May 23, 2007 - Collegiate Nats Win

The men’s collegiate national championships turned out to be quite an event as Toby Marzot and Todd Nordblom took a Fiordifrutta 1-2 finish in the road race. Marzot writes the below race report and you can see a great photo of the sprint finish on cyclingnews.com

Marzot and Nordblom Take 1-2 at Collegiate National Road Race Championships, May 12th

Coming into this year's collegiate nationals, I was downright nervous. The race had been a goal for me all season, and I really wanted to win. However the week before the event I came down with a nasty stomach bug, so my morale going into it wasn't all that high.

Luckily traveling with the well organized Dartmouth team was very easy, and we arrived a few days before the race. This gave me time to recover, and I started feeling better as the big day approached. Pre-riding the course threw me another curveball, though. Because of flooding on some parts of the course, the organizers rerouted the race through a 1.5 mile section of dirt. Cool, I thought- cyclocross.

On race day I was psyched to see Fiordifrutta teammate Todd Nordblom on the start line, since I had not raced with him all season. We got ample time to chat- the start of the 3 lap, 84 mile race was less than aggressive. The excitement came after one lap through the dirt section, where the field split a bit due to lots of flats and crashes. After that the field slowed again, but I knew I would need a lot of luck to make it through the dirt the next two times.

Racing really started at the end of the second lap, when my Dartmouth teammate Eric Schildge put in a strong attack. Nordblom responded and I followed him. We worked together to establish a group of 7 or 8, with Nordlbom riding really strongly and doing more than his share of pulling. Eventually the group ballooned to about 15, and this was the winning move.

Nearing the end of the last lap, there were a couple of serious attacks from Peter Horn (Vassar). These were neutralized, however, and coming into the final uphill a Notre Dame rider led it out for his teammate. On the steepest portion of the 500 meter climb that led into the finish a rider from Western Washington University (I think) attacked hard. Nordblom, a Whitman rider, and I responded. The WWU rider gave it a little too much gas coming into the last corner that led into a flat 200 meters before the finish line, and somehow he managed to ride straight off the road. From there we all opened up the sprint, but then hesitated. Luckily we realized the rest of the break was closing in, and started sprinting again. I put my head down and just barely came around Nordblom and the Whitman rider.

It was an awesome feeling for me to win, and a great day for both the Dartmouth team as well as FdF (taking 1-2 is pretty cool).

Marzot 4th at Lake Sunapee Road Race, May19th

The weather for Sunapee was fitting for a New England "classic," with temperatures in the mid 40s, and a steady light rain. Because of this it seemed like there were less people on the start line than there were on the pre-reg list. Fiordifrutta managed to show up with a really strong team though- Josh Dillon, Jamey Driscoll, Josh Lipka, Todd Nordblom, and I all bundled up and headed out in the rain. As the most experienced tactician, Dillon's pre-race plan was to have the team cover moves in the early laps, and then set me up for the last lap break or sprint. This was a new role for me and I was nervous but also honored to be in a position to try and go for the win.

We did an awesome job of covering moves in the opening lap. One big move of about 20 somehow managed to get away from us though, but luckily Nordblom was attentive and got himself up there. However, the odds of one against 19 or so didn't look good, so Dillon decided to organize a chase. He, Lipka, and Driscoll all rotated on the front tirelessly and selflessly for the better part of the second lap, while I sat and felt lazy. When we came to one of the bigger hills on the course, an attack went and Dillon told me to follow. I did, and when the attacker slowed down I decided to keep going. Thom Coupe of Boston Scientific came across to me and we started working together. Luckily he was riding strongly, and, after a chase that seemed to take forever, we caught the front group.

My bridge couldn't have been more poorly timed though. We got on just before one of the big rollers on the course, and Ted King (Priority Health) launched the winning attack. At this point I wasn't nearly recovered from the bridge and was just able to hang on as the group tried to respond. Nordblom did a super huge piece on the front to try to bring it back, but there was just too much horsepower up the road.

For the rest of the last lap, I tried to ride conservatively and save it for the uphill finish. In the end I lacked the kick to take the group sprint, but still managed second (There were two guys up the road, so I was 4th on the day). Most importantly though I was really grateful to the team: they were phenomenal, sacrificing themselves to make the best out of a less than ideal situation.