Jamie Driscoll has stepped up from Fiordifrutta to the Cannondale/CyclocrossWorld.com squad for the 2008 cross season, but he is still out there racing with his Fiordifrutta friends on his Cannondale. Josh Dillon wrote the following reports and has a great pic on cyclingnews.com Toby Marzot picked up a pair of podium finishes in the U23 classification and is off to a great start in the cross season.

Dillon and Marzot at NECCS Round 1 & 2 - Green Mountain Cyclocross (UCI C2), September 27-28

The month of September nearly spoils Driscoll and I with two hometown race weekends (6 days of racing total) just 4 weeks apart. Don't worry, you'll still hear us complain about the other 11 months of the year where we have to drive an extra 3 hrs each way for every race we do.

But this is September now, and the hometown racing is quite nice. And it would be hard to argue Jamey wasn't feeling the hometown advantage as he took out the win both days...followed closely behind by yours truly (ok, it wasn't that close but closer than i had previously ever been).

Adding to the enjoyment of the weekend was the success of numerous Fiordifrutta riders, both past and present, with Matt White, Toby Marzot (u23), and Dan Timmerman all making podium appearances Saturday and/or Sunday. There were a lot of Cannondale bikes putting down some fast laps out there.

Dillon 7th at Nittany Lion CX - UCI Category 2, September 20

This past weekend Driscoll and I made yet another lengthy drive from the northern most reaches of VT to race our bikes in lovely PA. The difference this weekend being our tires were equipped with numerous rubber knobs, and the only stretch of pavement we raced on was the first 100 meters.

It was the first cross race of the year, and not a day too soon with the autumnal equinox occurring this past Monday. Jamey, of course, showed the skills and power that has propelled him into cross superstardom by taking out the win. He and fellow cross hotshot, Matt White, pulled away from the field on the 2nd of 10 laps and worked together until 2 to go when Jamey put in the winning move.

I, on the other hand, had a different type of adventure when a first lap crash left my rear derailleur stuck in the 21 cog (no Chris Peck, I did not flip over the handlebars...sorry to disappoint this time).

So I got a good lesson in a number of the different finer points in the cyclocross discipline including, but not limited to 1) have a spare bike in the pit, 2) ride the sand pit before the race so you don't crash in the first place, 3) go hard on the uphill (because i was spun out on the downhill) and out of the corners, 4) never give up...as I still managed 7th place and a few UCI points to show for the 13 hrs of driving.

Fiordifrutta sent a strong squad of Dillon, Gaimon, Driscoll, Marzot, Rozdilsky, and Schildge to race at the biggest UCI event that we would do this season. Dillon writes the below report and made it onto cyclingnews.com

Univest Grand Prix - UCI 1.2, September 6-7

With last year's race hitting record temps I don't think I was the only rider who was optimistic about the prospect of a hurricane hitting during race time at this year's event...with the heaviest rainfall expected during the latter half of the 100 mile test. It is a hard race, with over 7000 ft of climbing, so why not throw in some rain and wind for a truly epic ride.

As luck would have it, that is exactly what we got. Even better than that was the really nice weather for our cruise to shake out the legs the day before the race, and the same for the criterium the following day which is already sketchy enough without any rain. So, in my opinion, we had perfect weather. Plus there were some legit teams there, including a bunch of Euros and that American team that raced at the Tour this year. I couldn't ask for better. I wish we had these opportunities every weekend.

I could go on for a while about the race itself, but it can be summarized as a really hard day. Basically, it was full on racing from the first KOM (which came at 40km) to the finish (which came at 160km). And while we were in the lead on the road at times, by the end of the day we were sprinting for 10th place which was the 2nd chase group on the road, a couple of minutes down on the winner. I ended up 15th with Gaimon in 22nd.

At the Sunday 80km criterium, the team rallied behind Eric's sprinting prowess. In the first half of the race it was a lot of attack and follow, which we let the other riders have their fun with. For the 2nd half we all got in the action to cover moves and help Eric hold position.

Unfortunately, Eric was taken down on the last lap by a very senseless decision by a fellow rider to chop the corner. I really felt for him because he rode a great race, and was well on his way to a terrific result...and it was the 2nd weekend in a row to be taken out by another rider, which sucks. Driscoll still managed to get in there for 16th.

With this likely to be my last race report for Fiordifrutta, so thank you Curt and Chris for 3 great seasons of terrific support to pursue my cycling passion. Not only did I have the best equipment possible to get the job done, I was never once turned away from a race I wanted to do (even Beauce).

You can see complete results and write-ups on cyclingnews.com

Dillon 4th Overall - Green Mountain Stage Race, August 29-Sept 1

It is rarely ever the case that the end result tells the whole story, and so it was at Green Mountain Stage Race this year. From outside of the peloton one could see we finished just off the podium in 4th, which is a decent result amongst a strong field of professionals and elite amateurs.

But anyone who actually raced will tell you about Fiordifrutta executing textbook stage race tactics on Sunday's queen stage to the summit finish atop Appalachian Gap. It was right out of the HealthNet playbook (that has led to 5 straight NRC titles), only it is possibly more noteworthy because we are amateurs and a number of talented riders sacrificed their personal result to dominate the race as a team.

Going into the big day I was 20 seconds down from the lead with several top domestic pro's in between. Schildge had killed it the early part of the stage to make the break and sweep up the sprint for bonus seconds on the road so that it would come down to the climb up App Gap. Following the sprint, a large move of the race favorites bridged up to Eric's move making a lead group of 16 that had over 2 minutes by the time we got to the base of the first big climb of the day, Brandon Gap. That's when Fiordifrutta took over the race.

With the other race favorites in the break, using energy to take pulls, we used our strength to let them fry in the wind while i stayed protected. Beginning on Brandon Gap Whitey, Weller, Marzot, Driscoll, Ratcliff, and Rozdilsky strung out the peloton and it would never bunch up again for the remainder of the day. The catch was made just before the start of Appalachian Gap and rather than calling it a day the team went trucking straight through the break and began to lay the tempo down on the final climb as well.

In a perfect world I would have delivered the win that the team worked for, and certainly deserved, but I simply was beat. I set a new personal best on the climb by over 30 seconds (which is significant because I just set a personal best a week earlier with a 417 watt effort) but it wasn't enough to take the win. We rode to win the race, and we know that on some other day in the near future the end result will also tell the story.