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San
Francisco (July 11, 2005) – The steadily improving form of the Kodak
Gallery/Sierra Nevada Professional Cycling Team was evident in races across
North America this past weekend, as team members took part in events from
British Columbia to upstate New York.
Starting on Wednesday, Ben Jacques-Maynes was Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada’s
only representative at the Columbia River Bank Cascade Classic in Bend,
Oregon. Over the course of six stages in five days, Ben did a strong ride
to finish 12th overall and hone his stage race form for the upcoming Tour
de ‘Toona.
Ben finished in the top 20 in every stage except for a wet and very treacherous
Friday night criterium, and in Sunday’s criterium he took fourth after
bridging a 20 second gap to the winning breakaway.
Ben said after the racing, “I knew my legs were good, and now I need
to make them better for 'Toona. I'm excited to come out of this race feeling
like this, and I know I can go work hard now to really get a result.”
Further north on Sunday, Dominique Perras was stationed in Kamloops, British
Columbia, hoping to repeat his 2003 win in the Canadian National Road Race
Championships. Clearly one of the front-runners, Dominique had to settle
for third after little-known François Parisien (Espoirs de Laval)
soloed away from a group containing Dominque and the other strongmen like
Eric Wohlberg (Symmetrics) and Ryder Hesjedal (Discovery Channel).
“I had good enough legs to win, but it just didn’t work out
tactically. Parisien made a good move to take advantage of the stalemate
between Eric, Ryder, and me,” Dominique said after the race.
| |
| Hayden and Pete
keep an eye on Mike Jones |
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| Pete (bottom right)
is nonplussed by Hayden's rather damp podium appearance |
On Saturday, Hayden Godfrey and Pete Lopinto raced in a driving rainstorm
at the Glens Falls Criterium, with Hayden taking the win from a three-man
break that included Mike Jones (Health Net p.b. Maxxis). Pete mopped up
the field sprint for fourth.
“It was a small race, but I’ll take a win!” Hayden commented.
Also on Saturday, Scott Zwizanski earned the title of Pennsylvania Criterium
Champion in the state capitol, Harrisburg. Scott took second out of a two-man
break with Navigators Insurance’s Marty Nothstein.
Although Nothstein is a Pennsylvania resident, he was ineligible for the
state championship title since Navigators Insurance is registered as a second-division
UCI Professional Continental Team. As members of a third-division UCI Continental
Team, Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada’s riders are eligible for USA Cycling
state titles.
To conclude the weekend, Glen Mitchell and Jackson Stewart were Kodak Gallery/Sierra
Nevada’s first racers to arrive in Wisconsin for the International
Cycling Classic (a.k.a. Superweek). Racing Sunday night in Manitowoc, Glen
was part of an eleven-man breakaway that lapped the field with about 15
minutes remaining in the race. Glen ended up sixth, and Jackson was 14th
in the end.
“We were feeling ok,” Glen said, “but we weren’t
quite as sharp as the guys who did the first two races [on Friday and Saturday].
Our legs are coming around though, and we should be ready to be more effective
once the rest of the team arrives.”
Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada will have a team of 7-9 riders throughout Superweek,
which actually includes several weeks of racing throughout Wisconsin this
month.
Scott, Pete, and Hayden also competed on Sunday in the North Jersey Cycling
Classic in Park Ridge, NJ while Russell Hamby took part in the Lafayette
Criterium in the Bay Area.
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