Roth reigns at Univest Grand Prix

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Ryan Roth (SpiderTech p/b C10) secured a prestigious victory at the UCI 1.2 Univest Grand Prix held in Souderton, Pennsylvania. The Canadian out-paced a late-race three-man breakaway that included Frank Pipp (Bissell) in second and Tom Zirbel (Jamis-Sutter Home), who bridged to Roth and Pipp on the final lap and finished in third.

"We have done a lot of hard racing the last month and a half and it suited us to make a hard race so that is what we tried to do," Roth said.

"I thought Zirbel coming across was good because he has a good engine and he would do a long sprint, which suited me also," said Roth. "I was worried about Frank Pipp because he is a fast guy. I tried to get rid of them on the last time up the hill but I couldn't. The new course was good, a lot of attacks and it was harder than last year."

Aggressive short circuits end in winning breakaway

Kelly Benefit Strategies-OptumHealth and Bissell were the first teams to stretch their legs at the front of the peloton in an effort to increase the speed of the race and turn up the heat during the closing five laps of the race.

Bruno Langlois (SpiderTech p/b C10) attempted to ride off the front alone at the start of the five shorter finishing circuits through downtown Souderton. His efforts were short-lived, brought back by a series of alternate attacks coming from the peloton.

Jason Donald (Kelly Benefit Strategies-OptumHealth) was the next to take a solo flyer with four laps to go. He was soon caught by a very large group of chasers including strong sprinter Martin Gilbert (SpiderTech p/b C10) along with riders from teams UnitedHealthcare and Bissell, among others.

Other riders that made last-ditch attack included Heath Blackgrove (Elbowz Racing), who was countered by duo Frank Pipp (Bissell) and former event winner Ryan Roth (SpiderTech p/b C10).

Pipp and Roth increased their lead to roughly 45 seconds with one lap to go. Tom Zirbel (Jamis-Sutter Home) successfully bridged across to the breakaway adding significant horsepower to the now three-man move.

"It was a hard race, at time so fast, and never really broke up," Pipp said. "I thought it was going to be a field sprint but Ryan attacked with three to go, I guess. I saw him go and I know how strong of a rider he is. We got a gap and I thought as long as I can stay with him until the finish, I can beat him in a sprint, but I guess he showed me that wasn't the case."

The skies opened to rain on the last lap as UnitedHealthcare rallied its riders at the front of the field in a full-on chase to bring back the breakaway riders for its sprinter Jake Keough. However, a large crash on the final climb slowed the peloton down and it was unable to close the gap.

Parisien and Tivers own Univest GP large circuits

A mixed domestic and international peloton lined up to compete at the UCI 1.2 Univest Grand Prix. The parcours kicked off with 12 laps of a 10.4km long circuit followed by five laps of a shorter 7.2km circuit.

Each lap included a challenging climb on Wile Avenue that has traditionally put stress on the peloton during the closing laps plus a a King of the Mountain (KOM) sprint on N. 2nd Street.

A pair of riders racing under Canadian outfits, Francois Parisien (SpiderTech p/b C10) and Brett Tivers (Garneau Club Chaussures-Norton Rose), initiated the first breakaway of the day on the opening lap.

The duo held a small lead ahead, of roughly 30 seconds, on the peloton during the first three laps but the duo were able to extend their advantage to 2:20 by the seventh lap of the race.

A chase group of two riders formed that included Tim Rugg (XO Communications - Battley Harley-Davidson) and Dylan McNicholas (CCB Racing). The pair continued their efforts for roughly three laps until the start of attacks from the main field, resulting in the chase group's demise.

The gap between Parisien and Tivers and the peloton was reduced from 2:20 down to 1:20 minutes but he pair continued to plug away out front of the peloton with the gap increasing back up to 2:20 with seven laps to go.

Parisien took a chance on making a solo breakaway and attacked Tivers with one and half large circuits remaining. He entered the start of the five smaller circuits alone with a gap of 30 seconds.