In the weeks around Nationals, Fiordifrutta riders have been busy climbing onto the podium at events across the east coast.

White Wins Points Jersey and Best Young Rider at Mt Holly Grand Prix, July 22

As a warm-up to the Tour de Toona stage race that started 2 days later, Fiordifrutta lined up a full squad for this invitational race in New Jersey. With a strong group of professional riders taking the line, Matt White was excited to make the breakaway group of 11 riders, and then make the front group again when it split under pressure from Davide Frattini (Colavita). White took enough points every lap to win the points competition and he hung on for 5th place which made him the best young rider. You can see a full write-up on cyclingnews.com with a couple of great photos.

Rifflemacher Wins Owasco Stage Race, NY, July 14-15

I hit the road for a good weekend of racing- time trial Nationals on Friday night and then the Owasco stage race Saturday and Sunday. After packing up as quickly as I could from Nationals, I started the long drive up to Auburn, NY and looked forward to my second time trial in less than 24 hours. After a little sleep and lots of coffee, I managed to win the opening time trial and take the leader's jersey.

The criterium Saturday night was a little frustrating, as I tried to cover every intermediate sprint for bonus seconds. I ended up losing the jersey by three seconds based on the bonuses and was motivated to re-take the lead in the final road race on Sunday.

The race on Sunday began in amazingly heavy rain. At times the rain was so heavy that all I could see was the rear wheel of the rider in front of me. After about an hour and a half of racing, the weather cleared, the sun came out and the wind kicked up. I tried to force the pace on the hills to force a selection, but nothing would stick.

Finally I managed to get away after the second feed zone with two other riders and we worked well together to establish the break. In the end, we opened up a good enough gap for me to re-claim the overall lead and I finished third on the stage. All in all, it was a great, if exhausting, long weekend of racing.

Huseby Wins Faulkner Honda Criterium, PA, July 8th

Johs Huseby and Chris Peck hit this local Pennsylvania criterium on their way to West Virginia for the Cannondale sales meeting. With a 5 am departure from CT to make the 10 am start, they were a little sleepy on the line. But the tight course with 8 turns in less than a mile, quickly woke them up and the pair alternated attacks.

But the single file line of riders was rarely split up, and the race came down to a field sprint, as a solo rider was brought back with 1 lap to go. Peck led the entire last lap, with quick sprints on each straightaway section so that he could lead into the corners. Huseby came around him at 200 meters to go, to take the victory!

Fantastic rides at road nationals have bumped Fiordifrutta to the top ranked amatuer team in the NRC rankings, just behind 12 professional teams. Check out the below updates.

Nordblom 3rd at U23 National Road Race Championships, July 12

Todd Nordblom, collegiate national champ Toby Marzot, Josh Lipka, and Jamie Driscoll teamed up for a powerful display in the U23 road race. Nordblom escaped in a 10 man group on the final lap, and climbed his way to a 3rd place finish. See cyclingnews.com

White and Dillon Take 5th and 7th at Elite National Road Race Championships, July 16

With 6 man toeing the line for Fiordfrutta, the squad knew it could afford to save Matt White and Josh Dillon for the final 45k loop of the 140k race. Johs Huseby and Cory Burns were active early in the race, with Chris Rozdilsky escaping on the 2nd lap with a group of 4. Roz and one other rider dropped the rest of the group, and were not caught until the final 20k.

Chris Peck had been covering attacks, and White and Dillon were fresh for the final action. They both made the final selection of 15 riders, but could not hold off former national champ Paul Martin from winning the race on the final uphill stretch. White lost just 30 seconds to take 5th, with Dillon in 7th. Peck and Roz struggled home in 18th and 31st respectively. See cyclingnews.com

Four in the top 20 at Elite National Time Trial Championships, July 13th

Once again the boys in red put in great rides to finish the TT towards the top of the list. In fact, the top six riders were separated by just 10 seconds, with White in 5th and Dillon in 6th. Cory Burns also rode well to finish 8th, with NYC resident Will Riffelmacher taking 15th for Fiordifrutta. See cyclingnews.com

The Fitchburg/Longsjo Stage Race consisted of two separate events for the Fiordifrutta squad this year. The team lined up seven men for the Pro/1 race, with four riders contesting the category 2 race. Based on the final placings, the cat 2 boys were more successful, but read below for a complete update.

Dillon 9th Overall at Fitchburg Stage Race, June 28-July 1

The first stage this year was on a new time trial course, that rolled up gradual hills for 10 kilometers. Fiordifrutta had time trial ace Cory Burns slot in for 8th spot, closely followed by Matt White in 9th. The next stage saw many dangerous attacks with plenty of Fiordifrutta representation at the front, but the race still ended in a field sprint with not much effect on the overall classification.

Saturday’s road race saw Fiordifrutta put five riders on the front of the race to bring back the gap of a powerful breakaway attempt. For 20 miles, the entire squad, except for GC men Dillon and White, led the field to reduce the gap from 6 minutes to 2 minutes. Then with just 15 miles to go, White and Dillon joined a group that attempted to bridge the remaining distance to the front group. White in particular put in extra effort just to try to get Dillon as close to the leaders as possible before the final climb up Mt. Wachusett. The groups did come together on the climb, with Dillon in 11th and White in16th for the day.

The criterium on Sunday was a fast paced affair with small groups not capable of escaping the field on the flat course. The field sprint was gamble in terms of which side of the road ended up being the fastest, and Dillon drew a losing hand but still sprinted to 13th place with White just behind in 16th. For the 4 days, Dillon had to be content with 9th, and White ended up 13th.

Marzot and Nordblom Take 3rd and 4th Overall at Fitchburg

Todd Nordblom and Will Riffelmacher were the top performers in the time trial with 5th and 6th place finishes respectively, which set up the squad with many tactical options in the days to come. Friday’s stage 2 circuit race ended up in field sprint with Josh Lipka leading out Toby Marzot for 4th. But the leadout did not tire out Lipka, as he managed to beat Marzot for 3rd!

The hardest stage of the race is definitely the stage 3 road race that finishes at the top of Mt Wachusett. The squad’s protected rider was Marzot, who out-climbed the rest of the field to win to the stage, with Nordblom just a few seconds behind in 5th place.

The final stage criterium was a screamer where Lipka drove a 4 man break that stayed away to the finish by 8 seconds. Lipka was narrowly out-sprinted for the win, and just behind the break Nordblom showed his field sprinting prowess by taking 8th on the day. In the overall classification, Fiordifrutta riders were quite impressive with Marzot 3rd, Nordblom 4th, Riffelmacher 7th, and Lipka 16th.