August 16/10 17:54 pm - Ontario Provincial Road Race Championship, Masters B category race report

Posted by Editoress on 08/16/10
 

Wheels of Bloor standout Ian Scott capped a magnificent break out season with the Ontario Provincial Road Race crown in the Master B (40-49) category in Elliot Lake on Sunday, August 15th, after winning the Canadian National Championship in Edmonton, Alberta on July 2nd.

Under ideal conditions (27 Celcius), with partly cloudy skies and a moderate wind out of the southwest, the Masters B (40-49 yrs) category race began just a few minutes late at 11:15 am. Wieslaw Matuszczak (Racer Sportif) attacked within the first kilometre and was joined by another rider.  The duo quickly gained 30 seconds on the peloton. At the first and longest hill on the course at the 4 kilometre mark, Jon Gee (Rendall) drove the tempo to the top of the climb, swallowing up the two-man break. Once at the top of the hill teammate Ron Amos, joined by Shawn Staff (Wheels of Bloor), executed a well planned attack, leveraging Gee's work up the hill. The attack failed as the attentive peloton raced in to close the gap.

The move was then countered by Bruce Bird (Wheels of Bloor) and Matusczczak but quickly reeled back in. Krzysztof Kurzawinski (Kurzawinski Coach) and Ilya Petrovsky (Above Threshold) were also very active in trying to establish a break. Attacks were constant through the first 15 kilometres and the pace was high, as the peloton would not let any of the breakaway attempts succeed. At 18 kilometres Richard Dagenais (Independent), who was second in the GC standings heading into the Road Race, flatted but thanks to some speedy and timely support by the wheel vehicle he was able to join back with the peloton.

At the turn around GC leader Stephen Baker (Team Cross) was accidentally clipped and fell down awkwardly at a slow speed. The news spread through the pack instantly and the pace quickened. Baker and his bike were fine, and back up near the front of the peloton within a few minutes.

Just past the first turn-around, approximately 22 kilometre's into the race, Amos and Matuszczak sprinted up a hill and gained a 30 seconds lead on the pack. Six kilometres later Miguel Novo (Dornellas) surged ten metres off the front, looked back then surged another 10 metres, looked back again and, seeing no response, worked his way up to break by the 30 kilometre point.

Staff and Baker did some work at the front of the peloton keeping the pack within 20 seconds of the three-man break, who were fighting hard to stay away into a headwind. The peloton was then content to let the break remain just clear of the front for the next 5 kilometres. With a team mate (Staff) at the front of the peloton, Bird attacked on a slight downhill, trying to escape from the peloton and join the breakaway. The move was closely marked by the pack at high speeds, which resulted in Staff going down and hitting the asphalt at 60 kph. Fortunately, Shawn was okay, except for some nasty road rash and a busted wheel. The net result of the attack was that the break was caught.

With the peloton back together at the end of the first lap (43.2 kilometres), Kurzawinski and a teammate broke free and quickly built up a 30 second lead. One kilometre later Bird decided to bridge up to the two Kurzawinski riders and caught them near the top of the first climb. Back in the peloton a selection occurred during the chase and climb up the hill, as a group of ten riders joined the three-man break with a precarious ten second lead on the peloton. The selection of riders were unable to organize and were caught by the peloton within two kilometres.

John Gee made the next attack and steadily rode away from a recovering group of riders in the main pack. Amos announced to the group that his teammate (Gee) would be able to keep up that pace all day. Gee had already won 11 races in 2010, including the Ottawa Cycling Club Grand Prix (July 17), with a 30 second gap on the second placed rider. Petrovski tried hard to break free but was closely marked by Amos. Bird countered the move and bridged up to Gee over the next kilometre. With Amos, Ian Scott and Mike Peshko (Wheels of Bloor) countering any moves at the front of the peloton. Bird and Gee worked together establishing as much as a one minute lead on the main pack. The two-man break were able to get out of view once off of Hwy 108 and on to the six kilometre curvy stretch of road leading to the turn-around on Panel Mine Road. However, despite their efforts, the break only had a 40 second lead at the final turn around.

With open lines of sight and into a headwind back on Hwy 108, Bird and Gee were never out of view and maintained just a 30 second lead heading into the final 15 kilometres. The peloton kept the two-man break within striking distance as they prepared for a sprint finish. After 30  kilometres in the break the peloton swallowed up the two riders with just one kilometre remaining. The final sprint started with 500 metres to go, and with the peloton already travelling at 50 kph, thanks to a slight descent.

Thanks to the wide road, riders were safely able to spread out over two full lanes. Rob D'Amico (Z Team) made a well timed move on the left side with Kurzawinski moving up the middle and Scott on the far right. In a finish that was extremly close, Scott edged out D'Amico to claim the provincial crown with Kurzawinski placing third. Baker finished the sprint in sixth place and claimed the GC title for the weekend.

Courtesy Bruce Bird

Race results