UCI race in Aurora, Ontario on November 5th.

This was the second year that Cody and White traveled to North Carolina for some UCI cross races, and once again the duo won both races down south with Cody winning on Saturday and White on Sunday. White also won another UCI race at NJ’s Highland Park with Driscoll putting in a fine ride for 3rd.

With four more strong results in Colorado, Oregan, and Washington, Driscoll won the US Grand Prix of Cyclocross which ranks him as the top under-23 rider in the country and he garnered an automatic invitation to represent the US at the World Championships.

Dan Timmerman and new Fiordifrutta rider Cory Burns capped off November with a 1-2 finish at the NY State Cyclocross Championships with Burns taking the win.

December
The week before nationals saw Matt White wrap up second place to Mark McCormack in the Verge New England Cyclocross Series after a season long battle that was not decided until the final yards of the last race of the series in Rhode Island.

At Nationals, Fiordifrutta delivered with Driscoll taking the collegiate jersey along with 4th place in the under 23 race. Cody and White both had great starts in the elite race, with White going on to 8th place. In the old guy’s races Davis and Peck struggled through for 5th and 10th place in the 35-39 race.

2006 Cyclocross Results

1st Crank Brothers US GP of Cyclocross, Overall, Under 23
1st Collegiate National Cyclocross Championships, RI
1st, 3rd Cycle-Smart International Cyclocross, UCI, MA
1st Bio Wheels/United Dairy Farmers Cyclocross, UCI, OH
1st, 3rd Highland Park Cyclocross, UCI, NJ
1st North Carolina Grand Prix #1, UCI, NC
1st North Carolina Grand Prix #2, UCI, NC
1st Grand Prix of Gloucester #2, Under-23, USGP, MA
1st NJ State Fair Cyclocross, NJ
1st Northfield Cyclocross, MA
1st, 2nd BCA Cyclocross, MA
1st, 2nd NY State Cyclcross Championships, NY
1st Swandrome Cyclocross, NY
1st Syracuse Grand Prix, NY
1st Catamount Cyclocross Day 1, VT

2nd Aurora Cyclocross, UCI, Canada
2nd Thread City Cyclocross, CT
2nd Southington Cyclocross, CT
2nd Hardwick Vineyard Cyclocross, CT
2nd Catamount Cyclocross Day 2, VT
2nd Vermont Grand Prix of Cyclocross, Day1, VT
2nd Grand Prix of Gloucester #1, Under 23, USGP, MA
2nd Xilynx Cup, Under 23, USGP, CO
2nd Scion Stumptown Cup, Under 23, USGP, OR
2nd Java Johnny’s Cyclocross, OH

3rd, 6th Downeast Cyclocross Day 1, UCI, ME
3rd, 5th Canton Cup Cyclocross, MA
3rd, 5th Chainbiter Cyclocross, UCI, CT
3rd Lower Akken Cyclocross, UCI, PA

4th US National Cyclocross Championships, Under 23, RI
4th Downeast Cyclocross Day 2, UCI, ME
4th Boulder Cup, Under 23, USGP, CO

5th Rad Cup, Under 23, USGP, WA
5th US National Cyclocross Championships, 35-39 Men, RI
5th, 6th, 7th Vermont Grand Prix of Cyclocross Day2, UCI, VT
6th Wissahickon Cyclocross, UCI, DE
7th Whitmore Landscaping Super Cross #1, UCI, NY
8th US National Cyclocross Championships, Elite, RI