Fiordifrutta/Wheelworks sent a six-man squad to Souderton, PA to compete in this invitational event. Sparta Cycling does a fantastic job promoting this event with strong community involvement and plenty of media coverage. The race will be seen in a one hour show on the Outdoor Life Network, and had live local radio coverage with tape-delayed local television coverage. The Univest Grand Prix is one of six UCI races on the US calendar, and included invited teams from France, Belgium, Holland, and Canada. The first 60 of the 100 miles was covered at high speeds, with Curt Davis covering the front for Fiordifrutta/Wheelworks.

Once the field hit the finishing circuits in downtown Souderton, Hamblen was able to bridge across to the fifteen rider front group which contained Davis. Not content to have just two men in the move of the day, Mike Dietrich and Chris Peck spent the next few laps tagged onto the back of a 12 man chase group that got to within 50 seconds of the front group. Dietrich was then able to ride across this gap to the front of the race along with Cameron Hughes (Lemond) and former Wheelworks rider Matt Svatek (Sportsbook.com). Hamblen and Dietrich alternated attacks in the final laps but could not contain the on-form Ted Huang (Webcor) who took the solo win. Dietrich sprinted well in the next group back to take 5th place with Hamblen in 15th.

Fiordifrutta/Wheelworks took on their final stage of the season over the labor day weekend in Vermont. The seven mile mass start hillclimb on Friday saw Curt Davis and Don Mills chase down early breakaway attempts on the flat section of the course, while Hamblen, Dietrich, and Peck climbed to 4th, 8th, and 17th places respectively.

Saturday's circuit race saw an escape by four professional riders who were able to hold off a strong chase from Fiordifrutta/Wheelworks. Mark Walters (Navigators), Cameron Hughes (Lemond Fitness), Mark McCormack and Tim Johnson (Saturn) rode to a four minute gap ahead of the giant field sprint for 5th place. Our boys were disappointed, but vowed to make a strong comeback in the next day's road race.

The queen stage of this race saw riders climb over two of the biggest summits in Vermont, Middlebury Gap and Appalachian Gap. The team was extremely aggressive throughout the race and managed to spring Dietrich and Davis loose in a small group in the closing miles of the stage. Davis took strong pulls to help increase the gap to the field, and Dietrich finished on the podium in fifth place as the first amateur. Hamblen climbed well to a 14th place finish on the day.

Sunday's Burlington Criterium didn't see many changes to the overall rankings, with Dietrich and Hamblen finishing up in 6th and 10th places in the general classification.