August 31/08 4:41 am - Green Mountain Stage Race: Stage 2 (brief)

Posted by Editoress on 08/31/08
 

Mad River Valley Green Mountain Stage Race
Courtesy Alan Atwood, GMSR

A picture perfect Sunday afternoon brought the crowds and the excitement to the Green Mountain Stage Race as the epic Mad River Road Race was contested in near perfect conditions on Sunday.

The men's race saw the top contenders in a early breakaway, including GC leader Andrew Randell (Symmetrics), 3rd place Eneas Freyre (Targetraining), and King of the Mountains leader Josh Eisenger (Legacy Energy Cycling Team). The group of 7 riders worked well over the top of Brandon Gap and found themselves in good position to toss and turn the general classification. This was until a furious chase led by Fiordifrutta and CCB/Volkswagen brought the peloton back together in Bristol at the bottom of the Baby Gap climb, which was the prelude to the final 5km climb to the finish. Once at that final climb, 4 riders established a lead group, led by local favorite Dan Cassidy (CCB/Volkswagen), Freyre, Lisbon Quintero (CRCA/Radical Media), and John Minturn (CRCA/Empire). At 1km to go, Freyre and Cassidy went away but a furious charge was taking place courtesy of race leader Randell. Freyre outkicked Cassidy in the last 500 meters to take the win, with Cassidy coming in 2nd and Parisien hanging on for 3rd. Randell caught the tail end of Cassidy and Parisien for 4th and thus kept his General Classification lead by the slim margin of 4 seconds over Freyre, who took over 2nd overall ahead of Parisien. It will be a dogfight for 1st place in tomorrow criterium as up to 30 seconds are available for the riders in bonus time.

The women's race saw the dominance of Webcor's duo of race leader Katheryn Curi-Mattis and Janel Holcomb come into play as they pretty dictated the tempo of the event through the 75 mile race. No major breakaways took place as the leaders kept their eyes on danger riders like Jennifer Stevenson (Ultralink) and Suz Weldon (Wines of Washington). The race held together until the final 5k climb where Holcomb and Curi-Mattis took off and they finised 1-2 in the stage. Beth Miller (North Atlantic Velo) led the sprint for the field and took 3rd place on the day.

Tomorrow's final stage in downtown Burlington will feature a 1-kilometre 6-corner course through the heart of the city. Riders will be eligible for as much as 30 seconds in time bonuses so races, including the pro men and pro women, should fiercely contested until the end. Racing starts at 8:30am with the junior men and the feature pro men's race will be at 4pm.

Provisional Results (full results to be posted when available)

Pro/1/2 Men

Stage
1. Eneas Freyre (Targetraining)
2. Dan Cassidy (CCB/Volkswagen)
3. Francois Parisien (Team RACE Pro)

General Classification after Stage 2
1. Andrew Randell (Team Symmetrics)
2. Eneas Freyre (Targettraining)
3. Francois Parisien (Team RACE Pro)

Pro/1/2/3 Women

Stage
1. Janel Holcomb (Webcor Builders)
2. Katheryn Curi-Mattis (Webcor Builders)
3. Beth Miller (North Atlantic Velo)

General Classification after Stage 2
1. Katheryn Curi-Mattis (Webcor Builders)
2. Janel Holcomb (Webcor Builders)
3. Suz Weldon (Wines of Washington)