May 2/06 8:49 am - Tour of Shenandoah: Stage 7, Report, Photos, Final GC

Posted by Editoress on 05/2/06
 

Tour of Shenandoah Virginia
Courtesy Organizer

Photos

Brent Bookwalter Lands His First Big One!
Priority Health Rider Wins GC and U-23 at Shenandoah

Priority Health's Brent Bookwalter won the 2006 Tour of Shenandoah General and U-23 Classifications after a hard week of mountainous racing that culminated in a display of his verstaility when he took second-place in the sprint of the criterium finale in downtown Waynesboro.

"It feels phenomenal" exclaimed Bookwalter, 22, thrilled to win his first general classification title. The Grand Rapids, Michigan native finished the 31.5-mile hilly criterium in 1:06:17.

After 7 stages, Bookwalter had the best total time of 15:57:36, 1 minute 24 seconds faster than 2nd place GC finisher Dan Timmerman of Fiordifrutta and 1 minute 27 seconds faster than Team Nerac/Outdoorlights.com's Justin Spinelli who placed 3rd GC.

Champagne bottles popped at the podiums after Bookwalter was awarded the final green GC leader's jersey, presented by DiscoverBathCounty.com and the yellow U-23 jersey presented by Byvik Financial Services.

Over the past six days, Brent Bookwalter proved his mettle as an all rounder. He succeeded in the grueling Blue Ridge Mountains. He excelled in the time trials. And in the finale, he took on the chiseled, tree-trunk legs of Rite Aid's Zach Bell, one of Canada's top track cyclists.

"Every day here is a new challenge," said Bookwalter who thinks of himself as a climber but admits he is a decent all rounder. "If I could pick only one race, this would be the one I'd do," said Bookwalter.

"It takes an all rounder to win the Tour of Shenandoah," said executive race director Matt Butterman after the race. "While we're open to racers of all ages, the Tour of Shenandoah showcases the best young talent in North America," Butterman said. "Brent [Bookwalter] is a terrific young rider-exactly the type of cyclist we had in mind when we designed the course," said Butterman.

How will Bookwalter celebrate? "I've got a chemistry exam and a senior research paper to do this week" said Bookwalter, a student at Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, North Carolina.

Stage 7 Criterium Recap

After six tough stages, more than a quarter of the original field of riders dropped out prior to today's 33-lap, 30-mile criterium in downtown Waynesboro, Virginia. Even Priority Health was missing their star rider Tom Zirbel. Zirbel-who wore the GC leader jersey the first three stages-was sidelined with a minor concussion after a high-speed crash during Wednesday's mountainous stage 4.

However, Priority Health started today's stage 7 well positioned to defend Bookwalter's GC and U-23 jerseys. A Priority Health member wore the green leader jersey every day during the race except for stage 4, and, to a man, the team was focused on keeping the GC. Bruno Langlois of AEG-Toshiba/JetNetworks was the only rider able to briefly wrest the green jersey from Priority Health.

History was on Priority Health's side. Eddy Hilger and Bookwalter finished the Waynesboro criterium 1st and 2nd, respectively, in the 2005 Tour of Shenandoah. "It's my favorite crit," Hilger said the before the race.

Stage 7 started at 3 p.m. Several breaks formed during the race, but the main pack continually reeled them in throughout the 33-lap, 30-mile course. Bookwalter stayed comfortable in the front of the peloton most of the race.

"Sometimes the best, safest place to be is out front," Bookwalter said. "Eddy [Hilger] worked hard to keep me out of trouble," Bookwalter said. "I had the luxury of being able to conserve early in the week," Bookwalter said. "We had two other guys that had the leader jersey."

Bookwalter and Rite Aid's Zach Bell of White Horse, Yukon wound up in a sprinter's duel the last 100 meters of the race. Bell found the line first, but only by the narrowest of margins ahead of Bookwalter.

"I had the guys I needed up front," said Bell. "I'm glad I had the snap in the end after a long week of racing," he said. "This has been one of the most enthusiastic crowds we've had all week," said the renowned Canadian track specialist.

G.S. Mengoni's Alberto Blanco finished 3rd stage 7, right behind Bell and Bookwalter to finishing the Tour of Shenandoah 31st GC.

Rite Aid finished the Tour with two jerseys. Bell secured the red Sprinter's jersey today, and his teammate Christoph Herby of Charlottesville, Virginia claimed the blue King of the Mountains jersey after stage 5.

Herby said he trains in the Shenandoah Valley and calls it "a secret cycling paradise."

Bookwalter shared the same sentiment about the race course saying "there are very few races like this in America."
Scenically, the Tour of Shenandoah is unique. As for the number of days' racing, only three events on the U.S. National Racing Calendar offer six or more, namely the Tour of California, Tour de Georgia, and Tour de Toona. This puts the Tour of Shenandoah in very select company.

Under-23 Summary

With eight U-23 riders in the top 20 of the General Classification, and three in the top ten - including the GC winner - the 2006 Tour of Shenandoah has continued its tradition of showcasing North America's future stars.

Behind Brent Bookwalter finished 23-years old Sam Schultz (Byvik Financial Services/TrekVW), from Missoula, Montana, at 2:57, second in the U-23 category and seventh in GC.

Third in the U-23 category came 19-years old James Camut (Watchung Wheelmen/High Gear Cyclery), from Johnstown, New Jersey, at 3:42 and eighth in the GC.