Gaimon Takes 3rd in Tour of PA Stage 5, June 28th

Phi Gaimon won today’s field sprint for 3rd place at the world’s premier U25 stage race. You can read the full report on cyclingnews.com and a podium shot is attached. The race finishes tomorrow with a circuit race in Pittsburgh. Gaimon is currently in 14th place in the overall classification with teammate Eric Schildge in 15th in the under 21 overall classification.

Driscoll Wins Stage 3 of Tour of PA, June 26

Jamey Driscoll posted one of the highlights in his young career today by winning this stage that finished in Bedford, PA, home of the bicycle factory for team sponsor Cannondale. You can read the full story on Velonews and Cyclingnews.

The guys have been racing in the country's biggest NRC stage races with some good results and photos of Phil, Erik, and Toby on cyclingnews.com

Nature Valley GP, June 11-15
Eric Schildge: 3rd Young Rider

It seemed that disaster had struck before the first stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix. Both Dillon and Alister were out with injuries, and Whitey and Lipka were not able to make the trip out to Minnesota. However, thanks to the depth of the team this year, we were able to put together a motivated 6-man roster including Toby, Roz, Steve, Hayden, Phil and myself.

The first stage was called off halfway through after the lead moto crashed on the slick streets of downtown St. Paul. That meant that Thursday’s Cannon Falls Road Race would be the opening stage of the race. The race was fast, but the wind was calm, which made the first 55 miles of the race rather uneventful. The racing really started as we approached the finishing circuits. Everyone jostled for position near the front, as the big teams pushed the pace over the dirt road that immediately preceded the circuits. As soon as we were on the circuits, Healthnet took the lead and strung out the bunch. Hayden and I held onto our position near the front of the pack, and when we came into the final corner I was able to hold on for 26th.

The next morning was the St. Paul Time Trial. I started with the big boys, but without a TT bike, it was all but assured that I would lose a substantial amount of time.
Phil and Hayden put in impressive times, with Phil nearly cracking the top 20, in 23rd place as the #3 amateur.

That evening was the Minneapolis Crit. It may have been one of the coolest crits I have ever raced. There were thousands of spectators lining every inch of the course. It was exciting, and fast! With one to go, the field was recorded at a speed of over 40mph!

The next morning was the Mankato Road Race. The team rolled up to the line in our new white kits, prepared for what would be a hard 92 miles of racing. As expected, the powerful teams used the ripping crosswinds to split the field apart. Hayden, Toby, and I were able to stay with the leaders, and entered the challenging circuits with a field of about 60 riders. The circuits consisted of a steep, 600 meter climb, followed by a quick descent. The field would do 4 laps of the brutal circuit. I was able to stay with what was left of the main group on the road, finishing 26th. Toby finished one group behind in 37th, and Hayden rolled in 44th.

Coming into the final stage, I was sitting third in the young rider classification, with Hayden a few seconds behind me in fourth. We knew that the Stillwater Criterium would be hard, and that we would have to hold on for as long as we could to maintain our positions. Toby, Hayden, and I were all able to finish within the time cut, and finished 7th, 4th, and 3rd in the Young Rider GC, respectively. However, far more important than our results was the chance to tune up our legs before the Tour of Pennsylvania, which will hopefully be a breakout event for the young riders on Fiordifrutta!

The Fiordifrutta boys have been on a roll with 3 wins in the last two week. The winner of the races writes the below race reports and you can see the finish line photos from the Mystic Velo Crit and the Auburn Road Race. Follow the squad over the next few days as they race the Nature Valley Grand Prix in Minneasota.

Driscoll-Dillon 1-2 at Balloon Festival Classic, June 7th

There are few races where we Vermonters can reasonably sleep in our own bed the night before races, so even for a 9:30 start we took advantage of that luxury. It was a hot one, 70 degrees by 5:30. The crew of Lipka, Cory, Alister, Dillon and I kitted up and headed over to the start of the Balloon Fest RR (which is a town-wide event, lacking only balloons oddly enough).

An early break established with Cory in there for us. This was an enormous help as it took all the pressure off us until the break was reeled in, which was nearly the rest of the race. This proved to be a challenging course, and when you combine the heat and flats, there were only about 15 riders left in the main pack. Our strategy was to relentlessly attack the group since we had the upper hand with four riders in that group. Though we could not make anything stick, it certainly softened the legs of the remaining riders.

A little bit before the last steep climb of the day, I tried to take a flyer, and as Dillon later pointed out, it was a perfect place to go because everyone wants to start that climb well rested. A group of four containing Dillon was in hot pursuit up the climb, but a small dip before the main descent made for just enough hesitation by the chasers to keep my gap alive.

Then it was a 5 mile drag race into a stiff head wind between me and the three chasers while Dillon got a free tow. With about 3 miles to go I notice that Dillon had separated himself from the chasers with a sizeable gap. This was terrific, as I was looking for any excuse to stop the pain I was inflicting on myself.

I decided to wait up for my teammate and come in to town for the only kind of win that has more style than a solo victory, two teammates going across the line together. Lipka rode very strong as usual to come in 6th, and Alister came in 9th. Cory rolled in after putting in arguably the hardest day for the team. Many thanks to our feeders out there; being properly hydrated on a day like this is critical to the success of the team.

Gaimon Wins Mystic Velo Criterium, June 7th

Matt, Steve, Hayden, Toby, and I headed to Rhode Island for the Mystic Velo Crit today. It was an open, pancake-flat course with no sharp turns. A decent local field attended, including Mahk McCormack and Anthony Colby (Colavita). The course didn’t favor a breakaway, but we knew that that was the only way to use our advantage in numbers, so we decided to be attentive for early moves, and make sure we had numbers in all of them.

About ten minutes in, Anthony Colby made the first big attack, and Toby went with him. Matt soon joined to make it two out of six. The field was disorganized so the gap went quickly. When the gap was around 30 seconds, I covered a bridge attempt, and he got us well clear of the field and then cracked, so I took the opportunity to bridge before the break got too far away. The next five minutes felt like an eternity, but Toby and Matt stopped working when they saw me coming, and I finally made it across.

I sat on a good bit as the break rolled, with Toby and Matt picking up my slack, and for awhile it started to look like we might lap the field. On one part of the course, the field was visible across a stretch of grass, and our teamwork really showed, as Hayden and Steve were always near the front or controlling a doomed bridge attempt.

With 20 laps to go, the hostilities began. It was clear that the winner would be whichever Fiordifrutta rider ended up off the front with Anthony Colby, who clearly had good legs and motivation. Whitey covered the first attack, and Toby went with the second. When Colby went, I hung on, and one rider bridged up to us. Soon, the break was split into two groups of three, with me in the front and Toby and Matt in the first chase group.

As long as they stayed clear of the field, I had an excuse not to work in the front group, and they could say the same with me up the road. It worked out well, as I had enough plenty of gas to sprint for the win, and Toby stuck it for 4th after Whitey finally cracked from his monster pulls. To further cement our team domination (and to bolster the prize split), Steve and Hayden went 1-2 in the field sprint, giving the team 1st, 4th, 5th, and 6th at the finish.

Driscoll Wins Lake Auburn Road Race, May 31

The northern frutts gathered Friday evening to make half the drive of their racing adventures for the weekend. In classy fashion, we arrive just in time for the high noon start of the Lake Auburn RR. With a quick race meeting we were off to what most people would call a miserable day. Knee warmers graced most of the field and puddles still remained from the morning showers with more precipitation likely to fall.

It was my first race back since Mt Hood, where racing with the pros was very calculated, whereas good old New England racing is anything but. We were not very active until about half way through the race where yours truly and Josh Dillon tried a 1-2 punch, and though we got an initial gap, the pack proved to be more fresh than we had hoped.

The winning move came at a much less eventful point in the race where there were a few people dangling off the front. Consequently, I bridged up to them as sleepily as possible. It was the one time I wasn't marked, so I decided to do all the work to get out of sight and hopefully out of mind. Once that was accomplished, I let my two compatriots do some of the work.

Shortly afterwards, we hit the first of two walls and I was getting jumpy and decided to try this on my own, about 23 miles to go. In classic New England style, I got no time gaps, so I had to resort to the few long straight-aways to see if the pack was within a minute of me. Plus, I had the added assurance that Steve, Roz, Alister and Josh were marking everything that tried to chase me down. It wasn't until the last mile that I knew for sure I had the win and my gap was a minute and a half!

The Fiordifrutta boys had a couple of near wins last week, but still managed to get some pics on Velonews and cyclingnews.

Gaimon 2nd at Connecticut Coast Criterium, June 1

I attacked early and got a break of 5 established. A couple groups came across, and soon we were 11, with 4 Target Training and 5 guys sitting on. I snagged 2 of the 4 primes, and it made Target want to get rid of me before the finish, so they started attacking. I would let them go, and then bridge across since no one wanted to help me work. Inevitably the whole group would claw back on.

With 1 to go, Zawacki attacked. Everyone looked at each other, and it looked like he had it won, so his team let me go when I jumped with half a lap to go. 1 rider sat on my wheel. I got halfway across to Ben and flicked my elbow. The guy said he couldn’t work, and he couldn’t sprint, so I put my head down and made the bridge myself, catching a cracked Zawacki at the bottom of the hill. Of course the guy sprinted me (I don’t know who he was). I almost held him off, but couldn’t do it at the end. Two second places in two weeks…

Schildge 2nd at Millport Road Race, May 31

I arrived home on Friday for a week’s vacation before heading out to Minnesota for the Nature Valley Grand Prix. As part of my training for the upcoming Tour of Pennsylvania, I headed out to Lancaster County Pennsylvania to do a local road race on Saturday. The course was mostly flat with beautiful, smooth roads. It rained on and off during our race, but considering the forecast called for severe thunderstorms and hail, it could have been worse.

I was feeling two hard weeks of training in my legs, and it took me some time to warm up. Once I was feeling a little better, I started attacking and following moves. I eventually bridged to a move containing 3 riders from Pennsylvania Lightning. The break grew to eight guys, and we rolled around at a modest tempo. With 5 laps to go, I attacked the group and pulled away with one other rider. I watched to see whether the three teammates would take control to pull me back. After about a lap, I was reeled back in. With three laps to go, I attacked again, and was countered by Michael Chauner (PA Lightning). I followed him and the two of us quickly established a sizeable advantage over the rest of the break.

As we rolled into the final kilometer, my race brain must have turned off. Chauner was sitting on my wheel, and for some bizarre reason, I decided I didn’t really care. I’m not sure if I planned to beat him in the sprint after towing him around for over a kilometer, but that would have required me to attack at some point. As it were, he jumped me coming into the chicane 200 meters before the finish, and I never had a chance. I guess my hard weeks of training had left me depleted mentally as well as physically!

Schildge Races NRC’s Bikejam/Kelly Cup, May 24 and Tour of Somerville, May 26

Toby Marzot and I raced in our first NRC events of the season at Bikejam and Somerville. We were excited to finally be racing with the big boys, and we were eager to see how we stacked up. Both Toby and I were pleased to see that we were fit enough to ride near the front for most of the race, and even throw in a few attacks. There were a few small moves that developed, but eventually a 4 man group established itself off the front. They would stay away to the finish, and I was able to sprint for 21st. Not bad for our first big race of the season.

Next up was the Tour of Somerville; one of my personal favorites. This was my first time in the Pro/1 field, and I was hoping to improve on Saturday’s performance. The race was marred by crashes, one of which involved Toby. He got a neutral bike from the Mavic support crew and continued; even following a couple moves in the final half of the race.

Meanwhile, I decided that I wanted to get a little exposure for the team, so I started going for the primes. I was able to grab two, and got narrowly beaten for a third. Coming into the final few laps, the pace was picking up, and the effort of going for the primes, and being pushed into the wind while trying to hold my position near the front had taken its toll. I came into the final straightaway in a decent position, but had to settle for 19th. Still, a modest improvement on Saturday’s performance and a few NRC points to boot!