September 14/13 19:45 pm - U23 Prospect Challenge: Stage 2 report and results

Posted by Editoress on 09/14/13
 

A little experience can go a long way, and so it proved for Ryan Aitcheson (Team Ontario) on stage two of the Centurion U23 Prospect Challenge.  By winning the Blue Mountain Village Criterium he moved into the lead of both the general classification and the points competition.
 
“I was really excited for this stage,” commented Aitcheson, who usually races for the Chicago-based Astellas Oncology Cycling Team.  “I do a lot of crits throughout the year down in the States and so I was very excited to have a strong team (for this stage).  They pulled through for me, made sure nothing dangerous got up the road, and I was able to win all the sprints to get as many points and time bonuses as possible today.”
 
Held on a tricky 1.57km course, the 20-lap race featured points and time bonus sprints every five laps.  Aitcheson and overnight leader Benjamin Perry (Team CHCH) were first and second for the first two sprints, but a large crash leading into the third bonus sprint on lap 15 proved disastrous for Perry.
 
Aitcheson had a small gap over the field on his way to taking the third bonus sprint, and was joined soon thereafter by the Team Ottawa duo of Matteo Dal-Cin and Kevin Massicotte, as well as Jack Burke of Team CHCH.  A number of riders, including Perry, took a free lap following the lap-15 crash, and were instructed to rejoin the remaining peloton and not the four-man breakaway.
 
Dal-Cin was particularly strong in driving the break over the remaining laps, causing Burke to be dislodged.  To add confusion to the mix, Simon Fothergill, also of Team CHCH, made it a quartet again after rejoining the race following a free lap.
 
Perry was at the front of the chasing main field, valiantly trying to save his three-second overall lead, but the breakaway wasn’t to be denied.
 
On the final lap Massicotte attacked upon leaving the twisting Village portion of the course, but Aitcheson stayed with him and countered on the backstretch to open a gap that he held to the line.  Dal-Cin passed a tiring Massicotte to move into second, but overcooked it and slid out on the same sharp turn that was the scene of the lap-15 crash.  Fothergill was next over the line, but was deemed by the commissaires to have improperly joined the break, giving second to Massicotte, while Brandon Etzl (Team Ontario) won the field sprint for third.
 
A lengthy discussion followed after the race regarding the rights and wrongs about whether or not the winning breakaway was a result of the lap-15 crash and if Perry et al should have rejoined at the head of the race or with the chasing pack.  The commissaires did not alter their decision and Aitcheson now leads with a 26-second advantage over Perry, with William Elliott (Team CHCH) third at 33 seconds and a battered and bruised Dal-Cin fourth at 40 seconds.
 
Perry was also sporting scrapes on his legs thanks to his crash and, after wrecking his own bike, will borrow race director Graham Fraser’s for tomorrow’s third and final stage.  “It’s going to be hard to overcome 30 seconds tomorrow,” admitted the erstwhile leader.  “We’ll see how it goes.”
 
For his part, Massicotte was quite upbeat about the chances of a Team Ottawa rider to win the overall.  “We have a lot of experience compared to these guys.  Even though it’s a short race we have some firepower and a lot of knowledge about how the racing goes.  We’re going to go for a breakaway tomorrow to try to wrap up the GC.  We have a couple of guys within striking distance.”
 
“I’ve raced with Ryan for years and years now.  I know he’s beatable because I’ve beaten him before. Whether it happens or not remains to be seen.  He’s extremely strong but I think to beat him we need to get into a breakaway where we have the numbers.  We have to make him work.  Start launching guys with maybe 20 kilometres to go, force Ryan to chase, and then in the last couple k’s send someone solo.  It’s going to be tough but that doesn’t mean we won’t try.”
 
Race Notes
- Team CHCH coach Rick Lee was disappointed but philosophical about the commissaires decision regarding the lap-15 crash.  “To see the yellow jersey go down and he was there with that main lead group and certainly would have been, you would have thought, to the finish, that’s just a sad thing to see have happen.  The whole race could be decided by a handful of seconds and that may well have decided the whole tour, which is sad because it’s a fantastic bike race.”
 
Lee commended Aitcheson for arguing on behalf of Perry and the other crash victims and suggesting to the commissaires that those who crashed be given the same time as the winner.  “If the riders were actually to say their bit they’d probably agree that that would be the right thing to do.  Ryan should certainly get the stage but there shouldn’t have been a gap given.  That’s very sportsmanlike of him to do that and most sportsmen would do exactly the same thing.”
 
- Despite saying he is a bit short of fitness, Mitchell Bailey has recovered from what could have been a tragic accident.  Two weeks ago while in South Africa for the World Mountain Bike Championships, the Trek Canada-sponsored rider was hit by a car while riding to the start of the U23 Men’s Cross-country race.  Although his bike was damaged beyond repair, Bailey suffered only bruised ribs.  With adrenalin coursing through his body, he started the race on a borrowed bike, but the effects of the crash eventually caught up to him and he was pulled after completing three laps of the six-lap event.
 
- Ben Perry has spent most of the season racing in Europe for the U23 division of Belgian pro team Lotto – Belisol.  According to Perry the team is happy with his performance, but he is still awaiting confirmation of a contract for 2014.  In the meantime the St. Catharines resident has started business studies at Brock University.
 
- William Elliott is looking decidedly lean as he prepares to represent Canada in the Junior Men’s Road Race at the upcoming World Championships in Toscana, Italy.  “I’ve lost five pounds since the summer started. It’s made a huge difference.”
 
 Report by Emil van Dijk

Stage 1 report and results

Results from the second stage of the Centurion U23 Prospect Challenge in Collingwood