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USPRO Criterium Championships - 1.1
Chicago, USA, August 20-21, 2005
Main Page Results Previous Race
Race 4 - August 21: USPRO men, 100km
Farrar finishes domestic career on top
Americans sweep criterium nationals podium
By Mark Zalewski, North American Editor in Downers Grove, Ill
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Tyler Farrar (Health Net-Maxxis) has had quite a week. Last weekend the twenty-one year old helped his team sweep the top three spots of the Manhattan Beach GP, taking second himself. A couple days later, he signed a contract to ride for the French Pro Tour team Cofidis. And Sunday in Downers Grove he became the USPRO criterium champion, edging out former champion Dave McCook (Jelly Belly-Pool Gel) by the slimmest of margins.
"It's an awesome way to finish my racing here in the U.S.!" exclaimed Farrar. "I've been calling everyone. My girlfriend left me so many messages asking how it went." When asked about the lack of opportunities to wear the criterium stars and stripes next year, Farrar laughed saying, "It's still an awesome win. I'm so excited about it."
The win came from the usual high-speed, high-drama field sprint that this course is famous for producing. But up until about five laps to go, the outcome was less certain with a strong three-rider break up the road containing Health Net-Maxxis' John Lieswyn, former winner Kirk O'Bee (Navigators Insurance) and Ben Jacques-Maynes (Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada.) "We really thought the break was going to work," said Farrar. "It would have been nice for John."
Lieswyn, the veteran pro, had already announced his retirement at the end of this season, and quickly became the crowd favorite. "I thought it had a chance," said Lieswyn. "But a late surge by O'Bee cracked me a little -- I knew I couldn't match the pace and still win, so I soft-pedaled a little. Then I had to think about the sprinters on my own team."
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Once the trio stopped working at full-tilt, the twenty-five second lead they had maintained dropped faster than George Bush on a mountain bike, thanks to work by two of the teams left out -- Colavita-Sutter Home and Jelly Belly-Pool Gel. ""That's what we had to do," said Colavita-Sutter Home's Mark McCormack, who says that this race and cross nationals are the only two he gets nervous about. "At the end Kirk Albers (Jelly Belly-Pool Gel) put in a huge effort that helped bring it back."
With the trio in sight, the announcers rang the prime bell for the $624 crowd prime -- not the biggest in history, but enough to inspire some and enough to cause poor judgment for others. Thankfully, the field stayed upright through the lap and the teams lined up for the final two miles to the finish. The three teams that were represented in the break all had fresh legs and took turns setting the pace at the front.
However in the final lap it was Karl Menzies and Frank Pipp of Advantage Benefits-Endeavour taking the helm into the second right-hand turn, followed by Greg Henderson (Health Net-Maxxis), Mark McCormack (Colavita-Sutter Home) and Marty Nothstein (Navigators Insurance.) Farrar was not far behind and found Henderson's wheel with three turns to go. "I was riding the rocket train with Henderson," joked Farrar. "It was all I could do just to hang on. I almost told him to slow it, but then we went through the final turn and he opened the door for me. He gave the sprint to me on a silver platter!"
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Farrar then had a clear line to the finish with only Dave McCook (Jelly Belly-Pool Gel) on his wheel. The former winner here gave a huge effort to pull near-even with Farrar for the bike throw which sent the officials to the photo finish to see who the winner was. "I've been on both ends of a finish like that, and it's good to be on this side now. I lost the Grand Prix de Waregem like that in March."
Farrar will not get an opportunity to wear his stars and stripes any time soon, as he heads back to Europe to compete for the national team and prepare for next season with Cofidis. Unfortunately, Farrar will not be competing in San Francisco with his team, choosing instead to compete at the Tour de l'Avenir. "It was a tough choice, but I need to do that race and to prepare for worlds."
So once again the USPRO criterium jersey will be absent from racing in 2006. When asked if he and his new team will be over to defend the title next August, Farrar laughed saying, "Probably not... I think I am going to be racing wherever they tell me to race for quite a while."
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Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Mark Zalewski/Cyclingnews.com
- One last trip around Downers Grove for John Lieswyn (Health Net-Maxxis).
- Cornering in second right turn was tricky as usual.
- Not known for his criterium field sprinting, Tim Johnson (Jittery Joe's-Kalahari) goes on the attack early again.
- The small climb at the top is enough to spread the field wide before going single file back down the course.
- Lieswyn covered many of the moves.
- Jonny Sundt (Jittery Joe's-Kalahari) loves to climb.
- Curtis Gunn (Seasilver) tries his usual suicide-solo.
- So Mark, do you feel something breathing down your neck?
- Jelly Belly-Pool Gel missed out on the break and had to shoulder much of the work chasing it down.
- If you have to dump it I suppose crashing into the Mavic pit is the best place to do it.
- Colavita-Sutter Home did a large-share of the work chasing down the dangerous trio.
- The doomed break tries to squeeze out another half-lap.
- Navigators Insurance leads the regrouped field with Health Net-Maxxis organizing behind.
- Karl Menzies and Frank Pipp (Advantage Benefits-Endeavour) move near the front as Greg Henderson (Health Net-Maxxis) does the same.
- One lap to go!
- Karl Menzies leads Frank Pipp for the final time through the pit turn, with Greg Henderson and Mark McCormack right behind.
- Open Sesame! Greg Henderson opens the door for a sprinting Tyler Farrar.
- Tyler Farrar (Health Net/Maxxis) edges out Dave McCook (Jelly Belly) by a very thin margin
Images by Matthew Moses/www.moses-images.com
- A very focused Dave McCook (Jelly Belly/PoolGel)
- Tim Johnson (Jittery Joes) was the first rider to ignite the race with a solo break-away early in the race.
- The many colors of the men's peloton...
- The field climbs the small between corners 3 and 4.
- The late race break that held until 3 laps to go Kirk Obee (Navigators Insurance Cycling Team), John Lieswyn (Health Net/Maxxis), Ben Jacques-Mayne (Kodak Gallery Sierra Nevada)
- A very determined John Lieswyn (Health Net/Maxxis) launches himself from the break in attempt to not be absorbed by the fast moving field.
- Tyler Farrar (Health Net) and Dave McCook (Jelly Belly) battle to the line. In a photo finish Tyler is the new USPRO Criterium Champion.
- The bike throw that got Tyler Farrar (Health Net/Maxxis) another big win in his young career.
- Tyler Farrar (Health Net/Maxxis) in his new stars and stripes jersey.
Results
1 Tyler Farrar (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis 2.18.05 2 Dave McCook (USA) Jelly Belly - Pool Gel 3 Kyle Wamsley (USA) Snow Valley pb Seal-On 4 Dan Schmatz (USA) Kodak Gallery - Sierra Nevada 5 Mark McCormack (USA) Colavita-Sutter Home 6 Ivan Stevic (Scg) Aerospace Engineering - VMG 7 Jackson Stewart (USA) Kodak Gallery - Sierra Nevada 8 Greg Henderson (NZl) Health Net pb Maxxis 9 Chad Hartley (USA) TIAA-CREF 10 Marty Nothstein (USA) Navigators Insurance 11 Mike Sayers (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis 12 Charles Dionne (Can) Webcor Builders 13 Garrett Peltonen (USA) Advantage Benefits Endeavour 14 Frank Pipp (USA) Advantage Benefits Endeavour 15 Evan Elken (USA) Jittery Joe's - Kalahari 16 Chris Frederick (USA) Aerospace Engineering - VMG 17 Kyle Gritters (USA) Seasilver 18 Hilton Clarke (Aus) Navigators Insurance 19 Jonny Sundt (USA) Jittery Joe's - Kalahari 20 Jascon Bausch (USA) Seasilver 21 Dominique Perras (Can) Kodak Gallery - Sierra Nevada 22 William Frischkorn (USA) TIAA-CREF 23 James Mattis (USA) Webcor Builders 24 Gord Fraser (Can) Health Net pb Maxxis 25 Christoph Herby (USA) Snow Valley pb Seal-On 26 Colby Pearce (USA) TIAA-CREF 27 Pete Lopinto (USA) Kodak Gallery - Sierra Nevada 28 Mark Walters (Can) Navigators Insurance 29 Cameron Hughes (Aus) Subway 30 Tim Johnson (USA) Jittery Joe's - Kalahari 31 John Delong (USA) Snow Valley pb Seal-On 32 Neil Shirley (USA) Seasilver 33 Esad Hasanovic (Scg) Aerospace Engineering - VMG 34 Todd Cornelius (USA) Subway 35 Scott Zwizanski (USA) Kodak Gallery - Sierra Nevada 36 Jake Rytlewski (USA) Advantage Benefits Endeavour 37 John Lieswyn (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis 38 David Richter (USA) Subway 39 Curtins Gunn (USA) Seasilver 40 Stefano Barberi (Bra) TIAA-CREF 41 John Kelly (USA) Webcor Builders 42 Tim Larkin (USA) Kodak Gallery - Sierra Nevada 43 Glen Mitchell (NZl) Kodak Gallery - Sierra Nevada 44 David O'Loughlin (Irl) Navigators Insurance 45 Ivan Dominguez (Cub) Health Net pb Maxxis 46 Danny Pate (USA) Jelly Belly - Pool Gel 47 Vassili Davidenko (Rus) Navigators Insurance 48 Ryan Dewald (USA) Snow Valley pb Seal-On 49 Joshua Taylor (USA) Snow Valley pb Seal-On 50 Jesse Lawler (USA) Jittery Joe's - Kalahari 51 Russell Hamby (USA) Kodak Gallery - Sierra Nevada 52 Bernard Van Ulden (USA) Webcor Builders 53 Daniel Ramsey (USA) Seasilver 54 Kem Omer (USA) Subway 55 Kevin Vanes (USA) Subway 56 Dan Bowman (USA) TIAA-CREF 57 Todd Herriott (USA) Colavita-Sutter Home 58 Hayden Godfrey (NZl) Kodak Gallery - Sierra Nevada 59 Siro Camponogara (Ita) Navigators Insurance 60 Michael Beers (USA) Snow Valley pb Seal-On 61 Davide Frattini (Ita) Colavita-Sutter Home 62 Kirk Obee (USA) Navigators Insurance DNF Ben Brooks (Aus) Jelly Belly - Pool Gel DNF Alex Candelario (USA) Jelly Belly - Pool Gel DNF Kirk Albers (USA) Jelly Belly - Pool Gel DNF Jeremy Powers (USA) Jelly Belly - Pool Gel DNF Brice Jones (USA) Jelly Belly - Pool Gel DNF Mike Jones (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis DNF Scott Moninger (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis DNF Doug Ollerenshaw (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis DNF Chris Wherry (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis DNF Chris Baldwin (USA) Navigators Insurance DNF Oleg Grishkin (Rus) Navigators Insurance DNF Ciaran Power (Irl) Navigators Insurance DNF Jaun Jose Haedo (Arg) Colavita-Sutter Home DNF Jonathan Page (USA) Colavita-Sutter Home DNF Gustavo Artacho (Arg) Colavita-Sutter Home DNF Aaron Olson (USA) Colavita-Sutter Home DNF Tyler Wren (USA) Colavita-Sutter Home DNF Marc Collard (USA) Webcor Builders DNF Owen Laine (USA) Webcor Builders DNF Ben Jacques-Maynes (USA) Kodak Gallery - Sierra Nevada DNF Jeff Hopkins (Aus) Jittery Joe's - Kalahari DNF Christian Foster (USA) Jittery Joe's - Kalahari DNF Adam Livingston (USA) Seasilver DNF Ryan Yee (USA) Seasilver DNF Jeremiah Wiscovitch (USA) Seasilver DNF Burke Swindlehurst (USA) Seasilver DNF Remi McManus (USA) Subway DNF Josh Carter (USA) Subway DNF Peter Femal (USA) Subway DNF Robbie Yost (USA) Subway DNF Nathan Mitchell (USA) TIAA-CREF DNF Zachary Grabowski (USA) TIAA-CREF DNF Richard England (Aus) Advantage Benefits Endeavour DNF Wes Hartman (USA) Advantage Benefits Endeavour DNF Eddy Hilger (USA) Advantage Benefits Endeavour DNF Karl Menzies (Aus) Advantage Benefits Endeavour DNF Nick Reistad (USA) Advantage Benefits Endeavour DNF Jonathan Wirsing (USA) Snow Valley pb Seal-On DNF Ben Lindsay (Aus) Snow Valley pb Seal-On DNF Cameron Holland (USA) Snow Valley pb Seal-On DNF Viktor Laza (Scg) Aerospace Engineering - VMG DNF Predrag Prokic (Scg) Aerospace Engineering - VMG DNF Hugh Moran (USA) Aerospace Engineering - VMG
