March 22/06 4:30 am - Volta de Ciclismo Internacional do Estado de Sao Paulo: Stages 1 through 4

Posted by Editoress on 03/22/06
 

Volta de Ciclismo Internacional do Estado de Sao Paulo

Symmetrics Reports From Brazil
by Andrew Randell/Symmetrics Cycling

Symmetrics Cycling's newest recruit, Andrew Randell, is in Brazil with the team for the Volta de Ciclismo Internacional do Estado de Sao Paulo. This is the first of Symmetrics' Brazilian campaign, and part of the team's bid to win the 2006 UCI Americas Tour., The race is a nine-stage race against the best teams in South America, and includes several 200km + stages - set in the heat of Brazil. 6 riders from Symmetrics are racing the tour: Randell, Brad Fairall, Christian Meier, Eric Wohlberg, Jacob Erker and Marsh Cooper. Here's what Andrew has to say about the first day of competition:

Day one of the Volta Ciclistica de Sao Paulo and the team acquitted themselves well. The stage was a split day with a 22km opening stage on the F1 circuit in Sao Paulo followed in the afternoon by an 88km road stage.

For several days before the Volta we were in Sao Paulo, one of the biggest cities in the world, and the only riding we were able to do was on a 2km circuit in a local park: it made for a lot of laps I tell you. It also wasn't the best riding for our legs and the opening stage was a struggle for all of us as our legs were blocked from several days of pseudo riding in the park. The race only did five laps on the F1 circuit but we jammed the whole way. What was hard on us was the heat; one effort would put you in serious difficulty. Contesting the sprints for the points and mountains jersey the team was definitely put on the rivet. Nevertheless we did a good job putting together a lead-out for the mountains sprint, with Brad managing second. On the last lap we all struggled, but made it in one piece, toweled down and started to focus on the afternoon's race.

No one on the team knew what their legs were going to be like, after having been so blocked in the morning, so we decided just to watch how the race would unfold and mark as many moves as possible. The race rolled down the highway, dead straight on a rolling road with a bit of a headwind. The constant rollers actually made for some tough racing with constant accelerations on each climb. In the end three riders got up the road without us in it, but the chase was on in the field. Up the road the guys in the break were doing an impressive ride, holding their margin at one minute for a long time. Running into the finish there were a couple of rollers and the race just went ballistic with the field strung-out single file. All the guys were there in the front as the gap to the leaders started to fall. Eric and Jake did an impressive amount of work to try and set me up for the sprint as we rushed into the finishing straight. Through all the bumping and banging I managed to hold my position but didn't have the legs for the sprint and wasn't able to come off the wheel. All in all a much better ride in the afternoon than we had been expecting. The team's jamming and we're just getting this thing rolling.

With 7 stages to go, Symmetrics' Randell is 18th overall - so look for some shake-ups on the GC once the going gets tough.

Stage 1 - March 19: Sao Paulo, 21.5 km

1. Hector Figueiras (Uru) Cesc/C.E Sao Caetano/Sundown, 26:41
2. Nilceu Santos (Bra) Scott/Marcondes Cesar/Fadenp/SJC
3. Sebastian Cancio (Arg) Cesc/C.E Sao Caetano/Sundown
4. Pedro Soeiro (Por) Riberalves/Alcobaca
5. Fabielle Mota (Bra) Flamengo FC/Sao Lucas Saude
6. Kleber Santos (Bra) Extra/Caloi/Suzano
7. Vladimir Smirnov (Ltu) Partzan/Bianchi
8. Alexander Gonzalez (Col) Caico Cycling Team
9. Marcos Novello (Bra) Memorial/Santos/Fupes/Giant/N.Caixa
10. Evandro Portela (Bra) Blumenau/DataRo/Pinarello

30. Eric Wohlberg (USA) Symmetrics Cycling Team
41. Andrew Randell (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
54. Jacob Erker (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
80. Christian Meier (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
87. Marsh Cooper (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team, all s.t.
100. Bradley Fairall (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team, 0.40

Stage 2, March 19th: Sao Paulo - Sao Jose dos Campos, 88.5 km

1. Tiago Fiorilli (Bra) Extra/Caloi/Suzano, 1:58:47
2. Armando Camargo (Bra) Memorial/Santos/Fupes/Giant/N.Caixa, at s.t.
3. Hector Figueiras (Uru) Cesc/C.E Sao Caetano/Sundown, 0:07
4. Nilceu Santos (Bra) Scott/Marcondes Cesar/Fadenp/SJC
5. Pedro Soeiro (Por) Riberalves/Alcobaca
6. Joseph Papp (USA) Partzan/Bianchi
7. Fabielle Mota (Bra) Flamengo FC/Sao Lucas Saude
8. Miguel Sattler (Uru) Avai FC/Florianopolis/Senac
9. Bruno Carvalho (Por) Riberalves/Alcobaca
10. Bruno Tabanez (Bra) Flamengo FC/Sao Lucas Saude

11. Andrew Randell (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
54. Jacob Erker (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
56. Bradley Fairall (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
71. Eric Wohlberg (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
81. Marsh Cooper (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team, all s.t.
84. Christian Meier (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team, 0.54

Stage 3, March 20th: Sao Jose dos Campos to Atibaia, 108.7 km

1. Pedro Soeiro (Por) Riberalves/Alcobaca, 2:34:43
2. Marcio May (Bra) Scott/Marcondes Cesar/Fadenp/SJC, at 0:06
3. Evandro Portela (Bra) Blumenau/DataRo/Pinarello, 0:09
4. Andrei Zintchenko (Rus) Riberalves/Alcobaca, 0:10
5. Tiago Fiorilli (Bra) Extra/Caloi/Suzano, 0:12
6. Miguel Sattler (Uru) Avai FC/Florianopolis/Senac, 0:13
7. Otavio Bulgarelli (Bra) Peels Capacetes/Caloi/Iracemapolis, 0:15
8. Douglas Bueno (Bra) Extra/Caloi/Suzano, 0:17
9. Adriano Martins (Bra) Flamengo FC/Sao Lucas Saude
10. Sebastian Cancio (Arg) Cesc/C.E Sao Caetano/Sundown, both s.t.

23. Andrew Randell (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team, 0:24
24. Jacob Erker (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team, s.t.
42. Marsh Cooper (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team, 0:42
72. Eric Wohlberg (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team, 0:49
75. Bradley Fairall (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team. 1:17

Stage 4 - March 21: Atibaia - Sao Carlos, 249.5 km

1. Hector Figueiras (Uru) Cesc/C.E Sao Caetano/Sundown, 6:22:02
2. Bradley Fairall (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
3. Andre Grizante (Bra) Extra/Caloi/Suzano
4. Vladimir Smirnov (Ltu) Partzan/Bianchi
5. Nilceu Santos (Bra) Scott/Marcondes Cesar/Fadenp/SJC
6. Carlos Franca (Bra) Peels Capacetes/Caloi/Iracemapolis
7. Raphael Serpa (Bra) S Parnaiba/Kenda/Gallo/DKS/N.Caixa
8. Jose Diniz (Bra) S Parnaiba/Kenda/Gallo/DKS/N.Caixa
9. Kleber Ramos Silva (Bra) Peels Capacetes/Caloi/Iracemapolis
10. Magno Nazaret (Bra) Scott/Marcondes Cesar/Fadenp/SJC

11. Jacob Erker (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
22. Christian Meier (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
27. Andrew Randell (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
28. Eric Wohlberg (USA) Symmetrics Cycling Team
41. Marsh Cooper (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team, all s.t.

GC

1. Pedro Soeiro (Por) Riberalves/Alcobaca, 11:22:10
2. Hector Figueiras (Uru) Cesc/C.E Sao Caetano/Sundown, at 0:06
3. Tiago Fiorilli (Bra) Extra/Caloi/Suzano, 0:09
4. Marcio May (Bra) Scott/Marcondes Cesar/Fadenp/SJC, 0:10
5. Evandro Portela (Bra) Blumenau/DataRo/Pinarello, 0:15
6. Miguel Sattler (Uru) Avai FC/Florianopolis/Senac, 0:23
7. Sebastian Cancio (Arg) Cesc/C.E Sao Caetano/Sundown, s.t.
8. Otavio Bulgarelli (Bra) Peels Capacetes/Caloi/Iracemapolis, 0:25
9. Alex Arseno (Bra) Blumenau/DataRo/Pinarello, 0:26
10. Rui Lavarinhas (Por) Riberalves/Alcobaca, 0:27

22. Andrew Randell (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team, 0:34
24. Jacob Erker (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team, s.t.
41. Marsh Cooper (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team, 0:52
55. Eric Wohlberg (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team, 0:59
63. Bradley Fairall (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team, 1:59
69. Christian Meier (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team, 3:59

Points GC

1. Hector Figueiras (Uru) Cesc/C.E Sao Caetano/Sundown, 29 pts
2. Pedro Soeiro (Por) Riberalves/Alcobaca, 14
3. Tiago Fiorilli (Bra) Extra/Caloi/Suzano, 11
4. Nilceu Santos (Bra) Scott/Marcondes Cesar/Fadenp/SJC, 11
5. Bradley Fairall (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team, 9

Mountains GC

1. Jacob Erker (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team, 12 pts
2. Alex Diniz (Bra) Cesc/C.E Sao Caetano/Sundown, 9
3. Luciano Montivero (Arg) Puertas de Cuyo/Argentina, 8
4. Mac Donald Fernandes (Bra) Cesc/C.E Sao Caetano/Sundown, 5
5. Antonio Nascimento (Bra) Memorial/Santos/Fupes/Giant/N.Caixa, 4

Teams GC

1. Riberalves/Alcobaca, 34:07:27
2. Scott/Marcondes Cesar/Fadenp/SJC, at 0:14
3. Blumenau/DataRo/Pinarello, 0:19
4. Cesc/C.E Sao Caetano/Sundown, 0:32
5. Extra/Caloi/Suzano, 0:37

8. Symmetrics Cycling Team, 1:03