Concord Crit: Peter Chiu 2nd, Roy Van Cleef Top 10
Concord, NH – NEBC/Cycle Loft/Devonshire Dental was able to follow up on the previous week’s success in Norwell with another podium finish in the 20 lap Category 3 race. The race was fast and jumpy as nobody was willing to let a break go too far up the road before trying to make the bridge move, due to the number of successful breakaways from earlier in the day, most notably Peter Megdal (NEBC/Cycle Loft/Devonshire Dental) in the Men’s 45+. Mike Rowell, Julian Gent, and Mark Theeman were active during the race trying to make something stick. By the end everyone was still together and it was clear that it was going to be a bunch kick for the finish.
Coming into the last lap, Ryan O’Hara (Cambridge Bicycle / Igleheart Frames) tried to jump early and the response from the field was a little slow but eventaully Ryan was brought back. Just as O’Hara was caught the eventual winner Michael Rea (Dartmouth College) countered for a last ditch effort to catch the field off guard. Peter kept calm and waited for the last corner, confident he could out sprint the rest of the field. Diving in to the last corner Peter jumped and was able to close most of the gap to Rea for 2nd place, holding off a Keough (Jesse, CL Noonan/KAM/Coast to Coast) while he was at it. Theeman, Rowell, and Gent rolled in with the main group for 25th, 27th, and 28th.
In the Pro/1/2 race Roy Van Cleef came in 8th in a fast 30 lap criterium. Roy had company from Peter Shapiro and Todd Rowell who is on the mend from illness that kept him out of Fitchburg the month before. The race was fast with Roy keeping himself well positioned, several times the field was strung out with some small gaps but no splits occured and no breaks stayed out for more than a few laps, mostly to gobble up the primes. At about 3 laps to go, the CCB/Volkswagon strong men were at the front keeping the pace high and setting up for the finish, one lap later the Fiordifrutta train joined them to keep the pace high and set up for their sprinter. With a lap to go Roy made a short move on the hill to reposition himself perfectly at the back of the Fiordifrutta train. In the final turn a couple of riders attacked and threw off the organization a bit, Roy was a little boxed in and had to bob and weave between a few riders for 8th. “Just left it a little too late but felt good,” Roy said looking back on how the end of the race played out. Shapiro and Rowell rolled in safely for 27th and 38th respectively.
Photos courtesy of Velocity Results