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Giro finale
Photo ©: Bettini

Regional Cycling News for August 27, 2005

Edited by Jeff Jones & Hedwig Kröner

Nothstein at N.Y.C. Mengoni GP

Although New York City did not get the 2012 Olympic Games, New Yorkers have a chance to watch an Olympic champion go for the win this Saturday in Central Park. American Marty Nothstein, gold medal winner in the Sydney Games track cycling competitions, leads a very strong field in Saturday's Mengoni Grand Prix bicycle race, to be held in Central Park.

Nothstein, of the Navigators pro team, is bringing top teammates as well - including Russian Olympians Vasilli Davidenko and Oleg Grishkine and the reigning Irish national champion David O'Loughlin. This is Nothstein's final year of racing, and he faces strong challenges in trying to win the Mengoni Grand Prix for the first time in several attempts.

Among the other favourites are two riders from the Dominican Republic who both now reside in New Jersey. One is last year's winner Melito Heredia of the Toga Bikes team. The other is another former winner (and a former Dominican national champion), Roselvert "Pollo" Marte of the GS Mengoni Team.

The GS Mengoni team, like Saturday's race, is sponsored by Fred Mengoni, a former competitive cyclist from Italy who has played a key role in the development of bike racing in the US through support for many past champions. The GS Mengoni team includes Discovery Channel cyclist George Hincapie, former world-professional champion Mike McCarthy and 1984 Olympic gold medallist Alexi Grewal (all of the US) among its alumni. Mr. Mengoni, who made his fortune in real estate in New York, considers himself one of Greg LeMond's closest advisors.

Saturday's lineup also includes 23-year-old Lisban Quintero of the GS Mengoni team, Todd Herriott and Davide Frattini of the Colavita-Sutter Home professional team, the UPMC-America's Cycling Team with 2002 winner Joe Papp and two former Uruguayan national champions (Alvaro Tardaguila and Mateo Sasso) and the Jittery Joe's-Kalahari pro team led by former junior world champion Jeff Hopkins. Also racing are Wendy Cruz (who captured the inaugural edition of the Tour of Puerto Rico earlier this year), Emile Abraham (the top rider from Trinidad and Tobago), and 2004 Mengoni Grand Prix runner-up Bill Elliston with his Argentinean teammate Alejandro Acton.

Among members of the promoting club, Kevin Molloy of the CRCA-Axis team will lead the charge.

In the women's race, Ashley Kimmet of Colavita-Cooking Light returns to defend her 2004 and 2002 wins. She'll face local sprinters such as Caryl Gale of CRCA-TEAm Lipton, Sarah Chubb-Sauvayre of CRCA-Comedy Central, Ashley McCullough of Deno's Wonder Wheel and Hannah Long of CRCA-Sanchez-Metro.

Start time is 6:00AM. Expected finish time is 7:15AM for the 30-mile women's race and 7:40AM for the 42-mile men's event. The total prize list is $5,000.

2005 Nestor's Keirin Cup

The Lehigh Valley Velodrome located in Trexlertown, PA, will be hosting this year's Nestor's Keirin Cup on Friday, August 26. The highlighted event for the evening is the keirin, and top athletes from the U.S., Argentina, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand are expected to compete: fan favourites Australian Jeff Hopkins, Canadian Travis Smith, who is the Velodrome record holder in the flying 1 km and Josiah Ng. On the women's side top female cyclists Lucy Tyler, May Britt Hartwell and Ashley Kimmet will be in attendance.

Along with the keirin racing, riders are also to compete in the men's miss-and-out, women's 5 km scratch, the women's 5 mile final and men's 15 km points race. For more information, visit www.lvvelo.org

Rockford Criterium on August 27

The 2005 Rockford Criterium will take place on Saturday, August 27, in downtown Rockford, Michigan (10 miles north of Grand Rapids), courtesy of Advantage Benefits Group, Wynalda Litho, and BISSELL Homecare, Inc. The downtown Rockford course over 0.8 miles features a climb and subsequent descent, with over 400 cyclists from around the Midwest, Canada, and Australia expected to compete in various categories.

Advantage Benefits Endeavour Cycling Team rider, Brian Sheedy (from Rockford) will be joined by Advantage Benefits Endeavour teammates Karl Menzies from Australia (4th ranked rider in the U.S.), Richard England from Australia, and Graham Howard (Grand Rapids). They will try to defeat the defending Navigator's team rider Kirk O'Bee and other talented riders including former teammates of Lance Armstrong's Tour de France team. This race featured a fierce battle between O'Bee and Sheedy last year. With Sheedy being joined this year by fellow Advantage Benefits Endeavour teammates, the race promises to be a real duel for an $8,000 purse.

Leinster road championships this weekend

By Tommy Campbell, Irish Independent, Evening Herald, Sunday Independent

Thankfully, the clubs in Cycling Ireland continue to fuel the enthusiasm of the competitors by staging good class events at this time of the year. This weekend is no different. The province of Leinster is the last provincial council to stage its road championships that roll out of the starting blocks on Saturday.

The village of Naraghmore in Co. Kildare play hosts, and the local cycling club in Kilcullen, which is sponsored by Murphy Surveyors, are the promoters. Liam Walker and his trusted band of helpers have everything in place, "the club use this 11-mile circuit and it's testy. Good roads and the odd climb give a fair indicator as to the fitness of the individual," said Walker.

He may live and study in Listowel, but the very fact that he represents Cycleways.Com, allows him participate in the champs. Of course we are writing about Eugene Moriarty who has to start as the race favourite for the senior title and in the junior ranks, Urban Monks of the Bray Wheelers, who has come on in leaps and bounds since the M. Donnelly Junior Tour, has to be installed as the favourite.

Competition gets under way at 11 am with four laps for the big guys and the junior, veterans and ladies doing one lap less of the 11 mile course.

Just up the road on Sunday in the town of Carlow, the 'Wheelers' are organising the National Time Trial Championship with Dan Morrissey who back the Carrick Wheelers CC as sponsors.

Ray McKenna is in charge here and he is brimming with confidence. "All the favourites of the time trialling discipline are heading to town," he said. "The holder, David McCann from the Giant Asia team, is a definite starter and after last Sunday's win in the Atlantic Coast Hotel/Sheeffrey Grand Prix, he has to be the favourite. Also expected to ruffle David's feathers will be Tommy Evans of the Planet X outfit.

"Both David and Tommy head off to the UK for the Tour of Britain immediately after the event. Evidently both are keen to start the week on a bright note.

"The race HQ is the IT College in Carlow and the course over 40ks is on the Carlow/Kilkenny Road with the 'turn' at Paulstown. The surface and the conditions on that road are excellent, so I am anticipating a good time and also a good turnout for a club who prides itself on putting the cyclist first," concluded McKenna.

Whilst David McCann may the individual favourite, the team prize is an unknown quantity. The emergence in the last number of weeks by Murphy Surveyors Kilcullen CC, certainly has them ranked to lift a major title. This would be a real bonus for their sponsor who got involved with the club at the beginning of the season. Also it could be a fairytale for the Steed brothers, Michael and Kieran to land a national team title and maybe just an individual silver or bronze medal.

Racing gets under way in Carlow at 11.30 on Sunday, entries will be taken at the sign on, but the organisers would much prefer to have the start sheet done and dusted on Saturday evening.

2005 Tour of the Murray river

The stages of this year's Tour of the Murray river in Victoria, Australia, have been revealed. The stage race is part of the Tattersall's Cup series and is taking place from August 31-September 4, 2005. It will include a total of 95 sprints and nine climbs in 604.9 kilometres.

The stages

Stage 1: Wednesday, August 31 - Swan Hill Criterium, 45 km (30 laps of 1.5 km circuit)
Stage 2: Wednesday, August 31 - Swan Hill To Manangatang, 88.4 km
Stage 3: Thursday, September 1 - Merbein Criterium, 33 km (30 laps of 1.1 km circuit)
Stage 4: Thursday, September 1 - Merbein To Wentworth, 80.4 km
Stage 5: Friday, September 2 - Ouyen Criterium, 36 km (30 laps of 1.2 km circuit)
Stage 6: Friday, September 2 - Ouyen - Patchewollock - Ouyen, 86.5 km
Stage 7: Saturday, September 3 - Robinvale Kermesse, 60 km (25 laps of 2.4 km circuit)
Stage 8: Saturday, September 3 - Euston Criterium, 52 km (40 laps of 1.3 km circuit)
Stage 9: Sunday, September 4 - Cardross Kermesse, 57.6 km (12 laps of 4.8 km circuit)
Stage 10: Sunday, September 4 - Mildura Kermesse, 66 km (30 laps of 2.2 km circuit).

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