July 10, 2008 - Tour of PA Full Report

Phil Gaimon wrote the following report which included a big win for the squad.

U25 Tour of Pennsylvania, June 24-29

Fiordifrutta assembled a young, but strong and well-rounded team for the U25 Tour of Pennsylvania: Eric Schildge, Toby Marzot, Josh Lipka, Jamey Driscoll, Hayden Brooks, and myself. Along for support were Curt Davis, John Gable, and Cassie AKA Marcy Brooks. We didn't know what to expect with a new race and a foreign field, and were somewhat disheartened at our performance in the short opening time trial. Our best-placed rider was Josh Lipka, whose fast time-only seconds off the leaders-just cracked the top 25.

Later that day, the crit gave us some hints of success. I found my legs in an ill-fated late breakaway attempt, and Eric managed 7th place in the hectic field sprint. Stage 2 was a day for Toby from the beginning. It began with call-up to the start line for his 21st birthday, and a creepy rendition of "happy birthday" over the speakers that seemed like it would never end. Our goal for the day was to define our goals for the week: we would go for sprints, KOMs, GC, and stage results, and see what looked promising.

The first intermediate sprint and KOM didn't work out, but we decided not to give up on the sprints. It was the right call, as a leadout from myself and Hayden put Eric where he wanted to be, and he held off Daniel Holloway (VMG/Felt) to win it. The break of the day went just after this sprint, so while Hayden and I pulled the parachute and shot backwards through the field, birthday boy Toby went the other way, and stuck it for 11th on the stage. I initiated a chased group that finished 1:05 on the leaders, but kept me somewhat in GC contention.

Stage 3 was the first hilly day and the longest stage, with two KOMs spread over the 103 miles. With the finish near the Cannondale factory in Bedford, PA, this had been a goal for months, and the team did not disappoint. Heading for the first KOM, a break got away and gained some time. Worried about the threatening move, Hayden organized a chase. Like true pros, he, Eric, and Josh spent about 30 minutes on the front, and brought the group back just before the climb.

After all that teamwork, the pressure was on to back it up. I attacked on the first KOM, still hoping for a jersey, but Peter Stetina (VMG/Felt) took that away, bridging up, dropping me, and riding solo over both KOMs. I made the small front group of 7, but the leaders chose to wait for their teammates, so the group grew to about 40 riders. Toby, Jamey, and I worked together to stay protected while the other teams organized the chase.

Heading into Bedford, it was clear that Stetina would come back, so the three of us moved up together for the field sprint. The catch was made inside the last kilometer, and as the chasing riders sat up, the sprinters had to fight their way through to the line. It was hectic and disorganized, but I have a clear memory of Jamey bursting past me into a gap on the right just before Sheldon Deeny came by on the left. The next thing I heard was the announcer shouting "Fiordifrutta!" as Jamey nailed it for a huge win!

We couldn't have asked for a setting for the one of the team's biggest results to date. While Jamey was at the press conference and on the podium, the rest of us heard about how great Cannondale was from random people walking by on the sidewalk. Curt and Cannondale rewarded us with a factory tour, dinner, and hotel accommodations for the night, which saved us a ton of driving.

Stage 4 was the shortest road race, but had the hardest climb of the week a mere 20 miles from the start. I crested Bald Knob in a select group of 13.
As rainy conditions worsened, VMG and ZTeam set a fast pace, and the Cycling Center Team proved unable to bring us back and keep their hold on the yellow jersey.

Knowing that there were still a couple strong sprinters in the group, I focused on staying upright and saving energy. My time came with 2k to go, when a non-GC rider attacked alone and the group didn't react. I jumped a few seconds later, and timed perfectly, catching him with 150 meters to go.
I thought I had the win sewn up, but the leadouts brought me back just before the line, and I ended up a disappointing 5th.

Stage 5 was a brutal course, with no major climbs, but tons of punchy hills, and no place to recover from the pace or the heat. I had good legs, and bridged to an early break that stayed clear over the climb, but was too disorganized to continue. The course was different from previous days, with lots of turns and technical sections, one if which led to near disaster for me. My front wheel hit a large rock on a descent, causing me a sudden and unwelcome trip over the bars. SRAM was there with a wheel, and Curt chased me back on in the team car.

When I got back to the field, I was hurting and bleeding pretty bad. Hayden and Jamey kept the bottles coming, and I started to feel better. With 40k to go, we hit some harder climbs and the attacks begin. Eric was climbing well, and we worked together to keep ahead of the splits. As we neared the finishing circuits, there were will three leaders over a minute up the road. I saw opportunity and bridged to a small chase group, and we quickly made up time. With just over a lap to go on the technical, 5k finishing circuits, we had caught the leaders, but the field was only 20 seconds back, and half the breakaway refused to work. I saw an opening, and went on the attack. With 1 lap to go, I was solo and going for win.

The chase resumed on the last lap, and the rest of the breakaway was absorbed when two KBS riders slipped off the front of the field. They got their gap and held it, motivated to take the lead in the GC. They came by me with 500 meters to go, but I was able to hold off the field for 3rd, moving me up to 13th in the GC, and Eric rode a strong field sprint for another 7th place.

Stage 6 was a crit in downtown Pittsburg. Heavy rain started early, and most of us went down in the giant pileup 10 laps in. A tornado warning led officials to briefly neutralize and restart the race. We were motivated to get one more result for Eric, but not so motivated to risk our necks when the GC was finalized and the payout cancelled for the crit. Optimistic about his chances in a rainy crit, Jamey briefly gave it a go, but decided that one stage win was enough (remember that time he won a UCI race in Bedford?).

We were happy with our great racing for the week, and made the right call to favor safety over more TV time. All the riders would like to once again thank John, Cassie, and Curt for their hard work this week, in addition to our great sponsors. We wouldn't have been there without you, and we're glad we got some results with your help.