Dietrich and Cody Lead USCF Rankings, July 19th

Mike Dietrich leads the USCF Road Race rankings for Category 1 men, while Mike Cody leads the Criterium rankings! Dietrich recently won the Housatonic Road Race in CT, and put in a great ride at Nationals. Two weeks ago, Cody won the points jersey at the Fitchburg/Longsjo Classic, an NRC event in MA.

Fiordifrutta Scores at North Jersey Shore Cycling Classic, Park Ridge, NJ, July 10th

On a brutally hot NJ evening the boys lined up for their favorite crit of all time. Sporting a team of 8, the odds looked good to a shot at a good result and the mega-bucks on the line. A massive step hill awaited the riders every lap that made riders question what they were doing in this race to begin with. Race strategy was simple for this race - sprint up the hill, coast the three remaining sections of the course, and be sure to finish. With the money going 20 deep and an average finishing group less then twenty we knew it was going to be a tough race.

Attacks flew from the gun. Mid race Dietrich and Cody made an initial split and were joined by Whitey and Phil a few laps later. Recollections of the race proved challenging at this point as most racers were cross-eyed and redlined from the massive efforts on the hill. Phil and Dietrich made the winning move as they always do in New Jersey crits, to finish 5th and 7th while Whitey smoked the main group for 9th and Cody cleaned up the rear with 19th place.

Cody Wins Points Jersey at Fitchburg-Longsjo Stage Race, June 30 – July 3

The squad put in another great performance at this NRC race in Fitchburg, MA to propel Mike Cody into the green points jersey by the end of the four day event. The second day’s circuit race stage saw Mike Dietrich spend the whole day in a breakaway with Juan Jose Haedo (Colavita) and Russ Langley (Snow Valley) as their lead got up to two minutes. Dietrich was able to sprint to take the points jersey lead as well as eleventh on the stage. You can see some great photos here of Dietrich, Rozdilsky, and Hamblen.

The road race was Fiordifrutta’s opportunity to defend the green jersey and the team put three men in the early break, with Hamblen and Perera supporting Cody as he sprinted for the points every lap. Cody was able to gain enough points to catapult into the lead with Dietrich just behind in second. Hamblen had a very strong ride after more than 100 miles to finish 6th place at the top of Mt. Wachusett. Dan Timmerman and Phil Wong also got into the top 25.

The final day’s crit was a battle between sprinter Adam Myerson (Nerac.com) and the Fiordifrutta boys. With 10 riders at the front controlling the field, Fiordifrutta was able to lead out Cody and Dietrich for the points, while helping former Fiordifrutta rider Jon Page (Colavita) take the stage win and thus the overall win. Cody and Dietrich took 1st and 3rd in the points competition while the team put three riders in the top 20 on GC with Hamblen in 7th, Timmerman in 16th and Wong in 20th.

In the weeks around Nationals, Fiordifrutta riders combined for three wins in New England!

Dietrich Wins Housatonic Hills Road Race, June 19th

The day before their flight to Utah for Nationals, nine Fiordifrutta riders lined up at one of Connecticut’s hilliest road races. From the starting gun, the attacks went until a small group containing Mike Dietrich and Josh Gewirtz was able to escape for good. Jon Hamblen joined them on his own, and eventually the race came down to Dietrich, Hamblen, and Mike Barton (Boston Scientific). Dietrich and Hamblen dropped Barton on the climb to the finish to make it a Fiordifrutta 1-2. Dan Timmerman led the field in for fourth place, showing that the boys were ready for Nationals!

Cody Wins Casters Ninigret Criterium, June 25th

The day of Jon Hamblen’s wedding saw Mike Dietrich, Johs Huseby, and Mike Cody take on one of Rhode Island’s most popular criteriums. The team was able to make some cash for Hamblen’s wedding gift as Cody outsprinted Alec Donahue (Louis Garneau) for the win, with Huseby in 6th and Dietrich in 10th.

Hamblen Wins Seacoast Criterium, June 28th

Jon Hamblen and Don Mills took on a stellar field in Don’s home town of Exeter, NH on a Tuesday evening before the Fitchburg stage race. This was Hamblen’s first race as a married man, and he wanted to start things off with a win! Hamblen was able to escape with friend Eric Saunders (McGuire-Langdale) but when the group they were in got caught by the field with just six laps to go, Hamblen took matters into his own hands. He threw down a solo attack that took him to an 11 second victory over Eric Murphy (Aerospace Engineering) for an average speed of 29.75 mph.

White 5th at National Criterium Championships, Under 23 Men, June 24

Fiordifrutta sent Matt White and Josh Gewirtz to contest the criterium in Park City, UT which would decide the National Championship for espoir men. White and Gewirtz covered a ton of breakaway attempts on the high altitude course, and White was able to stay with professional riders Tyler Farrar (Health Net) and Sterling Magnell (Monex) in a group that was sprinting for 3rd place. White ended up 5th, but was happy to take a podium spot.

Wong 10th at National Road Race Championships, Elite Men, June 22

An eight man Fiordifrutta squad took the line in Park City for 123 miles of road racing. The plan was that Cody, Peck, and Perera would cover the early moves, and Cody put that plan into action with an attack on the first big descent that put him ahead of the field for much of the day. His group swelled to more than 10 riders, and included danger man Drew Miller (White Mtn Road Club) and former USPRO champ Eddie Gragus (Trek-VW).

The course on the high plains of Utah was flat except for a 15 mile segment on the return to Park City. Fiordifrutta went the front before this hilly section, to bring the break back and prepare the finish for climbers Dietrich, Wong, and Timmerman. Forty-five minutes of work from Rozdilsky, Huseby, and Peck erased the breakaway’s three minute advantage, and brought the field together for the final fifteen miles.

Once together, an attack by Perera saw him alone in front of the field, until he was caught by a small group containing Dietrich. Dietrich would be involved in two escapes in the final 15 miles, but each time the field would catch back on, as the long highway descents did not favor a breakaway. Dietrich’s final effort was brought back with just two kilometers to go, and just then field sprinter Dan Timmerman suffered an untimely flat tire. That left Wong to sprint things out for Fiordifrutta, and he put in a good effort for 10th place.