Many New England teams used this race as a final tune-up for next weeks Green Mountain Stage Race, and the Fiordifrutta/Wheelworks boys showed that they were in fine form. Curt Davis and Mike Dietrich escaped in the first move of the day and the group reached a maximum lead of two minutes, before being joined by another group that included Don Mills. The now 20-man front group saw lots of aggressive attacking and Kevin Bouchard-Hall (Hawley) escaped for the win. Dietrich sprinted to a strong third place with Davis in 8th.

A small but powerful Fiordifrutta/Wheelworks squad took on this Albany, New York area road race and came away with the top two places on the podium. Curt Davis and Chris Peck escaped in the first few miles of this 72-mile event with a seven breakaway, which worked well together to establish a two minute gap. With Mike Dietrich and Johs Huseby keeping an eye on the field and discouraging the chase, the breakaway was never in danger of being caught despite a strong effort by six members of the CRCA/Breitling team.

Davis drove the break, which thanks to the heat, hills, and high pace, eventually dwindled down to four riders by 20 miles to go. When Davis attacked on one of the climbs, Peck was able to leave behind Alec Donahue (NCC) and Ian Beilby (Louis Garneau) to jump across to Davis. The two teammates and training partners were then able to hold off Donahue by 2 minutes and the rest of the field by over five minutes to take first and second for the day!

The 22nd annual Concord Criterium in New Hampshire saw a fierce battle of the sprinters teams, with a near upset by the Fiordifrutta/Wheelworks team, which is not known for its flatland sprinting ability. Our team sent riders off the front all day, with Curt Davis, Josh Gewirtz and Jon Hamblen being particularly active. Chris Peck jumped away with four other riders with just 4 laps to go, but the small group was not able to stay away from a rapid chase led by Mark McCormack (Saturn). Hamblen caught onto the back of Peck’s group with just half a lap to go, and Peck was able to lead him out to a fifth place finish, just behind winner Nat Faulkner (Trek/VW).

Hamblen Wins Bow Road Race, August 10th

The Fiordifrutta/Wheelworks boys were on their home turf for Sunday’s hilly road race, with Peck escaping in the first kilometer of the race with five other riders. This group stayed away for the first half of the 70 mile race, before being joined by a small group containing both Mike Dietrich and Jon Hamblen. Dietrich was then able to get away with 3 other riders, and Hamblen put on an amazing display of power to ride across a two minute gap to the leaders, and then drop them to finish solo for the win! Dietrich ended up in third with Peck in 8th on this humid New Hampshire summer day. This makes the third win for Hamblen in the last four weeks!

Tour of the Hilltowns, July 27

A powerful Fiordifrutta/Wheelworks team dominated last Sunday’s Tour of the Hilltowns road race in western Massachusetts. Don Mills escaped with a small group before the steep 4-mile climb, which came at the midway point of the race. Once the field hit the climb, Hamblen was quick to bridge across to the front group, but when he arrived, Canadian rider Martin St-Laurant (Trek/VW) had already flown to a 1-minute gap.

Hamblen’s group was caught by the rest of the field which numbered only 25 riders, including teammates Mike Dietrich, Josh Gewirtz, and Chris Peck. Mills and Peck took up the chase of any escaping riders, knowing that Dietrich, Gewirtz, and Hamblen would focus on the finish. Hamblen put in brutal attack on the final roller of the day with just 1 mile to go, and held a slim 20-yard gap all the way to the finish. Dietrich won the sprint for 2nd, with Peck and Gewirtz just behind in 5th and 6th respectively.