July 7, 2007 - Fitchburg

The Fitchburg/Longsjo Stage Race consisted of two separate events for the Fiordifrutta squad this year. The team lined up seven men for the Pro/1 race, with four riders contesting the category 2 race. Based on the final placings, the cat 2 boys were more successful, but read below for a complete update.

Dillon 9th Overall at Fitchburg Stage Race, June 28-July 1

The first stage this year was on a new time trial course, that rolled up gradual hills for 10 kilometers. Fiordifrutta had time trial ace Cory Burns slot in for 8th spot, closely followed by Matt White in 9th. The next stage saw many dangerous attacks with plenty of Fiordifrutta representation at the front, but the race still ended in a field sprint with not much effect on the overall classification.

Saturday’s road race saw Fiordifrutta put five riders on the front of the race to bring back the gap of a powerful breakaway attempt. For 20 miles, the entire squad, except for GC men Dillon and White, led the field to reduce the gap from 6 minutes to 2 minutes. Then with just 15 miles to go, White and Dillon joined a group that attempted to bridge the remaining distance to the front group. White in particular put in extra effort just to try to get Dillon as close to the leaders as possible before the final climb up Mt. Wachusett. The groups did come together on the climb, with Dillon in 11th and White in16th for the day.

The criterium on Sunday was a fast paced affair with small groups not capable of escaping the field on the flat course. The field sprint was gamble in terms of which side of the road ended up being the fastest, and Dillon drew a losing hand but still sprinted to 13th place with White just behind in 16th. For the 4 days, Dillon had to be content with 9th, and White ended up 13th.

Marzot and Nordblom Take 3rd and 4th Overall at Fitchburg

Todd Nordblom and Will Riffelmacher were the top performers in the time trial with 5th and 6th place finishes respectively, which set up the squad with many tactical options in the days to come. Friday’s stage 2 circuit race ended up in field sprint with Josh Lipka leading out Toby Marzot for 4th. But the leadout did not tire out Lipka, as he managed to beat Marzot for 3rd!

The hardest stage of the race is definitely the stage 3 road race that finishes at the top of Mt Wachusett. The squad’s protected rider was Marzot, who out-climbed the rest of the field to win to the stage, with Nordblom just a few seconds behind in 5th place.

The final stage criterium was a screamer where Lipka drove a 4 man break that stayed away to the finish by 8 seconds. Lipka was narrowly out-sprinted for the win, and just behind the break Nordblom showed his field sprinting prowess by taking 8th on the day. In the overall classification, Fiordifrutta riders were quite impressive with Marzot 3rd, Nordblom 4th, Riffelmacher 7th, and Lipka 16th.