Posted: Tue 12/Jun/07 1:17pm Post subject: On The Philadelphia Streets With The Jazz Apple Cycling Team
Jazz Apple Cycling Team Report – Commerce Bank Triple Crown: Reading and the Liberty Classic.
Sitting on the runway here in Philadelphia provides the perfect opportunity for my first race report – Races 2 and 3 of the Commerce Bank Triple Crown, staged at Reading Pennsylvania and the Liberty Classic in Philadelphia. US Airway’s must have hired John Banks to direct its transport programme!
The women’s course was 15 times around 1.7mile loop featuring a brutal false flat finishing straight, and provided very little time if any for recovery. Having flown in from Sweden 2 days previously it was nice to find the bikes purring along – obviously having received some quality attention from the girls’ personal sponsors: Rushlee’s SUB Rosa courtesy of Brendon Cameron, and Malindi’s Genius, showing signs of Calibre Cycles workmanship. Thanks guys! Both bikes have drawn a lot of attention here, and rightly so, I even caught Mark Cavendish scoping both out behind my back as I worked the other day.
After spending some time in Kutztown, near the Lehigh Velodrome, the girls had ridden the DVT out of their legs in rolling farmland populated by Amish horse carts and Mennonite settlements, close to Reading and Lancaster, decaying remnants of the old railway economy. On an aggressive course with such a quality field positioning was going to be crucial, and from the gun Rushlee moved up, Malindi put her track elbows to good use with Lauren sitting a little further back. The day’s suicide break came courtesy of Robin Farina, who will be known to some after racing the Wellington World Cup in 2006. With the bait out it wasn’t long before the bunch reeled Farina in, and a select bunch rolled off the front, with the Jazz Apples’ Rushlee in the mix, riding a tactically excellent wheel in the break. The surge produced by this effort drove Lauren off the back.
Unfortunately, the major teams of Cheerwine, T-Mobile and others dictated that today would be decided in a field sprint, keeping the pace in the closing laps high, and recovery nil. The pace went up, the bunch strung out, and Rushlee rode to the front, showing promising strength, tactical instinct and financial nouse – her strong 12th amidst trade team sprint trains landed her in the money!
While the girls rode back to our base in Kutztown, Chris Drake and I had a chance to watch Greg Henderson working for Eisel in the men’s race – with Greg’s help Eisel would add this to his win earlier in the week at Lancaster. After coffees in Kutztown even the staff got a chance to ride through the pristine Pennsylvania summertime countryside.
With the Apples getting things going, we headed to Philadelphia for the Liberty Classic – a 90km women’s race described by Jeff Pierce, ex DS at T-Mobile and Tour de France stage winner as one of the finest races in women’s cycling. The constitutional city of Philadelphia is closed for a 9 hour period allowing access to climbs like the Manayunk – a short sharp climb pitching up to 15% lined with hundreds of spectators, on a course that can only be described as fast. After grovelling round the course the day previous on my travel fixie, I’ve again been blown away by the calibre of racing here in the U.S.
Joined for the weekend by re-enforcements Jo and Michelle Keisanowski the team was again given a great chance to rise to the occasion, and rise they did.
With Susy Pryde (4 time top 10 finisher at Philadelphia) and Chris Drake controlling things in the caravan the team was directed by the best.
With the temperature approximately 25’ the race began fast, and despite huge efforts from Webcor to launch a rider on the third of four laps, the race would again come down to a bunch sprint. Lauren Webb suffered after moving to the front of the race early, while an improving Malindi rode strongly again, in a sign of good things to come. Rushlee worked tirelessly with Michelle to maintain a good position in a ferocious bunch, providing reassuring jerseys should Jo need them. The final lap was again kept fast by the sprinters’ teams, ensuring no late breaks escaped, and allowing the dollars spent in assembling world class sprint trains to be displayed. Despite this, Jo charged through the bunch to finish 4th, passing riders strongly over the final metres, and proving that she is in many ways the Allan Davis of women’s cycling – able to deliver the goods on her own. Rushlee came in 19th, in another indication of her strength, with Michelle on the same time, within the bunch. With these places the team has opened the New Zealand account at the UCI, in the hunt of valuable national ranking points for this Olympic cycle.
Perhaps the most significant evidence of the team’s success thus far can be seen in the huge level of support we enjoy here in the U.S. Teams, riders and spectators can be heard calling “Jazz Apple!” at every race, while the product is perhaps the most popular of any sponsor in the bunch when the teams are off their bikes – I think even Ina Teutenberg would eat one if it was cut up!
The girl’s work on the road justifies the pride their sponsors take in them, and makes wrenching an honour every day.
So, it’s with a focussed team of athletes gaining form and cohesion that we look forward to Nevada City and the Nature Valley Stage Race, a gruelling 6 stages over 5 days – but not before several days of quality training just outside San Francisco. If we ever get off this runway that is!
Watch this space.
Paul Larkin – Mechanic, Jazz Apple Cycling Team 2007
Results
1 Ina-Yoko Teutenberg (Ger) T-Mobile Pro Cycling Team 2.24.38
2 Regina Schleicher (Ger) Nuernberger Versicherung
3 Gina Grain (Can) Team expresscopy.com
4 Joanne Kiesanowski (NZl) New Zealand National/Jazz Apple
5 Jen McRae (USA) Advil-Chapstick
6 Laura Van Gilder (USA) Cheerwine
7 Katherine Bates (Aus) T-Mobile Pro Cycling Team
8 Erica Allar (USA) Juice Plus
9 Brooke Miller (USA) Team TIBCO
10 Tina Pic (USA) Colavita Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light
11 Catherine Cheatley (NZl) Cheerwine
12 Oenone Wood (Aus) T-Mobile Pro Cycling Team
13 Stacy Marple (USA) Team TIBCO
14 Katharine Carroll (USA) Aaron's Corporate Furnishings
15 Katie Mactier (Aus) ValueAct Capital
16 Allison Brandt (USA) Targetraining
17 Heather Labance (USA) Advil-Chapstick
18 Dotsie Bausch (USA) Colavita Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light
19 Rushlee Buchanan (NZl) New Zealand National/Jazz Apple
20 Kori Seehafer (USA) TEAm Lipton
New Zealanders
36 Dale Tye (NZl) Hub Racing
53 Michelle Kiesanowski (NZl) New Zealand National/Jazz Apple
DNF Melissa Holt (NZl) Team expresscopy.com
DNF Malindi MacLean (NZl) New Zealand National/Jazz Apple
DNF Lauren Webb (NZl) Jazz Apple Cycling
Last edited by musket on Thu 14/Jun/07 6:32pm; edited 4 times in total
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