June 3/02 9:03 am - Clarendon Cup: Team Reports, Dionne 3rd (fr)

Posted by Editoress on 06/3/02
 

Clarendon Cup Washington, DC

Another "V" for Vassili
Report Courtesy Navigators

Vassili Davidenko of the Navigators Cycling Team notched his second major victory, in as many weeks, with a blistering sprint in today's 5th edition of the 100Km Clarendon Cup race, in Arlington, Virginia. This National Racing Calendar (NRC) event is one of the most prestigious races on the domestic circuit due to its proximity to the all-important First Union series that begins on Tuesday. All of the domestic Pro squads, as well as a handful of invited Elite teams, were on hand for the race and the start list boasted an impressive 14 Olympians, including Navigators' Olympic Sprint Champion; Marty Nothstein.. The riders were greeted with strong winds and temperatures that climbed into the high 80's shortly after the 12-noon start, a departure from the early morning start as in the past.

With 100 laps of racing on a 5-corner course ahead of them, the race started out with the usual early solo move. The lone rider was soon reeled in, only to be replaced by another attack that would also prove to be short lived. Although the high speed and continuously strung-out peloton thwarted any escape attempts, every team tried its hand at breaking up the field anyway. The first major break occurred with about 50 laps remaining as Chad Gerlach (Sierra Nevada) was being reeled in from a solo move, and a group of 14 successfully separated themselves from the speeding mass of racers. Navigators' U.S. Criterium Champion; Kirk O'Bee was soon joined by teammate Oleg Grichkine in the split, but there was a lot of racing yet to be done. As the break established themselves in the lead, several attacks broke it into a few small groups, while back in the field a number of attacking riders were now coming up to the leaders. With a reshuffle of the players and a number of new faces in the lead, it looked as if the re-formed break had the suds to stay clear of the main bunch. This series of attacks decimated the field and the now 26-strong breakaway was highly motivated. A quick count of the leaders and the Navigators men in blue seemed to be a bit short-handed as O'Bee and Davidenko were the only representatives while most of the other teams had 4-5 in the mix. A crash at an inopportune time had cost the team some much-needed horsepower. In just a handful of fast laps, the break had successfully lapped the field, which now numbered about 60.

As the laps wound down to 20-to-go, the Prime Alliance team took control of the field in support of their 2 sprinters that were now 1-lap up on the rest of the field. In a show of solid team tactics, each of the major squads took up their positions at the front of the field in what would appear to be an upcoming battle of the trains. At 10-to-go, Mercury's Chris Wherry attacked by himself and soon was 20-seconds clear. The laps were coming down quickly, and the speed of the peloton was increasing dramatically. With 2 laps remaining, each team was down to their final riders with sprinters in tow. Navigators' Marty Nothstein (a lap in arrears with most of the peloton) went to the front and put his awesome sprinting power to work and closed the gap to Wherry. An attack from Mercury's strongman Henk Vogels looked to be the winning move with just under 1-lap remaining. However, Navigators' very dependable strongman Oleg Grichkine responded in kind, pulling Vassili clear for the mad dash from the final corner. With a perfect team effort to back him up, Vassili unleashed his sprint and took the "V" in front of thousands of excited cycling fans. Dave McCook (Prime Alliance) took the second step of the podium while 7-Up's Charles Dionne rounded out the top-3.

Saturn's Teutenberg Steams to the Win in DC
Navigator's Davidenko Takes Top Honors
Report Courtesy Saturn

It was Navigator's Vascilli Davidenko and Saturn's Ina Teutenberg putting on a show at the Clarendon Cup in Washington, DC today. Both riders are known for their wicked fast finishing speed, but Teutenberg and her Saturn Team played it safe, launching Teutenberg less than half way into the race, utilizing her horse power in lieu of her sprint. Davidenko, however, the superb lead-out skills of his Navigator teammates, unleashing his razor sharp jump only a few hundred meters from the line to claim the win.

The women and men's race was held on the same technical and fun criterium course. The Saturn women checked in to the race with immediate attacks. It was an attack from Suzanne Sonye that offered Teutenberg the perfect counter opportunity, and soon the German was off the front with a slender gap on the determined Diet Rite team. Tanya Duff - Miller and Teutenberg's Saturn teammate, Kristy Scrymgeour, were able to slip the chase and bridge to Teutenberg. Diet Rite put on a fierce effort, keeping the threesome close, but unable to close the gap. As Duff-Miller and Scrymgeour fell of the pace, it was Teutenberg alone holding the chase at bay. Amazingly, she remained solo for the final 30 laps, finishing for a stellar win about 30 seconds up on Charmain Breone (Freddy-Fu). Breone managed to escape with two laps to go for an impressive second place just in front of a charging field lead by Diet Rite who delivered Tina Pic for the field sprint win and third place.

The men's race soon became a race of attrition after aggressive racing and several crashes swept away the high hopes of many of the teams, most notably the Saturn and Mercury teams. The crashes combined with the wind and the heat brought the big field of 120 to only twenty riders by the final ten laps. Prior to that, forty laps to go in the 100 kilometer race, roughly thirty riders had lapped the field, with many field sprinters still present. Saturn suffered some unfortunate luck when a crash separated Trent Klasna, Ivan Dominguez and Tim Johnson from the field. Prime Alliance did an effective job of riding tempo for the final laps of the race, blowing the remaining peloton apart. However, as they did last week at the Housatonic Classic, the Navigator Team, once again delivered Davidenko to the line for the win. Prime Alliance's Dave McCook was second over 7-Ups Charles Dionne.

Almost all the teams head up to Philadelphia for the First Union series, kicking off Tuesday in Lancaster, PA. The women will race the Liberty Classic on Sunday, the same day as the men's US Pro Road Race championships in downtown Philadelphia, PA.

Men:
1. Vascilli Davidenko - Navigators
2. Dave McCook - Prime Alliance
3. Charles Dionne - 7-UP

Women:
1. Ina Teutenberg - Saturn Cycling Team
2. Charmain Breone - Freddy Fu
3. Tina Mayolo - Pic - Diet Rite

Note: Gord Fraser crashed early in the race and was out of contention.

Dionne, de plus en plus convainquant : il termine troisième à la Clarendon Cup
Sportcom

Charles Dionne ne se laisse pas impressionné, peu lui importe si le peloton compte 150 coureurs. En fait, le cycliste de St-Rédempteur commence plutôt à impressionner comme en témoigne sa troisième place à la Clarendon Cup, un critérium de 100 kilomètres dans les rues de Arlington, en Virginie.

Le Russe Oleg Grichkine de l'équipe Navigators a pris le premier rang, tandis que Dave McCook (Prime Alliance) a terminé deuxième. Dionne, qui parle aussi vite qu'il pédale, était fou de joie. "Je suis bien content ! C'était une grosse étape. Je suis vraiment en forme et j'attends avec impatience la série First Union qui commence mardi. Ce sera probablement un des pelotons les plus relevés cette année en Amérique du nord, avec entre autres, Georges Hincapie de la puissante formation US Postal", a lancé Dionne d'un seul souffle.

Cette série sera importante pour Dionne qui a déjà reçu quelques offres de différentes équipes pour la saison prochaine. Il se doit également de préparer le Grand prix cycliste de Beauce au cours duquel l'équipe qui se rendra à Manchester pour les Jeux du Commonwealth sera choisie.

N'eut été de l'initiative du coureur de 23 ans, son équipe, 7Up-Nutra Fig, ne prenait pas le départ du tour québécois. "J'ai appelé mon commanditaire, Norampac, qui a accepté de financer l'équipe pour cette compétition. " Dionne sait qu'il a de bonnes chances d'être retenu au sein de la formation canadienne "mais j'aimerais mieux ne pas laisser le choix aux entraîneurs en gagnant l'étape de sélection. C'est dans ma cour cette course-là ! " a-t-il ajouté, convaincu de ses chances de réussir. Quatre Canadiens s'envoleront vers Manchester en juillet.