Mike Dietrich and the whole squad finished off the Tour of Ohio strongly with a spot on the podium. Going into the last few days of the 8-day event, Fiordifrutta/Wheelworks had two stage wins with Dietrich and Josh Gewirtz each taking a win. The race for the general classification was very tight as the top places were just separated by time bonuses from the mostly field sprint finishes.

Saturday’s final stage was a criterium that included 10 laps of a hilly circuit after the 20 opening laps of a flat course. The hill on the course guaranteed that only the strongest riders would make it to the top of the overall classification. Davis, Mills, Rozdilski, and Huseby controlled the early part of the race and brought Dietrich, Peck, and Gewirtz into the hill at the front of the race. These three proceeded to blow the race apart on the climbs, with Dietrich escaping with Brian Sheedy (West Virginia) to battle it out for the win. Dietrich ended up in second on the day, but many of the top GC competitors were dropped from the small second group, and Dietrich jumped to 3rd in the overall standings. Peck led out Gewirtz for 5th place in the criterium, and 12th place in the overall.

You can see some great pictures from the week on cyclingnews.com:

Josh Gewirtz
The Train
Another leadout

Johs Huseby, Mike Dietrich, Josh Gewirtz, and Chris Peck traveled to Auburn Maine for a weekend of racing, in preparation for their upcoming trip to the Tour of Ohio later in the week. Saturday’s Sun Journal Lake Auburn Road Race was extremely hilly and Josh and Johs covered many early breakaway attempts. On the last of the four laps, Peck and Dietrich sprung loose a group of 12 riders that battled it out the finish. Peck escaped with Rob Hult (ProCycles-Giant) and the two former cyclocross team mates held on to a slim lead for much of the last lap, with Dietrich and Hult’s brother Peter saving energy since they did not have to chase. Peck and Hult were caught with two miles to go, and Dietrich and Peck took turns covering moves in the final downhill dash to the sprint where Peck took 2nd with Dietrich in 10th.

Sunday’s Country Kitchen Great Falls Criterium saw a field that was reluctant to let any groups escape on the relatively flat course. Huseby and Peck worked hard late in the race to bring back a small group that was dangling off the front, and Gewirtz sprinted to a 9th place finish.

Tour of Ohio: Two Stage Wins so Far, June 13-21

A seven-man squad including Dietrich, Gewirtz, Huseby, Mills, Davis, Peck and guest rider Chris Rozdilski is currently in control at the Tour of Ohio. Friday’s first stage was a road race that started in the small town of Wilkesville. A mid-race attack by Mills and Rozdilski put them a minute up on the peleton. But with a final climb just 10k from the finish, the team looked to get strong man Dietrich up to the leaders. Davis and Peck rode an extremely strong tempo up most of the climb, allowing Dietrich to attack over the top and jump across to the front group. Dietrich held on to win the group sprint and the leader’s jersey, and the team orchestrated a great leadout train for Gewirtz who took second in the field.

Saturday’s criterium was a flat 1k course with four corners, making it difficult for any groups to get away. Fiordifrutta/Wheelworks controlled the tempo for much of the race, but the field sprint was won by former Redland’s street sprint winner Marco Aledia (Team Columbus), who took over the leader’s jersey thanks to time bonuses.

Sunday was another criterium on a flat course, and pouring rain and man hole covers made for a slippery race. Thanks to their sticky Michelin tires (and a front row start), Dietrich, Gewirtz, and Mills finished in the main field. But they could not prevent three riders from escaping mid-race and putting 40 seconds on the field. Dietrich sprinted in for ninth and maintained his top 5 GC position. After the race, one of the team’s new sponsors Alan Romick of www.headsweats.com showed great hospitality by having the team over for a fantastic dinner at his nearby home. Clothes were washed, bikes were washed, and bellies filled – thanks Alan! Headsweats makes innovative headgear using premium wicking material that keep us warm and dry.

The team was happy on Monday to get back to one its strengths, road racing. The course was in Hocking Hills, the site of the Elite National Road Race Championships in the late 90’s. The 100k course included a couple of tough climbs toward the end, and the team set up another great leadout train up the climb to springboard Dietrich and Brian Sheedy (West Virginia) away from the field. They were joined by a Saturn Development team rider and a couple of others, but were caught with just 500 meters to go. Davis put together a perfect leadout for Gewirtz, who won the uphill sprint to the line. This was the third year in a row that the team has won this stage.

There are two more criteriums and three road races, and the team looks to move either Gewirtz or Dietrich into the top spot on GC.

The team pulled together for an excellent race at this Massachusetts circuit race, initiating several breaks and putting the fearsome Fiordifrutta/Wheelworks leadout train to use. After a mid-race prime, Mike Dietrich jumped away with Skip Foley (Trek/VW) and the duo powered ahead of the field for the next 6 laps of the flat 1.6 mile circuit. But the field was not content to let this small group stay away, and when the group came together, Peck escaped with 6 riders. Once again the peleton was gunning for a field sprint, and Peck’s group was brought back after only 2 laps.

Now with just three laps to go, the team was forced to bring back a small group that had a solid 200 meter lead over the field, and strong pulls from Mills, Dietrich, and Peck brought this group back quickly. In hindsight, the team should have left the small group out in front longer, while giving sprinters Gewirtz, Anthony, and Huseby an armchair ride to the finish. But with the field all together with just 1.5 laps to go, and Mills, Peck, and Dietrich tired from the effort, the team’s sprinters were left to fend for themselves. Huseby sprinted to a strong 7th place finish and the team gained valuable experience for future leadouts!

Mills Leads USCF Rankings

Thanks to excellent results from 2002 and top results this spring, Don Mills leads the recently released USCF road race rankings for Category 1 Men. Peck is not far behind in 4th out of the 139 Category 1 men who are listed. Although the UCSF ranking points system is difficult to understand, the team looks to hold this top position for the rest of the season. You can view the full rankings at: www.usacycling.org by clicking on riders and then check rankings.

USCF MEN'S ROAD RACE CAT1 RANKINGS
JUNE 03, 2003
Rank Points Name License Class Hometown
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1 223.333 Don Mills 48432 Master EXETER,NH
2 238.333 Kurt Hackler 60839 Senior BOLTON,MA
3 256.333 William Letendre 20980 Master NORWICH,VT
4 268.000 Christopher Peck 50748 Master SOUTHBURY,CT
5 270.000 Patrick Sullivan 63501 Senior BOULDER,CO
6 278.333 Robert Nordmeyer 53896 Master BRENTWOOD,TN
7 280.000 Travis Hutchinson 71038 Senior SIGNAL MOUNTAIN,TN
8 282.333 Joseph Coddington 48363 Master ASHEVILLE,NC
9 290.667 Alec Donahue 129914 Senior NORTHAMPTON,MA
10 298.000 Jason Waddell 110309 Senior NORMAN,OK
11 299.333 Christian Foster 164559 Senior NASHVILLE,TN
12 305.333 Scott Plante 28263 Senior MANCHESTER,NH
13 307.333 Zachary Lytle 60167 Senior AUSTIN,TX
14 315.333 Jason Baer 71022 Senior BURLINGTON,VT
15 316.000 K Frank Pipp 164362 Senior VERONA,WI
16 323.667 Kenny Baker 2333 Master KNOXVILLE,TN
17 324.333 Eric Murphy 127087 Senior APOPKA,FL
18 330.667 A Brandon Cowart 7964 Senior KINGWOOD,TX
19 333.667 Chandler Weekes 37538 Master GREENVILLE,SC
20 340.000 Steven Cate 6467 Senior NORMAN,OK