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International Cycling Classic - Superweek - NE
USA, July 9-25, 2004
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Race 16 - July 23: Bank One Food Folks & Spokes
Hometown Boy Makes Good in Kenosha
Infighting for Top Overall Heats Up
by Mark Zalewski in Kenosha
Sure, Lance and the boys are taking care of business across the pond, but the other half of the U.S. Postal Service team is holding up its end back at home -- and Robbie Ventura showed that tonight in his childhood home of Kenosha, Wisc.
Kenosha has been involved in cycling for a long time, boasting a velodrome that was built back in the 1920s. Since this race was added to the Superweek calendar, Ventura had never notched a win here. And when the veteran domestic rider injured his back on the fourth day of Superweek, he had to consider what was more important -- riding through the soreness for overall points or take a rest and come back strong for this final three days of racing. Ventura took door number two, and went home.
"I went out and rolled around for a few hours but that was it," explained Ventura. Maybe a little OLN watching? "Yeah right, I got some inspiration from Lance!"
The week off of racing really contrasted with the tired legs making up the rest of the field, as Robbie quickly positioned himself on the front, taking a prime. Tired or not, the other riders still had work to do -- with overall and sprint classification points for the taking, and a number of primes up for grabs.
Garrett Peltonen (Endeavour) and current World Champion in the madison Juan Curuchet (National Team Argentina) rolled off the front and stayed away for a bulk of the early race. Curuchet and his World Champion madison partner Walter Perez have been mixing it up the entire series, with Perez making the podium in fourth at the tough Alpine Valley road race, but without an outright win.
Just when it looked like the duo might make it beyond a half-lap on the field, another Superweek sprint lap came, and the field lit the fuse, led by classification leader David Fuentes (Morgan Stanley). The massive sprinter showed off his addition skills and took all the points he needed before pulling off. "I think I did enough tonight to seal it up. Last night I was really happy to get the stage win, and today I was more worried about staying out of trouble and save energy for the rest of the weekend. -- so I pulled the plug. I am going to concentrate on going for one more stage win. Downer is it -- I podiumed there last year and I definitely want to feel that again."
The sudden burst from the field was enough to wipe away the early break. The field let the duo dangle out in front a few more laps, with some teams hoping it would come down to a field sprint. But another points lap ended that quickly.
Soon after coming back together, counter attacks ensued. The opportunistic Aussies from Team MGZT were at it again. Karl Menzies and the young Richie England gave it a go, with Robbie Ventura stuck in the middle. "The way it worked out, little breakaways were going after the sprint laps," Ventura said. "A guy took off and I went with him -- I swung out and a green guy came through, then there were two, and then... 'woosh,' lights out. We were all working well together."
Karl Menzies echoed Ventura's sentiments. "I was struggling until we broke away. It was just lucky to have a bloke like Robbie [Ventura] and Richie driving."
The three riders, pulling equally, quickly built up a significant lead with other teams worried about other issues. With less than twenty laps to go, the trio had the rear of the field in sight, but decided not to reintegrate on this tight, four-corner course.
In the final laps, more than a few riders tried to break away for a fourth place win, including second place overall Carlos Vargas (Endeavour). But that was immediately reeled in by Harm Jansen's Helen's RPM team.
Now it was time for strategy, with two MGZT riders versus the 'K-Town Motor' (as Ventura is affectionally called in these parts). The young Aussie England hit the gas through the start/finish on the bell lap, which was immediately covered by Ventura. "I tried to hit it with a lap to go, with two of us in there," England explained. "I didn't have great legs because I put everything I had into consolidating the break -- when you've only got three guys you can't afford to take it easy."
Menzies followed behind, and took a strong pull down the back stretch, trying to out power the sprinter. "Richie attacked with a lap to go, and I hit out down the back to win the sprint, but he got over me on the inside -- [Ventura] is a strong rider. I gave it everything I had to the finish, but he came around me at the end. That was all I had."
After Menzies swung off, it was time for Ventura to celebrate, and he did with plenty of yelling and arms swinging. Everyone could tell he wanted this win. "I really wanted to finish strong [at Superweek] and I wanted to race well here," Ventura admitted. "I tell you it wasn't all that fast here -- people are tired and I had fresh legs."
On the overall classification front, Harm Jansen increased his lead to 27 points entering the final two races. However, more drama began to brew with second place Carlos Vargas alleging to the race officials that other riders had intentionally interfered with him on the final lap - namely from Jansen's team.
Jansen responded to these allegations. "Carlos has to learn about some racing ethics. I really respect him as an athlete -- he's really strong -- but there have been a few occasions where he could have been a little more respectful. And like anything in life, it will come around to get you. It's not just my team, there are other people who are not happy with his racing style."
Vargas also responded to Jansen's comments regarding yesterday's race in Sheboygan where the Colombian took a hard tumble early in the race after hitting part of the fencing. "I was feeling good -- every day I've been feeling strong. I don't know about what Harm has been saying, that I am tired, it's not like he is in my body. I want to stay safe so that I can race the World Championships later this year."
While no word of a formal protest has been given, the stage is certainly set for an exciting finish to Superweek.
Results
1 Robbie Ventura (US Postal Service) 2 Karl Menzies (Team MGZT) 3 Richard England (Team MGZT) 4 Garrett Peltonen (Endeavour Cycling Team) 5 David Sachs (Alberto's Sport) 6 Kirk Albers (Jelly Belly/Carlsbad Clothing) 7 Harm Jansen (Helens RPM) 8 Steve Tilford (BikeSource) 9 Peter Lopinto (Ofoto cycling team) Sprint Points - Men - Round 1 1 John Puffer (ABD Cycling Team) 2 Mike Tillman 3 David Fuentes (Morgan Stanley) 4 Victor Ayala (LaGrange) 5 Karl Menzies (Team MGZT) 6 Chuck Coyle (Vitamin Cottage) 7 Peter Knudsen (Team Seasilver) Sprint Points - Men - Round 2 1 Garrett Peltonen (Endeavour Cycling Team) 2 Juan Curuchet (National Team Argentina) 3 John Puffer (ABD Cycling Team) 4 Jeremiah Wiscovitch (LaGrange) 5 Victor Ayala (LaGrange) 6 Billy Jones (Endeavour Cycling Team) 7 David Fuentes (Morgan Stanley) Sprint Points - Men - Round 3 1 Garrett Peltonen (Endeavour Cycling Team) 2 David Fuentes (Morgan Stanley) 3 John Puffer (ABD Cycling Team) 4 Michael Sayers (Health Net presented by Maxxis) 5 Peter Lopinto (Ofoto cycling team) 6 Richard England (Team MGZT) 7 Nicholas Reistad (Endeavour Cycling Team) Sprint Points - Men - Round 4 1 Andrew Touchstone (G.S. Lombardi Sports) 2 John Puffer (ABD Cycling Team) 3 Billy Jones (Endeavour Cycling Team) 4 David Fuentes (Morgan Stanley) 5 Karl Menzies (Team MGZT) 6 Ken Toman (Helens RPM) 7 Chris Bolling (2CC/Pony Shop) Sprint Points - Men - Round 5 1 Karl Menzies (Team MGZT) 2 Richard England (Team MGZT) 3 Robbie Ventura (US Postal Service) 4 Todd Terlecki (Giant Factory Team) 5 Emile Abraham (Team Monex) 6 Jason Waddell (Sharper Image - Mathis Brothers) 7 Joshua Carter (Long John Silver's Cycling Team) Overall standings 1 Harm Jansen (Helens RPM) 266 pts 2 Carlos Vargas (Endeavour Cycling Team) 239 3 Emile Abraham (Team Monex) 192 4 Jacob Nielsen (Glud & Marstrand Horsens) 161 5 Andrew Crater (Team Monex) 136 6 Richard England (Team MGZT) 131 7 Frank Dierking (ABD Cycling Team) 108 8 Dave McCook (McGuire Pro Cycling) 106 9 Davide Frattini (Team Monex) 106 10 Steve Tilford (BikeSource) 100 11 Michael Sayers (Health Net presented by Maxxis) 96 12 Brian Jensen (HRRC) 90 13 David Fuentes (Morgan Stanley) 84 14 Danny In't Ven (Antwerpse VC) 80 15 Dan Schmatz (Health Net presented by Maxxis) 71 16 Walter Perez (Argentina National Team) 71 17 Garrett Peltonen (Endeavour Cycling Team) 69 18 Kasper Klostergaard Larsen (Glud & Marstrand Horsens) 67 19 Sterling Magnell (Sierra Nevada) 67 20 Peter Lopinto (Ofoto cycling team) 66 21 Karl Menzies (Team MGZT) 63 22 Brian Sheedy (Team Seasilver) 62 23 Jimmy Hansen (Glud & Marstrand Horsens) 60 24 Neil Shirley (Team Seasilver) 56 25 Granam Howard (ABG) 47 26 Robbert Van Der Stelt (Van Hemert-Eurogifts) 47 27 Juan Gaspari (Argentina National Team) 44 28 Adam Curry (Revolution Cycling Team) 43 29 Robbie Ventura (US Postal Service) 40 30 Frank Pipp (Endeavour Cycling Team) 39 31 Alex Candelario (Jelly Belly - Aramark) 37 32 Nicholas Reistad (Endeavour Cycling Team) 37 33 John Lieswyn (Health Net presented by Maxxis) 36 34 Jonas Carney (Jelly Belly) 35 35 Jackson Stewart (Ofoto.com Lombardi Sport) 35 36 Aaron Olson (Colavita Pro Cycling) 35 37 Rahsaan Bahati (Major Motion) 35 38 Frank Travieso (Cyclist Warehouse) 34 39 Juan Jose Haedo (Colavita Pro Cycling) 34 40 Charles Huff (Mercy Cycling Team) 34 41 Mark Southard (Excel Sports Boulder) 33 42 Jeremiah Wiscovitch (LaGrange) 33 43 Yosuany Falcon (Aerospace Engineering) 31 44 Kirk Albers (Jelly Belly/Carlsbad Clothing) 30 45 Marvin Van Der Pluym (Van Hemert - EuroGifts) 30 46 Ben Raby (ABD Cycling Team) 27 47 Brian Schaning (UW Health) 26 48 Bill Stolte (HRRC) 25 49 Wes Hartman (Team Mack) 24 50 Victor Ayala (LaGrange) 23 51 Josh Goodwin (Team Monex) 23 52 Nathan Miller (McGuire Pro Cycling) 23 53 Jon Tarkington (Vitamin Cottage) 21 54 Ricardo Hernandez (JC Investors Racing Team) 21 55 Greg Henderson (Health Net presented by Maxxis) 20 56 Jai Crawford (Team MGZT) 20 57 Brad Edmunds (Team MGZT) 20 58 Jason Waddell (Sharper Image - Mathis Brothers) 20 59 Ryan Nenninger (ABD Cycling Team) 20 60 Aron Huerta (Village Peddler) 20 61 Nathan Mitchell (US National Team/TIAA-CREF / 5280 Magazi) 19 62 Alex Robles (Trek-VW) 19 63 Daniel Ramsey (Team Seasilver) 18 64 Mark Poznial (GearRacing.com) 18 65 Jeremy Sartain (Bianchi/Grand Performance) 17 66 Bart Heirewegh (Deschacht-Merckx) 17 67 David Sachs (Alberto's Sport) 16 68 Jamiel Danesh (McGuire Pro Cycling) 16 69 Eduardo Vicencio (Aidas/Zeta Gas) 16 70 Burno Nella (Nella Madison) 16 71 Sebastian Alexandre (Colavita Pro Cycling) 15 72 Juan Curuchet (National Team Argentina) 13 73 Max Clauson (GS Ciao) 13 74 Ryan Blickem (Aidas/Zeta Gas) 13 75 Chuck Coyle (Vitamin Cottage) 12 76 John Durango (JC Investors) 12 77 Thomas Hallock (Northwest Cycling Club) 12 78 Derek Wilkerson (Hillenbrand/Specialized) 11 79 Roman Kilun (McGuire Pro Cycling) 11 80 David Guttenplan (Locos/Georgia Cycle Sport) 11 81 Gavin Chilcott (Dewar's Racing Team) 10 82 Peter Knudsen (Team Seasilver) 10 83 Ron Scherer (Northwest Cycling Club) 10 84 Michael Busa (Long John Silvers) 10 85 Sam Horn (Intermountain) 10 86 Michael Ebert (ABD Cycling Team) 9 87 John Semmelhack (ABD Cycling Team) 9 88 Leonardo Martinez (Cyclists Warehouse) 9 89 Gregg Medinilla (Team Monex) 8 90 Rudy Robaina (Cycle Science) 8 91 Jay Ku 8 92 Buck Miller (Jetful Coffee cycling team) 8 93 Bryce Mead (Bianchi/Grand Performance) 8 94 Jacob Erker (Team Seasilver) 7 95 Andrew Manart (Tiaa Cref) 7 96 John Puffer (ABD Cycling Team) 7 97 Dean Laberge (G.S. LOMBARDI SPORTS) 7 98 Brandon Gavic (Team Salsa Cycles) 7 99 Andrew Touchstone (G.S. Lombardi Sports) 7 100 Reid Mumford (XXX Racing/AthletiCo) 7 101 Daniel Larson (Cycle Science) 6 102 Gustavo Carillo (Aerospace Engineering) 6 103 Christian McCarthy (Vitamin Cottage) 5 104 Zach Fiocca (Higher Gear) 5 105 Jeff Courter (GS Ciao) 5 106 Scott Walters (Long John Silvers) 4 107 Paul Ellis (Jelly Belly) 4 108 Andy Clark (Rio Grande Cycling) 4 109 Clayton Barrows (RMCEF (Rocky Mtn. Cycling Ed. Foundation)) 4 110 Alex Welch (Power Train) 3 111 Ryan Gamma 3 112 Jason Snow (Team Fuji) 2 113 Karl Bordine (Team Monex) 2 114 Jim Baldesare (ABD Cycling Team) 2 115 Tristan Schouten (UW Health) 2 116 Robert Quinn (XXX Racing/Athletico) 2 117 Stefano Barberi (JC Investors) 2 118 Chad Gibson (Outdoorlights.com) 1 119 Brant Hendler (West Michigan Coast Riders) 1 120 Kyle Gritters (Team Monex) 1 121 Caine Opgrand (Parish Foundation cycling club) 1 122 Troy Critchlow 1 Sprint standings 1 David Fuentes (Morgan Stanley) 195 pts 2 John Puffer (ABD Cycling Team) 122 3 Victor Ayala (LaGrange) 104 4 Frank Pipp (Endeavour Cycling Team) 89 5 Karl Menzies (Team MGZT) 69 6 Andrew Crater (Team Monex) 46 7 Juan Curuchet (National Team Argentina) 42 8 Carlos Vargas (Endeavour Cycling Team) 32 9 Richard England (Team MGZT) 31 10 Peter Lopinto (Ofoto cycling team) 31 11 Frank Dierking (ABD Cycling Team) 31 12 Michael Sayers (Health Net presented by Maxxis) 30 13 Nicholas Reistad (Endeavour Cycling Team) 28 14 Dave McCook (McGuire Pro Cycling) 21 15 Robbie Ventura (US Postal Service) 21 16 Harm Jansen (Helens RPM) 21 17 Garrett Peltonen (Endeavour Cycling Team) 20 18 Walter Perez (Argentina National Team) 18 19 Paul Richards (Team MGZT) 18 20 Davide Frattini (Team Monex) 17 21 Dan Schmatz (Health Net presented by Maxxis) 17 22 Peter Knudsen (Team Seasilver) 16 23 Emile Abraham (Team Monex) 16 24 Troy Critchlow 15 25 Aaron Olson (Colavita Pro Cycling) 15 26 Adam Curry (Revolution Cycling Team) 15 27 Aric Hareland (Salsa Cycles) 13 28 Jeremiah Wiscovitch (LaGrange) 12 29 Chuck Coyle (Vitamin Cottage) 12 30 Wes Hartman (Team Mack) 11 31 Billy Jones (Endeavour Cycling Team) 10 32 Jamiel Danesh (McGuire Pro Cycling) 10 33 Frank Travieso (Cyclist Warehouse) 10 34 Granam Howard (ABG) 9 35 Jonas Carney (Jelly Belly) 9 36 Mat Stephens (Mercy cycling) 8 37 Juan Gaspari (Argentina National Team) 8 38 Sterling Magnell (Sierra Nevada) 8 39 Brian Jensen (HRRC) 8 40 Jacob Nielsen (Glud & Marstrand Horsens) 8 41 Andrew Touchstone (G.S. Lombardi Sports) 7 42 Jon Tarkington (Vitamin Cottage) 7 43 Jackson Stewart (Ofoto.com Lombardi Sport) 7 44 Greg Henderson (Health Net presented by Maxxis) 7 45 Reid Mumford (XXX Racing/AthletiCo) 7 46 Christian McCarthy (Vitamin Cottage) 7 47 Mike Tillman 6 48 Daniel Ramsey (Team Seasilver) 6 49 Jose Estevez (Team DBL) 6 50 David Sachs (Alberto's Sport) 6 51 Ryan Hamity (RMCEF (Rocky Mtn. Cycling Ed. Foundation)) 6 52 Antony Galvan (Team DBL) 6 53 Gregg Medinilla (Team Monex) 6 54 Roman Kilun (McGuire Pro Cycling) 5 55 Todd Weitzenberg (Rocknasium) 5 56 Reed Tanger (Evolution Cycling) 5 57 Alex Candelario (Jelly Belly - Aramark) 5 58 Todd Terlecki (Giant Factory Team) 4 59 John Semmelhack (ABD Cycling Team) 4 60 Craig McCartney (Intermountain Color Cycling Team) 4 61 Sebastian Alexandre (Colavita Pro Cycling) 4 62 Kasper Klostergaard Larsen (Glud & Marstrand Horsens) 4 63 Robbert Van Der Stelt (Van Hemert-Eurogifts) 3 64 Thomas Hallock (Northwest Cycling Club) 3 65 Steve Tilford (BikeSource) 3 66 Buck Miller (Jetful Coffee cycling team) 3 67 Matt Bromen (LaGrange) 3 68 Nathan Miller (McGuire Pro Cycling) 3 69 Bill Stolte (HRRC) 3 70 Jason Waddell (Sharper Image - Mathis Brothers) 2 71 Ken Toman (Helens RPM) 2 72 Colin Beardsley (McGuire Pro Cycling) 2 73 Gavin Chilcott (Dewar's Racing Team) 2 74 Paul Ellis (Jelly Belly) 2 75 Karl Bordine (Team Monex) 2 76 John Cimbura (AST Cycling) 2 77 Jim Baldesare (ABD Cycling Team) 2 78 Ryan Nenninger (ABD Cycling Team) 2 79 Neil Shirley (Team Seasilver) 2 80 Joshua Carter (Long John Silver's Cycling Team) 1 81 Chris Bolling (2CC/Pony Shop) 1 82 Michael Ebert (ABD Cycling Team) 1 83 John Lieswyn (Health Net presented by Maxxis) 1 84 Tim Granshew (Morgan Stanley 24 Hour Fitness/Specialized) 1 85 Jeff Courter (GS Ciao) 1 86 Brian Hammer (Hampshire Cycle Club) 1 87 Max Clauson (GS Ciao) 1 88 Stefano Barberi (JC Investors) 1
