VERGE MID ATLANTIC CYCLOCROSS SERIES INVADES NATION’S CAPITAL

Gould and Storm Take Impressive Victories

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

November 27, 2005; Reston, Virginia, USA: Racers from 15 states and the District of Columbia converged on the Washington, DC suburb of Reston, Virginia on Sunday for round seven of the $30,000 Verge Mid Atlantic Cyclocross Series. The Capital Cross Classic presented by The Bike Lane was the largest cyclocross race ever held in Virginia or the Washington, DC area with 250 entries comprised of seven classes competing in 5 events.

The featured “DARCARS Chrysler International” figured to be a wide-open affair with many of the national riders deciding to skip this UCI C2 event for races in Europe or Thanksgiving at home. Stepping into the void were eager racers from as far away as Wisconsin who wanted to make a name for themselves and score some serious international points. At the start of the race, four riders immediately separated themselves by a small margin from the rest of the starters. Defending Verge MAC champion Ryan Leech (FORT/GPOA!), joined three North Carolinians, Roger Aspholm (Westwood Velo), Jon Hamblen (Fior di Frutta) and Charlie Storm (Inland Construction/BTD) in front. Meanwhile, Wisconsin’s Tristan Schouten (Trek/VW/Michelin) was overcoming a bad start and a last row starting position, but nobody noticed -- yet.

By the end of lap one, the lead group was down to three as Aspholm was dropped. The first bit of drama in the race occurred on the next lap when the previously unnoticed Schouten bridged the gap to the leaders to make another foursome. For the next two laps, Hamblen and Storm unsuccessfully launched attacks, while Storm countered and Leech followed. Then Hamblen crashed. “I just lost the front tire in the turn around the tree,” he said. The lead trio was not working well together, however, and Hamblen put in a massive effort to bridge back up, while Aspholm hammered by himself in fifth place. Several laps of small attacks and ensued until Leech took advantage of the cat-and-mouse play by the leaders as they came up the asphalt finishing straight with three laps to go. Only Storm could respond and the two instantly opened a 100-yard gap on Hamlin and Schouten. Storm counter-attacked on the long hill less than a minute later, opening a huge gap that he would keep to the end. Meanwhile, Hamblen recovered from his earlier effort after is crash and put in another huge effort in a vain attempt to catch Storm. When asked if he was too tired following the effort to rejoin the leaders after his crash, Hamblen said, “Nah, Charlie rode a good race. He just picked a perfect time to go and nobody could follow him.”

In the preceding Women’s Elite Presented by The Bike Lane, Idaho’s Georgia Gould (KONA) took a fast start, stretched her lead with a fast middle and topped it off with a fast finish to completely dominate the race and take over the points lead in the Verge MAC series. As eventual second place finisher Mandy Lozano (Easton/Kona) put it, “Well, (Gould) decided to go off by herself and left us to race.” And race they did. North Carolina’s Lozano, points leader and defending champion Betsy Schauer (FORT/GPOA!), and local favorite Melanie Schwartz (Squadra Coppi/Van Dessel) battled most of the race until Schwartz, racing with a broken thumb, faded. Left with a one-on-one battle, Schauer knew what she had to do. “I can’t sprint,” she said, “so I knew I had to try to get a way. But I couldn’t get far enough ahead.” Lozano’s comment mirrored Schauer’s. “I just followed her and sprinted by at the end,” said Lazano, grinning, “I just go foxy on her.”

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