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Keirin Cup
Lehigh Valley Velodrome - Trexlertown, June 15, 2007
International field take on Lehigh Valley
By Nathan Carrick
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Giddeon Massie's first night racing at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome this year was full of mixed emotions. First, he squeezed his way through an impossible gap on the bottom to win the One Mile Dash for Cash, earning himself a hefty purse and some coveted Rider of the Year points. Then in his target race, the Red Robin Keirin Cup, he finished a disappointing seventh. But as one of America's top sprinters, racing against the highest caliber international field the LV Velo has seen in years was a refreshing experience.
"With this kind of competition, there's a lot of pride on the line," Massie said. "If I could be out there again tonight, I'd be out there."
Massie's newly formed team, T-Town Express, is to track cycling today what the TIAA-CREF espoirs team was to road cycling a few years ago-a mix of young and seasoned athletes with enough talent and experience to stand clearly as the future of the sport. Team members, Ben Barczewski, Ryan Nelman and Andy Lakatosh grew up racing one another at the LV Velodrome, each year fiercely competing to win Nationals, and then all eventually going to the Jr. World Championships. Together with Massie, a 2004 Olympian, and Liz Reap-Carlson, gold medalist at the 2004 Masters World Championships, this trade team is a force to be reckoned with.
And they were. Three made it to the men's Keirin final, and with Massie winning the Dash for Cash, the team was visible all night. They even got a little extra publicity boost when Olympic speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno stopped by to visit Massie, who he befriended at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado.
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Christin Muche (Brandenburg), Germany's 2006 Keirin world champion, was the odds on favourite to win the womens Keiren, and did not disappoint. She claimed the win by just nipping Jenny Reed (Momentum) at the line. Reed was able to get revenge on her German counterpart in the 10k scratch race, holding off Muche just long enough to take the win.
On the men's side, the crowned jewel of the evening was the Red Robin Keirin Cup. After two hotly contested qualifying rounds, the final eight were set. With three strong riders, it looked like T-Town Express could have a strangle hold on the event. When the motor pulled off, T-Town Express had formed a train at the front keeping the pace high. Roberto Chiappa of Italy dangled on the back until 400 meters to go, when he made a blistering move around the outside. Coming into the final turn, riders were stacked four high and it was anybody's race. Chiappa managed to maintain his momentum from his earlier surge to the front and it carried him to the line just ahead of Leandro Bottaso (Argentina).
"It was a nice race," Chaippa said while signing autographs on kids' forearms. "On the last lap I was in last position and that team was working together, so I came around and went full gas."
The final race of the evening was a 15k scratch race for the men. After several breakaway attempts, five riders gained a lap on the field. The main field, however were not going to let them just ride away with the race, and the attacks kept coming. Eventually three riders, Colby Pearce (Cody), Ryan Oelkers (PA Lighting) and Nick Reinert (Salamander), were able to gain a gap on the field, eventually taking a lap and joining the five other riders a lap up on the main field. This is how it stayed until the end, coming down to an eight way for first with Pete Dawson taking top honors and the overall victory.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Todd Leister/www.leisterimages.com
- Apolo Anton Ohno and Giddeion Massie’s father Mike look on as the racing in T-Town heats up.
- The women follow the bike in the Keirin, led by Cindy Lakatosh (Tri-State Velo).
- The men line up for the Keirin semi-final heat 1.
- Andy Lakatosh (T-Town Express) just beats out his teammate Ben Barczewski in heat 2 of the Keirin semi-finals.
- Giddeon Massie (T-Town Express) sneaks through to win the One Mile Dash for Cash final.
- Bobby Lea (Toyota United) stretching his track legs.
- Gustavo Artacho (Colavita Sutter Home) puts on a face.
- Roberto Chiappa of Italy beats Leandro Bottaso (Argentina) with an unmatchable turn of speed to win the 2007 Red Robin Keirin Cup.
- Christin Muche (Brandenburg) displays great German restraint as she celebrates her win in the Keirin.
- A jovial Roberto Chiappa plays the crowd after winning the Keirin.
Images by Miya Shoji
- Mike Chauner (USA) PA Lightning changes his gear
- Two Olympic gold medallists Marty Nothstein (Lehigh Valley Veldromes COO and Assistant Director) with Apolo Anton Ohno (Short track speed skater)
- The mens field stood tight in the early races
- The juniors were racing and having a blast
- The sun setting behind turn 4
- Roberto Chiappo (Ita) about to blast off into turn 2
- Ashley Kimmet (USA) advancing up to take advantage of a early move
- The crowds along the boards as night falls
- The women's field clustered around turn 2
- Becky Quinn (USA) SBW was very strong all night
- Jenny Reed (USA) Momentum looked below her arms as she controled the front
- The crowds filled the velodrome through out the night
- Christin Muche (Ger) Brandenburg happy in one of the keirins
- Alejandro Borrajo (Arg) Rite Aid took his turn as the 3 are halfway to lapping the field
- The mens field was moving
- The mens field holding onto the boards before the start
- Gideon Massie (USA) T-Town Express
- Andy Lakatosh (USA) T-Town Express directing the sprint lane
- May Britt Hartwell (Nor) YMCC and Ashley Kimmet (USA) around turn 2
Results
Men's 1 mile "Dash for Cash" heat 1 final 1 Bobby Lea (USA) Toyota United 2 Pete Dawson (Aus) 3 Giddeon Massie (USA) T-Town Express 4 Kasper Jessen (Den) Oldense 5 Leandro Bottaso (Arg) Argentina 6 Maximilian Levy (Ger) Brandenberg 7 Ben Barczewski (USA) T-Town Express 8 Angelo Martorell (USA) SBW 9 Sergio Guatto (Arg) 10 Yondi Schmidt (Ned) Schmidt 11 Tim Veldt (Ned) Schijf 12 Sebastian Alexandre (Arg) Rite Aid Men's 1 mile "Dash for Cash" heat 2 final 1 Tucker Brown (USA) PA Lighting 2 Andy Lakatosh (USA) T-Town Express 3 Peter Fitzpatrick (Aus) 4 Darren Harry (Aus) 5 Diego Grosso (Arg) Sprinter #3 6 Jackie Simes (USA) PA Lighting 7 Colby Pierce (USA) Cody 8 Gary Ryan (Aus) Verducci 9 Rodney Santiago (PRc) CCG 10 Alehjandro Borrrajo (Arg) Rite Aid 11 Gustavo Artacho (Arg) Colavita Sutter Home 12 Michael Chauner (USA) PA Lighting Men's 1 mile "Dash for Cash" final 1 Giddeon Massie (USA) T-Town Express 2 Pete Dawson (Aus) 3 Kasper Jessen (Den) Oldense 4 Sergio Guatto (Arg) 5 Peter Fitzpatrick (Aus) 6 Leandro Bottaso (Arg) Argentina 7 Yondi Schmidt (Ned) Schmidt 8 Diego Grosso (Arg) Sprinter #3 9 Jackie Simes (USA) PA Lighting 10 Dave Bonser (USA) Gotham/Hensley 11 Tucker Brown (USA) PA Lighting 12 Gary Ryan (Aus) Verducci 13 Darren Harry (Aus) 14 Angelo Martorell (USA) SBW 15 Bobby Lea (USA) Toyota United Women Keirin semi-finals heat 1 1 Jenny Reed (USA) Momentum 2 Anna Lang (USA) SOBC/Karl Strausse 3 May Britt Hartwell (Nor) YMCC 4 Cindy Lakatosh (USA) Tri State Velo 5 Mindi Martin (USA) Plane Team Revol 6 Liz Reap Carlson (USA) ECV Women's Keirin semi-finals heat 2 1 Christin Muche (Ger) Brandenburg 2 Becky Quinn (USA) SBW 3 Cari Higgins (USA) America's Dairy Land 4 Kim Geist (USA) Team Lipton 5 Kele Murdin (USA) Ultra Link 6 Veronica Martinez (Arg) JVR Sports Women's Keirin finals 1-6 1 Christin Muche (Ger) Brandenburg 2 Jenny Reed (USA) Momentum 3 Becky Quinn (USA) SBW 4 Anna Lang (USA) SOBC/Karl Strausse 5 May Britt Hartwell (Nor) YMCC 6 Cari Higgins (USA) America's Dairy Land Women's Keirin Finals 7-12 1 Liz Reap Carlson (USA) T-Town Express 2 Mindi Martin (USA) Plane Team Revol 3 Kim Geist (USA) Team Lipton 4 Cindy Lakatosh (USA) Tri State Velo 5 Veronica Martinez (Arg) JVR Sports 6 Kele Murdin (USA) Ultra Link Men's Keirin Semi-finals heat 1 1 Roberto Chiappo (Ita) 2 Maximilian Levy (Ger) Brandenburg 3 Josiah Ng (Mas) Momentum 4 Ryan Nelman (USA) T-Town Express 5 Giddeon Massie (USA) T-Town Express 6 Diego Grosso (Arg) Sprinter #3 7 Sergio Guatto (Arg) 8 Pete Dawson (Aus) Men's Keirin Semi-Finals heat 2 1 Andy Lakatosh (USA) T-Town Express 2 Ben Barczewski (USA) T-Town Express 3 Haseem Maclean (Tri) Trinidad 4 Leandro Bottaso (Arg) Argentina 5 Darren Harry (Aus) 6 Angelo Martorell (USA) SBW 7 Tim Veldt (Ned) Schijf 8 Adam Duvendek (USA) Momento Cycling Men's Keirin Final 1-8 1 Roberto Chiappo (Ita) 2 Leandro Bottaso (Arg) Argentina 3 Andy Lakatosh (USA) T-Town Express 4 Josiah Ng (Mas) Momentum 5 Maximilian Levy (Ger) Brandenburg 6 Ben Barczewski (USA) T-Town Express 7 Haseem Maclean (Tri) Trinidad 8 Ryan Nelman (USA) T-Town Express Men's Keirin Final 9-16 1 Tim Veldt (Ned) Schijf 2 Diego Grosso (Arg) Sprinter #3 3 Sergio Guatto (Arg) 4 Angelo Martorell (USA) SBW 5 Giddeon Massie (USA) T-Town Express 6 Adam Duvendek (USA) Momento Cycling DNS Pete Dawson (Aus) DNS Darren Harry (Aus) Women 10k Scratch race 1 Jenny Reed (USA) Momentum 2 Christin Muche (Ger) Brandenburg 3 Becky Quinn (USA) BMW Bianchi 4 Anna Lang (USA) SDBC/Karl Strausse 5 Kim Geist (USA) Team Lipton 6 Veronica Martinez (Arg) JVR Sports 7 Rebecca Larson (USA) Aaron's/LS Flyers 8 Ashley Kimmet (USA) Miya Shoti 9 Lauren Shirock (USA) SMW Bianchi 10 Elspeth Huyett (USA) YMCC 11 Jess McLean (USA) Verducci/Breakaway 12 Mindi Martin (USA) Plane Team Revol 13 Kele Murdin (USA) Ultra Link 14 Mary Costello (USA) ECV 15 Liz Reap Carlson (USA) T-Town Express 16 Kate Potylycki (USA) Vortex DNF Cindy Lakatosh (USA) Tri-State Velo DNF May Britt Hartwell (Nor) YMCC DSQ Theresa Cliff-Ryan (USA) Verducci/Breakaway DNS Julia Klinger (USA) Tri-State Velo Men 5k scratch race heat 1 1 Alejandro Borrrajo (Arg) Rite Aid 2 Taylor Brown (USA) PA Lighting 3 Nick Reinert (USA) Salamander 4 Marc Prutton (NZl) Pegasers 5 Barry Miller (USA) Mike Frayssee Sports 6 Sebastian Alexandre (Arg) Rite Aid 7 Gustavo Artacho (Arg) Colavita Sutter Home 8 Yondi Schmidt (Ned) Schmidt 9 Kasper Jessen (Den) Oldense 10 Darren Harry (Aus) 11 Guido Palma (Arg) Rite Aid 12 Jacki Simes (USA) PA Lighting 13 Alejandro Acton (Arg) Colavita Sutter Home 14 Bruce Donaghy (USA) Morgan Stanley Cycling 15 Mario Mazza (USA) A-F Pro 16 Mark Gorman (USA) L'Equipe DeVille 17 Rodney Santiago (PRc) CCG 18 Paul Pearson (USA) Bucks County Racing DNF Josiah Ng (Mas) Momentum DNF Jared Bunde (USA) DNF Pablo Ravazzani (Par) Paraguay DNF Andrew Harris (USA) Gotham Cyclists DNF Leandro Bottaso (Arg) Argentina DNS Adam Duvendek (USA) Momento Cycling DNF Phil Gaimon (USA) CRCA/Sakonnet DNF Andy Lakatosh (USA) T-Town Express DNF Angelo Martorell (USA) SBW DNF Thomas Mains (USA) Van Dessel Fact Men's 5k scratch race heat 2 1 Kevin Schiller (USA) GS Adams Ave 2 Tucker Brown (USA) PA Lighting 3 Bobby Lea (USA) Toyota United 4 Pete Dawson (Aus) 5 Peter Fitzpatrick (Aus) 6 Diego Grosso (Arg) Sprinter #3 7 Guy East (USA) CRCA/Sakonnet 8 Colby Pearce (USA) Cody 9 Andrew Harris (USA) FCS Cycling Club 10 Sergio Guatto (Arg) 11 Lanell Rockmore (USA) Young Medalists 12 Ryan Oelkers (USA) PA Lighting 13 Dave Bonser (USA) Gotham/Hensley 14 Mike Beers (USA) Rite-Aid 15 Andrew Kuklis (USA) Gotham/Hensley 16 Michael Chauner (USA) PA Lighting 17 Randy Smargiassi (USA) Gotham Cyclists 18 Maralet Rodriguez (PRc) GR Sport DNF Richard Miller (USA) Breakaway Racing DNF Matt Diefenback (USA) Tri-State Velo DNF Andrew La Corte (USA) Champion System DNF Daniel Larson (USA) Cycle Science DNF Eric Beausejour (Can) Track Team DNF Ben Barczewski (USA) T-Town Express DNF Giddeon Massie (USA) T-Town Express Men 15k scratch race final 1 Pete Dawson (Aus) 2 Sebastian Alexandre (Arg) Rite-Aid 3 Alejandro Borrajo (Arg) Rite-Aid 4 Colby Pearce (USA) Cody 5 Bobby Lea (USA) Toyota United 6 Jackie Simes (USA) PA Lighting 7 Nick Reinert (USA) Salamander 8 Ryan Oelkers (USA) PA Lighting One lap down 9 Yondi Schmidt (Ned) Schmidt 10 Alejandro Acton (Arg) Colavita Sutter Home 11 Guy East (USA) CRCA/Sakonnet 12 Kasper Jessen (Den) Oldense 13 Lanell Rockmore (USA) Young Medalists 14 Darren Harry (Aus) 15 Mario Mazza (USA) A-F Pro 16 Kevin Schiller (USA) GS Adams Ave 17 Marc Prutton (NZl) Pegasers 18 Barry Miller (USA) Mike Frayssee Sports 19 Andrew Harris (USA) SCS Cycling Club 20 Gustavo Artacho (Arg) Colavita Sutter Home 21 Dave Bonser (USA) Gotham/Hensley 22 Bruce Donaghy (USA) Morgan Stanley Cycling 23 Andrew Kuklis (USA) Gotham/Hensley 24 Diego Grosso (Arg) Sprinter #3 25 Peter Fitzpatrick (Aus) 26 Mike Beers (USA) Rite-Aid 27 Taylor Brown (USA) PA Lighting DNF Guido Palma (Arg) Rite-Aid DNF Tucker Brown (USA) PA Lighting DNF Sergio Guatto (Arg)
