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August 30, Elite men:

Lacombe's lunge gets it for Planet Energy

By:
Kirsten Frattini
Published:
August 31, 2009, 02:04,
Updated:
August 31, 2009, 05:47

Haedo makes do with second

Kevin Lacombe (Planet Energy) used his speedy sprint to claim victory at the 26th annual Chris Thater Memorial criterium held in Binghamton, New York, on Sunday. The French-Canadian won the bunch kick, outpacing runner-up Sebastian Haedo (Colavita-Sutter Home) and Yosvany Falcon (Champion Porsche) in third.

Over 100 pro men lined up to start the late-summer criterium that typically marks the final stages of the National Racing Calendar series in the United States. Full teams included Planet Energy and Colavita-Sutter Home alongside teams of lesser numbers - Bissell, Mountain Khakis, Kelly Benefit Strategies and Subway-Avanti. Notable amateur level teams included GS Mengoni, CRCA-Empire, Richmond Pro, Aerocat Cycling, BikeReg.com and Kenda Pro.

The men's field took on a two kilometre circuit that included a tiresome hill each lap, totaling an 80-kilometre criterium. Francois Paresien (Planet Energy) kicked off the race with the first breakaway. His move ignited several chase groups behind but all attempts to bridge across were short-lived.

The second move of the day included Paresien again and his teammate Ryan Roth, Anibal Borrajo (Colavita-Sutter Home), Clay Murfet (Kelly Benefit Strategies), and Amauri Perez (GS Mengoni). The five-rider break continued to work well together until Murfet was requested to sit up from the break and help his Kelly Benefit Strategies teammates in a high speed chase from the peloton.

"There were a lot of small breaks today and we had David Veilleux and Jake Keough in the bunch so it wasn't really my job to work in the break," said Murfet." It was really windy and I was told to come back and help chase."

They successfully reeled in the breakaway with three laps to go, just in time for Peter Latham (Bissell) to make his move. Latham was followed by a handful of strong riders, most notably, Luis Amaran and Alejandro Borrajo (Colavita-Sutter Home) who were trying to hold the field together in hopes of a bunch sprint.

"Colavita was pulling pretty hard," said Murfet of the final two laps. "Veilleux was trying to keep Jake out of trouble while Colavita was doing a lead-out and Planet Energy was up there too."

New Zealand time trial champion Jeremy Vennell (Bissell) was the next to go but he too was reeled back in by the Colavita-Sutter Home train and Planet Energy, which sat close to the front waiting for an opportunity to attack. Lacombe found that winning opportunity on the descent and rounded the final two corners ahead of Haedo and Falcon.

The 26th annual Chris Thater Memorial criterium is a project of the Broome County STOP-DWI Program to heighten awareness about the drunk-driving problem. Chris Thater was a young cyclist whose life was taken from a drunk driving accident.

There is only one more opportunity to for riders and teams to pick up points toward the NRC ranking this summer at the 100k Classic held next weekend in Atlanta. The individual classification is currently lead by Tom Zirbel (Bissell) and the team classification is lead by Colavita-Sutter Home.

The Chris Thater Memorial also marks the fourth round of the USA Crit Series, a six-event series currently lead by Jake Keough (Kelly Benefit Strategies).

Results


    
1 Keven Lacombe (Can) Planet Energy 0:53:50  
2 Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg) Colavita Sutter Home    
3 Yosvany Falcon (USA) Champion Porsche    
4 Kyle Wamsley (USA) Colavita Sutter Home 0:00:01  
5 Adam Myerson (USA) Mountain Khakis    
6 Jake Keough (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies    
7 Clayton Barrows (USA) Empire Cycling/CRCA    
8 Jerome Townsend (USA) IF/Lionette's 0:00:02  
9 Eric Schildge (USA) BikeReg.com/Cannondale    
10 Frank Travieso (USA) Champion Porsche    
11 Emile Abraham (Tri) Aerocat Cycling Team    
12 Amauri Perez (Dom) GS Mengoni USA    
13 Lisban Quintero (USA) CRCA/Foundation    
14 Josh England (NZl) Subway Avanti 0:00:03  
15 Alejandro Borrajo (Arg) Colavita Sutter Home    
16 Mark Hekman (USA) Mountain Khakis    
17 Hayden Godfrey (NZl) Subway Avanti    
18 Cody O'Reilly (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling    
19 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Planet Energy 0:00:04  
20 Andres Diaz (Dom) GS Mengoni USA    
21 Amos Brumble (USA) CCB Racing    
22 Mark Walters (Can) MainLine BiKyle Mazur    
23 Jeremy Vennell (NZl) Bissell Pro Cycling    
24 Gavi Epstein (USA) ChampionSysGladiatorWi 0:00:05  
25 Jamey Driscoll (USA) Rock Racing    
26 Melito Heredia (USA) Innovation Bike    
27 Neil Bezdek (Can) GS Mengoni USA    
28 Ryan DeWald (USA) Battley Harley Sonoma    
29 Bruno Langlois (Can) Planet Energy 0:00:06  
30 David Veilleux (Can) Kelly Benefit Strategies 0:00:07  
31 Timothy Farnham (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling    
32 Daniel Zmolik (USA) Empire Cycling/CRCA    
33 Nat Thompson (USA) ABRT/Team Latitude    
34 Clay Murfet (Aus) Kelly Benefit Strategies 0:00:08  
35 Adam Farabaugh (USA) Hershey Cancer/Cannonda    
36 Adam Carr (USA) Ten Speed Drive BH Bicy    
37 Luis Amaran (Cub) Colavita Sutter Home 0:00:09  
38 Jeff Buckles (USA) Richmond Pro Cycling 0:00:10  
39 Jared Nieters (USA) Haymarket/Trakkers    
40 Stephan Kincaid (USA) Empire Cycling/CRCA    
41 Jim Baldesare (USA) Kenda Pro Cycling 0:00:11  
42 Jaime Gandara (USA) Kenda Pro Cycling 0:00:14  
43 Mathew Bell (Can) Hardwood Hills 0:00:15  
44 Martin Gilbert (Can) Planet Energy 0:00:16  
45 Justin Lindine (USA) BikeReg.com/Cannondale 0:00:19  
46 Andy Crater (USA) Wheel & Sprocket 0:00:20  
47 Steve Scholzen (USA) IS Corp    
48 Nick Benettez (USA) MetLife Cycling Team    
49 Bill Elliston (USA) Van Dessel Factory Team    
50 Josh Dillon (USA) BikeReg.com/Cannondale 0:00:21  
51 Michael Mathis (USA) Empire Cycling/CRCA    
52 Aaron Fillion (Can) Ride With Rendall 0:00:22  
53 Seth Hansley (USA) Champion Porsche 0:00:29  
54 Jesse Anthony (USA) Team Type 1    
55 Isacc Howe (USA) Mountain Khakis 0:00:30  
56 Ryan Roth (Can) Planet Energy 0:00:34  
57 Francois Parisien (Can) Planet Energy    
58 Ryan Mele (USA) Richmond Pro Cycling 0:00:44  
59 Matt Seagrave (USA) Richmond Pro Cycling 0:00:49  
60 Brian Fouche (USA) Team Latitude/ABRT 0:00:50  
61 Salvatore Scotto DiVetta (USA) GS Mengoni USA    
62 Mark Warno (USA) Immediate Mortg/Artemis    
63 Euris Rafael Vidal Paulino (Dom) ChampionSysGladiatorWi 0:00:51  
64 Marc Boudreau (Can) Ride With Rendall    
65 Luca Damiani (USA) Colavita Sutter Home 0:00:53  
66 Coupe Thom (USA) BikeReg.com/Cannondale 0:01:03  
67 Stephen Weller (USA) BikeReg.com/Cannondale 0:01:04  
68 Matt Rossman (USA) NorEast    
69 Dan Timmerman (USA) BikeReg.com/Cannondale 0:01:06  
70 Alister Ratcliff (USA) BikeReg.com/Cannondale    
71 John Loehner (USA) Empire Cycling/CRCA 0:01:12  
72 Eugene Boronow (USA) GS Mengoni USA    
73 Steven Grant (USA) Inova Health NCVC 0:01:14  
74 Peter Latham (NZl) Bissell Pro Cycling 0:01:24  
75 Osmond Bakker (Can) EMD Serono Stevens 0:01:35  
76 Jackie Simes (USA) Mountain Khakis 0:01:36  
77 Davide Frattini (USA) Colavita Sutter Home 0:01:42  
78 Jordan Cheyne (Can) MainLine BiKyle Mazur 0:01:57  
79 Jeff Zygo (USA) MVP Health Care 0:07:56  
80 Cory Scott (USA) College of William & Mary    
81 Alejandro Guzman (USA) CRCA/Foundation    
82 Jan Zak (Can) MainLine BiKyle Mazur    
83 Bryan Vaughan (USA) Haymarket Cycles    
84 Agustin Fraysse (Arg) Glen Spey    
85 Benjamin Salibra (USA) CRCA/Foundation    
86 Cesar Lopez (Can) Gotham-Toga