Bissell two for two

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Team Bissell took its second consecutive stage win in the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic Friday. Its sprinter Kirk O'Bee out-paced his mid-race escape companions Darren Lill (Team Type 1) and William Dugan (CCB Racing) to the top of the State College circuit's finishing climb.

"If I didn't win I was going to be in trouble, I was the insurance card up there," said O'Bee. He had the luxury of sitting on the back of the break while overall race leader Tom Zirbel struggled at the front of the peloton to reduce the time margin.

"Lill attacked the break with one to go and I got on him so I knew I had good legs. My plan was to go through the last corner and start my sprint from the bottom."

One of Kelly Benefit Strategies three classification threats, Zach Bell, jumped from fourth place into second by finishing ahead of the peloton in the escape. Bell trails overall race leader Tom Zirbel (Bissell) by a 21 seconds. His teammate Scott Zwizanski moved into third place, 32 seconds back. Stage winner O'Bee added some Bissell padding to the overall classification by moving up into fourth place, 36 seconds back.

"We had something to gain and no one was sitting on but me," said O'Bee. "Zach was the danger-man with the most to gain. My teammates kept it steady from the peloton and let the gap go up to a minute."

Timing miscalculation advantageous for Bissell

Rain poured buckets over top of the men's peloton at the start of stage two's State College, 24-lap circuit race that totaled 120 kilometres. Bell made his move at the storm's worst moment with 11 laps to go. Barely able to see the roads they were riding on, Bell was followed by Tim Johnson (OUCH p/b Maxxis), Thomas Soladay (Mountain Khakis), Tony Cruz (BMC), Derrik St-John (Garneau Club
Chaussures) along with Dugan, Lill and O'Bee.

"We wanted to apply some pressure on the field to see how Bissell responded," Bell said. He became the virtual race leader and was surprised the others cooperated with him in the escape.

"It was evident that I wasn't saving for the sprint. I drove the group to get as much time as possible. The other guys were in it to get a good result."

Bissell organised a chase as soon as the escape went clear. However, the eight strong breakaway riders continued to put time into the peloton each lap until the reached a maximum of 1:10.

Bissell began to fade with four laps to go and they counted on a lead-out from the sprint team Colavita-Sutter Home.

Colavita "saw that we weren't going to be able to bring it back alone," Zirbel said.

Colavita-Sutter Home let up when it realised it was not going to be able to close the gap to the break before the finish line sprint.

Zirbel continued to put pressure on the front of the field to protect his leader's jersey. "I really thought it was going to come back," Zirbel said. "I think we should have started working together, sooner, with seven laps to go."

The race continues tomorrow with a stage to Mount Wachusett ski resort. The event had to eliminate the notorious mountaintop finish due to construction. It will now finish at the top of the notable 'feed zone' climb outside the Princeton Centre. The men will race 10 laps totaling 176 kilometres.

Pic wins State College hill sprint; Stevens takes over Fitchburg lead

Tina Pic capitalized off her Colavita-Sutter Home team's organized lead-out to take a convincing sprint victory ahead of Jen McRae (Team Type 1) and Evelyn Stevens (Lip Smackers) on a short but steep finishing climb that had the sprinters begging for the finish line.

"That race is always crazy fun and my teammates were so awesome," Pic said. "Stacey Marple closed in on the last breakaway once it looked like it was coming back and then Carmen McNellis and Rachel Heal pinned it down the hill and into the last corner for me. I think I just sprinted from the base of the climb and then by the time I hit 200 meters to go, I felt like I was croaking. It was so painful I almost fell over."

Stevens took the overall lead away from Alison Powers (Team Type 1) by one second after capturing the third place time bonus in the stage two final sprint. Stevens started the stage four seconds behind Powers, and while the three-second time bonus was not enough to solidify the lead, Pic's powerful sprint caused a split in the field giving Stevens the additional 2 seconds needed to move into the overall lead.

"Evelyn moved in very close behind me," said Powers who originally thought she had kept her lead. She expressed being grateful for her teammate McRae who was there to sprint for second place time bonuses. "She [Jen McRae] was my hero today. That's exactly why you need a team with all round riders and she was amazing - I'm so happy she's on my team."

Times are tight between the top five overall contenders and with more time bonuses offered at the finish line of the next two stages, the overall race winner is far from sewn up. "I'm totally worried about the overall," Powers said. " I had no idea who Evelyn was before this race. But it's so nice to see new talent coming up. She is definitely close to the overall now and I'm not comfortable, not one bit. We can't be defensive, I just have to go after the win."

The women's peloton continued the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic at stage two's power-sucking State College circuit race. The two-kilometre course wore down the some 110 starters with 100 feet of climbing on each of the 11 laps, through the start finish line. "It was only 34 miles but it was a hard one," Powers said. "People were racing hard, little breaks would go away. Lip Smackers was very aggressive."

Queen of the Mountain sprints were located on five of the 11 laps at the top of the short but steep climb. Kelly Benjamin captured the lead in the points competition after some fierce opposition from Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Verducci), Amanda Miller (LipSmackers) and Joelle Noumainville (Kenda).

After a highly aggressive race a break set sail on the last lap containing all of the heavy hitting GC riders Powers, Stevens, Jeannie Longo (Vital Plus), Catherine Cheatley (Colavita-Sutter Home), Kristin LaSasso and Laura Van Gilder (Mellow Mushroom). "I thought it was going to stay but we were chased down with one kilometer to go.

Everyone but Value Act Capital was represented in the break. The California-based team lead by Robin Farina chased with help from many of the strong local teams and individuals motivated to bring the breakaway back before the final effort up the hill to the finish line. "Colavita had a super amazing lead-out and we sat on that because we didn't have too many teammates left at that point," Powers said. "It was a sprint and Tina won by so much."