8/26 Chris Thater Memorial Criterium Binghampton, NY

17th Place: Gavi Epstein 9 NRC Pts.

Gavi Epstein, Guy East and Trinidadian guest rider, Adam Alexander, traveled to upstate New York today to tackle the Chris Thater Memorial Criterium. Early in the event East and Alexander were active covering moves and looking to escape the field but there was too much Pro horse power looking for a field sprint for anything serious to get away. On the last lap Kyle Wamsely (Navigators Insurance) escaped the tip of the peleton for the win and Gavi Epstein sprinted his way into 17th Place as one of the top amateurs on the day.

8/22 Sakonnet Technology U25 selected for Univest Grand Prix Sounderton, PA

The CRCA/Sakonnet Technology U25 Cycling Team was selected as one of the handful of amateur teams invited to this years Univest Grand Prix.  Sparta Cycling, the promoter of the event, announced the names of the 26 teams invited to this year’s event which include professional teams from the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Italy, Hungary, Columbia and Italy. The Univest Grand Prix will be held in Souderton, PA on Saturday September 8, 2007. The Univest GP will be followed by the Doylestown Criterium on September 9th.
For more information on the event visit www.SpartaCycling.com.

8/18-19 Tour of Millersburg Millersburg, PA

1st Place: Gavi Epstein Overall G.C.
4th Place: Gavi Epstein Stage 1 Time Trial
1st Place: Gavi Epstein Stage 2 Criterium
1st Place: Gavi Epstein Stage 3 Road Race

Gavi Epstein was on fire at the Tour of Millersburg winning two stages and taking the Overall General Classification as well. The Tour of Millersburg is a new event on the northeast calendar with lots of promise which was evident when Bob Roll was there to announce the event.

In the opening Stage 1, 12 mile Time Trial, Gavi clocked one of the fastest times of the day for a 25:37 which was an average of 28.1mph! Gavi is not known as a time trialist but his performances are improving drastically and this result was good enough for 4th Place on the day.

Stage 2 was a Criterium held on a 1.5 mile course in downtown Millersburg.  Riding solo at the event Gavi had to be selective of his efforts yet on the second lap an opportunity arose and Gavi went for it quickly opening a 50 second gap. A few laps later Gavi was joined by a chase group and the race was going to be settled out of this five man group.  Gavi was quick to jump out of the last corner and powered away for a solo win with 4 seconds in hand, Bob Roll went crazy with approval over the mic!

In the final event, a 72 mile Road Race, Gavi had a 1 point advantage over Mike Miller (Alliance Environmental) and he was the man to watch.  The race played out like a game of cat and mouse between Gavi and Miller but it was Miller who threw down the first serious attack of the day quickly gaining an advantage on the field containing Gavi.  Gavi quickly mounted a chase and brought back the move but then a serious of attacks began to fly including another one by Millar that broke the field. Unknown to Miller, Gavi had latched on to the move and was in prime position with less than a mile to go in the event. Taking a page from yesterday’s event Gavi knew the last corner was the key to winning the sprint and in the last 100 meters he powered past an LSV/Kelly rider for his second win of the weekend and the overall G.C. title as well.

8/18 Sakonnet Alumni, Andy Guptill, checks in from China with the USA National Team

“Sakonnet Alumni Andy Guptill, now riding for Colavita-Sutter Home, was given a trip of a life to pre ride the 2008 Olympic course with U.S. National Team. For those of you interested in learning about the course and how Team U.S.A. did read on.” – Editor

Hi All,

I just competed in the Beijing Olympic test event over in China.  It was quite an experience and the race went well overall, but could have been a lot better.

Quick run down of the course starts in "downtown" Beijing which is a huge city (the downtown is the size of Delaware), we then headed North/Northwest up to the hills and towards a scenic section of the Great Wall of China.  Once we hit the hills you do 4 ~20km circuits, which features a 10km climb and then a 10km decent, so super hard.  The climb was mainly gradual, but had a few steep sections w/ switchbacks that made it selective.  Also, the loop went over or under the Great Wall 4 times per lap...cool. 

The race started at 1 pm today, and it was hot, in the high 80s or low 90s and super humid, so pretty miserable.  The run out of the city was amazing, we were on the largest roads and highways, and they were shut down completely and just lined w/ tens of thousands of people.  It was ridiculous to see a city the size of Beijing just at a standstill for a bike race.  The course took us past most of the city's tourist attractions, including Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. 

Early on, one of our (USA) guys, Nathan Miller got away w/ another rider, so we got to sit back and let other teams do the pace-making.  Once we hit the circuits, the race was really on and the break came back within a few kilometers.  Myself, Jonathan Garcia, and Scott Nydam were designated the "go to" guys, Nydam especially, so we did our best to stay at the front and make any splits that opened up.  We all pretty much stayed in the first 15 wheels up the entire climb, and I made it a point to hang on Cadel Evan's (Predictor-Lotto, UCI ProTour team) wheel as much as possible (yeah, I talked to him).  The group thinned out a bunch that lap, but was still pretty large.

Part way up the climb the second of 4 times, the Italian team was on the front and just started to drill it, burning guys left and right to create a huge split.  Scott, Jonathan and I were all in good position and made the split.  As the climb continued, the Italians did not let up and just kept upping the pace.  The top was getting near, but I was starting to get in a bit over my head and was doing everything I could to hold the wheel in front of me.  Finally, about 1.5 km from the top, I just couldn't keep the pace and had to swing over and out of the group.  By this time it was down to less than 20 guys, and I'm pretty sure I was the last guy to really get dropped...lame.  So I kept cruising and a bit later the second group of 20 guys or so caught me, but they were already over a minute down. 

So I was pretty damn disappointed, and my race was pretty much over.  We were still in contention for some top 20 placings but almost everyone in the group had teammates in the first split, so no one was too motivated to drive the pace, so we just rolled a decent tempo the last two laps to finish the race.  Meanwhile, the front group just kept flying and slowly shelled guys.  In the end, Jonathan ended up 9th, and Scott 12th, so not too shabby.  I rolled in w/ my group in 29th place...over 11 minutes down on the winner.

Overall, I'm not too disappointed with the race, because I dug deep and just didn't have quite enough today; plus the team overall did well.  I know my fitness is better than this and I have what it takes not to get dropped, but at that moment it just wasn't there when I needed it.  Tomorrow is the Olympic Time Trial test event, which does a lap of that hilly finishing circuit.  It is going to be a ridiculously hard time trial, and I'm glad I'm not going to be contesting it. 

Instead I am off to Ireland to start the Tour of Ireland on the 22nd.  – AG.

8/14 Rockleigh Criterium Series Rockleigh, NJ

1st Place: Gavi Epstein

“In Gavi’s own words” – Editor Note

I attacked early on in the race, but no one let anything go as there were a few primes early on. This was the last week of the series, but the first one I did this year. The course is a challenging one because the back stretch looks like a war zone with potholes everywhere. I knew if I got away, the guy leading the series and his team would let me go because if the guy in second won the race he would win the series. With 25 min to go I attacked again, and this time they let me go. I picked up a prime on the way (a water bottle) and I ended up about 45 seconds in front of the field by the time I hit the line at the finish for the win.

8/11-12 Georgia Cup - Dahlonega Dahlonega, GA

1st Place: Phil Gaimon Overall G.C.
3rd Place: Robbie Giannini Overall G.C.
1st Place: Phil Gaimon King of the Mountains

1st Place: Phil Gaimon Stage 3
3rd Place: Robbie Giannini Stage 3

2nd Place: Phil Gaimon Stage 1 TT
11th Place: Robbie Giannini Stage 1 TT

“Sakonnet riders took the South by storm leaving the locals wondering what hit them. The play by play is in Phil’s own words.” - Editor

Georgia Cups are a fairly well-contested stage race series. They usually attract all the local teams and a few pros. This weekend, most of the pros were elsewhere, but Aerospace Engineering Group's Alex Hagman showed up to contest the climbs, and Jittery Joe's brought a solid team in Thad Dulin, Tommy Nakervis, and Tim Henry. Of course, none of them could step to the unstoppable Sakonnet trio of David Guttenplan, new Georgia resident Robbie Giannini, and myself.

The first stage was an uphill TT. Thad Dulin beat me by 2 seconds for the win, and Robbie placed a respectable 11th, putting the team in great position to improve without the responsibilities of the yellow jersey.

Stage 2 was a 50-mile rolling circuit race. David and Robbie set tempo with Jittery Joes to keep the breaks in check, while all three of us covered moves. Tim Henry and Alex Hagman got away to make up some time on the last lap, but they were far enough down that it didn't affect the top GC spots. I tried to sneak away from Thad a few times, but he was on me like a blanket and we all finished on the same time.

The final stage was a 78 mile road race on the Tour de Georgia six-gap course. There were 4 KOM sprints, with huge time bonuses for each (20 seconds 10 deep), as well as a mountain top finish. Since I was only down by two seconds, I made these my targets. The first two KOMs were close to the start, so I decided to roll with the early break to grab some time. Four of us railed the first descent and the field let us go. My plan worked, as we hit the bottom of the first KOM with a gap. I went to the front and rode my pace, which dropped the breakaway companions. Worried that the field might come back, I didn't wait for them, and my tempo pace got me the bonuses at both early KOMs. The field must have sat up (or not realized I was missing when the other guys came back), and I soon heard a time gap of 2 minutes. It was only 5 miles in, and the next KOMs were around mile 50, so I just rode hard up the hills, and concentrated on coasting the descents and bombing the turns. There were only a couple flat sections where the field would have an advantage, and Robbie did a good job blocking time bonuses and covering attacks while Jittery Joes and other teams burned riders trying to chase. 72 miles later, I won solo by just under 4 minutes, as somewhere down the mountain, Robbie was blowing the doors off the shattered field. He dropped everyone but Thad, who took second after sitting on the last few miles, solidifying Sakonnet's 1st and 3rd on the stage and GC. David was in the last feed zone, and was proud to give bottles to everyone but Thad.

8/11-12 Tour of Christiana Christiana, PA

6th Place: Gavi Epstein Overall
9th Place: Gavi Epstein Stage 1 Road Race
7th Place: Gavi Epstein Stage 3 Criterium

“Chris Kuhl and Gaiv Epstein tackled the Tour of Christiana with great results. Here’s the recap from Gavi.” – Editor

Stage 1 - 66 Mile Road Race, 8 x 8 mile loop with 1 mile finishing climb
As soon as the race started attacks were flying. Chris and I followed moves as best we could, pretty much getting in everything. Chris was a little more active than me as he wanted to go with earlier moves, where I would be happy with it coming down to a sprint. I can't tell for sure, because everyone I talked to didn't know either, but in the feed zone 3rd time through there was a whole mess and the field started breaking up into little groups. Then I think Colby Pearce put in an attack with 4 guys following into a windy fast section in the woods. When the field finally regrouped I think a lot of us thought it was all together. A group of four then went. Chris put in a huge solo effort to get across, and made it. It took him a while but he made it (it was a long gap). As soon as that happened a local team went to the front and chased down his group. When we caught them on the next lap, that team just stopped riding. I think they also forgot about Colby's group. Anyway, laps went on the field was starting to shatter and I started getting dropped on the climb with 2 to go. At the top of the climb I couldn't pedal anymore, my bladder hurt too much, so I had to answer my call of nature and then chase back. I made it back to the field. We never caught Colby's group and he ended up winning. Going up the finishing climb I put myself in excellent position for the sprint. 700 meters to go Chris followed a solo attack which the field then followed. That guy pulled off and Chris kept drilling it until about 300 meters to go. Then the sprint was on, a rider nudged me out of line before Chris started pulling. I passed 2 other guys but Barrajo (Rite-Aid) and Wren ended up coming around me. I was 9th on the stage and Chris 24th. Points were 20 deep for GC.

Stage 2 - 10.3 Mile Rolling Time Trial
Not too much to report except the wise words of Matt K the night before. Go motorpacing in the morning!!! Chris and I went for a 20 min warm up in the morning and then his dad was nice enough to motorpace us for 10 min. We then drove to the race and had a good warm up there. In the first 2k there was a decent size hill and then rolling after that. I, to my amazement, took 1:25 off my time from last year (same conditions) and Chris around 50 seconds. I ended up 11th, 10/100ths of a second from 10th and less than a minute from the win. Chris was 13th, 4seconds slower than me, with Barrajo in between us. Colby Pearce finished 5th, holding the overall lead.

Stage 3 - 25 mile Criterium, 20 x 1.3 mile laps
It was a major climb up the start finish stretch in two parts, turn right false flat, right false flat down, hard right, quickly hard left, more downhill, really hard right under a bridge, quick left then really quick right, flat and then 100 degree right onto start finish stretch. I wanted to race a little more conservatively to hold my GC, while Chris was going for the stage. I would come across to a move if it was really dangerous. Within the second and third lap Chris was flying up the hill going with almost everything, but bad luck showed its face today as I got a rear flat before the start and had to take the spare wheel leaving no spare wheel for Chris when he got a rear flat. The official would not let him take anyone else’s wheel from the pit even though there were like 30 sets in there. Race went on and Bobby Lea was off the front Solo with 25 seconds. I put in a hard move to try and break the field apart, but instead they let me go solo for a lap. We brought back Lea short after that. The race went on and nothing was staying away, I was in a few short lived groups. On the last lap Bobby Lea did his classic 20 mile per hr faster than the field attacks attacked right through 2 guys who were just in front of the field and kept going. He ended up winning solo with about 5 or 6 seconds to spare. On the last lap Barrajo came by me pushing me over into the curb on the back stretch. I was then left in horrible position. I bombed it through the corners to get back to where I needed to be, but never quite made it. I ended up coming through the last corner in around 10th spot in the field and sprinted to 6th in the field for 7th on the stage. Colby ended up in 5th on the stage and winning the Overall. I ended up in 6th Overall.

8/8 Dick Lane Velodrome Atlanta, GA

1st Place: Phil Gaimon Points Race

Phil Gaimon showed his depth as a racer by winning the Points Race event at the Dick Lane Velodrome.  The field included notable stars like Gold medal winner Steve Hegg, Tim Henry (Jittery Joe’s) and Tony Scott a multiple Masters Track National Champion.  No one new the Sakonnet rider had won multiple events earlier this summer at T-Town as it was Phil’s first track race in the South.  The race was a 50 lapper and a few laps in Tony Scott was off the front in a solo move. Phil made a strong bridge across in time for the first points sprint however Scott took the points. Phil however was undeterred and continued to motor the move until the two riders lapped the field.  Once back in the field Phil threw down attack after attack distancing Scott and winning the race.

8/7 Marrietta Criterium Series Marrietta, GA

1st Place: Phil Gaimon

With 15 minutes to go in the race Phil Gaimon launched a strong attack that went clear of the field. With one rider in tow the finale was to be determined in a two up sprint.  Not known as a sprinter Phil patiently waited for the right moment to begin his sprint and his spent companion was not able to match the acceleration.

8/7 East's adventures in Europe, with the USA U23 National Team, continue to impress

3rd Place: Guy East Ronde van Vlaamse Brabant (UCI 2.12), Stage 3
3rd Place: Guy East Ronde van Antewerpen (UCI 2.12), Stage 3

“After a strong ride at the US Nationals Sakonnet rider Guy East was called up for tour of duty with the US U23 National Team in Belgium. Eager to impress Guy did not disappoint and quickly proved why he is one of the nation’s top young talents. In his own word here are some thoughts on his experience across the pond” – Editor

We started a 5 day stage race on Wednesday called Ronde Van Vlaamse Brabant (UCI 2.12).
The first stage was a little bit rolling, it was also fairly windy, but for the most part we were protected, I got into an 8 man break that turned into a 40 man split that stayed away. We were away for 120km but unfortunately a bunch of guys got away from that group. I was way too tired to try anything and by the end of the race about 15 more guys came up from the 200 man peleton; I rolled in for a top 50, which wasn't so impressive but it was 4 or 5minutes in front of the main bunch. The racing here is so so so hard, it’s insane, at the end of every race, I am completely destroyed, it’s racing from start to finish.

For the second stage I was really tired but I raced at the front for a majority of the race and I got in some major splits but with 30km to go the major split of the race went up the road and gained 3 minutes on the main bunch.

The third stage was today, it was an 11.5km TT and I felt a bit better today, but was definitely disappointed with not making the split yesterday. The course was completely flat and really windy, I road it really hard, I came in with the fastest time and held the lead for most of the day, but when the final riders came through, I ended up getting 3rd Place on the stage, only losing by 6 seconds. It was so awesome to have final scored a podium finish in a big race! It’s such a great feeling.

“Due to Guy’s great ride in Belgium, Guy has been invited to do the Tour of Missouri, U.S.A. Pro Tour event, with the US National Team in early September. Way go to Guy, the whole team is proud of you!” – Editor

8/1 Mocksville Criterium, Crossroads Crit Series Mocksville, NC

7th Place: David Guttenplan

Sakonnet’s David Guttenplan logged a fine result in a warm up race at the Crossroads Crit Series prior to the Presbyterian Hospitals Pro Criterium (NRC) in Charlotte, NC. Guttenplan has been plagued with a sore back for most of the summer but he found some of his old magic and sprinted his way into the top 10 in the tough 90 minute criterium.