6.04.08

COMMERCE BANK LEHIGH VALLEY CLASSIC SHOWCASES THE BEST OF CYCLISTS & THE CITY

June 4, 2008: Launching what his competitors called a late-race hail Mary, Ukraine’s Yuri Metlushenko scored a razor-thin sprint win in Tuesday’s Commerce Bank Lehigh Valley Classic. Aussie Karl Menzies (Health Net-Maxxis) was second by half a tire width at the opening round of the 2008 Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling, with American Brad Huff (Jelly Belly) trailing home in third.

Metlushenko’s win came at the end of a 12-lap, 85-mile battle on the rolling roads of Allentown, Pa., the Keystone state’s third largest city. This was the first running of the Lehigh event, which replaced the former Triple Crown series opener in Lancaster.

The new-for-2008 circuit traced a rectangular path from downtown Allentown, across the Little Lehigh River, and up the scenic and rolling Lehigh Parkway before returning downtown via West Hamilton Street. While by no means a climber’s course, the 7.1-mile circuit tested riders with a steady stream of punchy, leg-sapping rollers. Still, when the endgame unfolded, it was the fast men taking center stage.

“You really had to pay attention the whole day,” explained Huff, who after the Triple Crown series will head to Los Angeles in hopes of qualifying for the U.S. Olympic track cycling team. “Speeds were high all day. This was really a power man’s race. The sprint was really fast, but the hill before it really shook things up a little. People were trying to go from a long way out.”

Indeed, pre-race favorites such as Ivan Dominguez (Toyota-United) and Rock Racing’s Fred Rodriguez were non-factors in the final outcome, while the heretofore unknown Metlushenko was thrusting his hands in the air in triumph. That final move almost cost the Amore & Vita-McDonald’s rider the win, as Menzies came oh-so-close to nipping him at the line.

“I was sure I would win and was thinking about making a good finish line picture,” recalled Metlushenko, who has a large scar near his right eye that belies his career as a bike racer. “But then I got scared when I saw how close it is. I won’t ever do that again.”

The first half of the Lehigh race was marked by a series of repeated – but fruitless – attacks. Among the riders trying escape at various times were Bissell’s Aaron Olson, Brian Jensen (Team Successful Living), Pennsylvanian Kyle Wamsley (Colavita-Sutter Home), Jason Donald (Slipstream-Chipotle) and Colavita’s Tyler Wren. None could make their moves stick for any significant length of time, and the race was all back together at the halfway point.

The first real move of consequence came during lap 7 when Jeff Louder (BMC Racing), Frank Pipp (Health Net-Maxxis), Luis Romero (Colavita-Sutter Home), and Canadian strongman Svein Tuft (Symmetrics) took off. They quickly rolled up a 50-second advantage, with Toyota-United’s Ivan Stevic, Slipstream’s Mike Friedman and Alberto Curtolo (Liquigas) all trying to bridge across. The bunch was having none of the second move, and the chasers were soon back in the field.

The four escapees continued to work off the front during the next four laps, but their advantage never exceeded a minute, and it was clear the sprinters’ team was in control. The break eventually split up, with Pipp and Tuft pushing ahead, while Louder and Romero drifted back.

The move was then momentarily re-energized when seven new riders pulled off the front of the field and bridged up, creating a dangerous lead group that included Ivan Stevic (Toyota-United), Kasper Klostergaard (Team CSC), Bernardo Tepoz (Tecos-Trek), Martijn Maaskant (Slipstream-Chipotle), John Murphy (Health Net-Maxxis), Eric Baumann (Team Sparkasse), Glen Chadwick (Team Type 1), Tuft (Symmetrics) and Romero. But the field was chasing hard and the race was all together early in the final lap.

Several more attacks and counter attacks ensued, including one final move with Pipp and Dominique Rollin (Toyota-United). But they were snowed under on the final trip up the circuit’s short climb, setting things up for a furious dash to the finish.

“I’m not sure where he came from,” admitted Menzies of the race’s final 200 meters. “I had two teammates leading me out perfectly, but I had to wait to make sure Huff didn’t come over the top of me. Then Uri came by. At the finish I knew I was coming quicker and saw him pause and throw up arms, so I gave a throw and hoped I could get him.”

It was a strategy that came up about a half inch short.

The Triple Crown’s 25-team field will now get a day off before reconvening in Reading for the 75-mile, 10-lap Commerce Bank Reading Classic that darts back and forth between the city’s downtown and the summit of nearby Mt. Penn. Finally, comes the mother of all North American one-day races, the Commerce Bank Philadelphia International Championship. Celebrating its 24th running, this epic 156-mile test of mettle begins and ends on Philadelphia’s famed Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

In between, a fast field of the world’s 200 best cyclists will hurtle their way around 10 laps of the 14.4-mile primary circuit that includes the infamous Manayunk Wall, with its always-raucous fans and precipitous grades that exceed 17 percent. Ten long laps are followed by three testing finishing circuits up and over Lemon Hill before the 2008 champion is crowned. To the victors will go the lion’s share of a $93,500 prize purse that includes a $10,000 bonus for the overall series winner.

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Lehigh Valley Classic Women’s Criterium

Teutenberg charges to another Triple Crown triumph

Ina-Yoko Teutenberg picked up right where she left off a year ago, capturing the opening round of the Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling on a sunny Tuesday morning in southeast Pennsylvania. The win upped the indomitable German’s Triple Crown winning streak to four. Teutenberg (Team High Road) swept the three-race series a year ago.

The stage for Teutenberg’s latest win was the women’s Lehigh Valley Classic Criterium, a new-for-2008 event situated in downtown Allentown. After watching a break of seven go off the front early in the race, Teutenberg made a solo bridge, and then fractured the leading group, eventually winning a one-sided two-up sprint with Cheerwine’s Laura Van Gilder. Alison Powers (Colavita-Sutter Home) was a distant third in the first of the three-race series that will conclude Sunday with the Liberty Classic in Philadelphia.

“All my teammates are in Montreal racing the World Cup race right now, so I had to do it alone today,” said Teutenberg, alluding to the four-day stage race in Quebec that concludes on Thursday. “I got a good jump on Laura coming out of the final corner and was able to take it to the line.”

Teutenberg’s biggest effort likely didn’t come at the finish, but during her solo bridge away from the bunch and up to the then-leading group. After starting off on her own with eight laps to go, Teutenberg had closed down the 35-second gap by the time the lap counter read seven. From there, she started applying pressure at the front, slowly whittling down the lead pack until only four riders remained.

Cervelo-Lifeforce rider Sarah Duster was the other rider to make the decisive selection, taking fourth. Colavita’s Tina Pic won the bunch sprint for fifth place.

“I do think it’s possible to beat Ina,” said a hopeful – and apparently ageless – Van Gilder, who turns 44 this year. “But you’ve got to outfox her or it’s pretty tough to do.”

Indeed, the final sprint to the finish was never in doubt. Teutenberg was first out of the final turn, allowing her time for an extended celebration.

“I’ve been doing mostly longer stage races lately, so I wasn’t sure what kind of kick I would have today so I decided to go early,” explained Teutenberg, who will look to make it five in a row come Thursday’s Commerce Bank Reading Classic criterium, and then be joined by her teammates for Sunday’s race. “The criteriums are fun to win, but for High Road it’s all about the Liberty Classic.”

At stake for Teutenberg and the rest of the women’s field is a $27,200 prize purse that includes $5,000 for the overall series winner. After the Reading race and a pair of rest days, the women will relocate to Philadelphia for the 56.7-mile Liberty Classic, which is run on the same circuit as the men’s Philadelphia International Championship. In both cases, racing begins and ends on Philadelphia’s famed Benjamin Franklin Parkway. In between, the world’s fastest women cyclists will scratch and claw their way around four laps of the grueling 14.4-mile circuit that includes the infamous Manayunk Wall, which boasts precipitous grades in excess of 17 percent.

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Elite Amateur Criterium Kicks Off Commerce Bank Race Week

Before the pro men and women took center stage on a sun-splashed opening day of the Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling, some of the northeast’s best amateur bike racers got the chance to strut their stuff during Tuesday morning’s Lehigh Valley Classic elite criterium.

Top dog for the day was Dynaflo Racing’s Dave Fuentes, who spent most of the race in two-man breakaway with Edwin Bull of the Van Dessel Factory team, and then sprinted away from Bull at the finish to claim a convincing victory.

Fuentes and Bull tore off alone early in the race, slowly growing their lead on each lap around the one-mile, four-turn circuit that started and finished at the intersection of Hamilton and Ninth streets. The race covered approximately 30 miles and officially lasted 1:08:35.

At race’s end, the remainder of a fast-moving field trailed in 10 seconds back, with Jason Snow (Metra-Wendy’s) grabbing the bunch sprint for third place. Only 35 riders finished on the lead lap, a testament to the day’s blazing speeds that averaged nearly 30mph.

The well-attended event parceled out $2150 to the top 20 finishers, including $500 to the winner. The same cast of top amateurs will now head to Reading for round No. 2 on Thursday starting at 10 a.m. This time the setting will be an eight-corner circuit that starts and finishes at the corner of Penn and Fourth streets. In between, racers will complete 14 laps during the 25-mile, hour-long race.

The 15-team elite amateur field included squads from New England, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Virginia and six Pennsylvania squads, including hometown favorites Gotham Cyclists of Allentown and Fuentes’ Dynaflo Racing, which hails from Reading.

Both elite amateur criteriums are in part meant to foster youth cycling development by requiring each team to include at least one under-23 or junior rider. These younger riders contest a race within the race, with the best placed U23 each day taking home $75. Tuesday’s winner was Shane Kline (Kelly Benefit Strategies), who was fifth overall.

For complete race results for all three Commerce Bank Lehigh Valley Classic events, please go to www.procyclingtour.com.

Source: Pro Cycling Tour