VERGE MAC’S “CLASSIC” GRAND FINALE WEEKEND

Press Contact Information: Verge MAC Cyclocross Series

Ken Getchell, Media Director: kenmacpr@yahoo.com; 610-397-1950

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

November 23, 2007; Conshohocken, PA, USA: The Verge MAC brings down the curtain on its 2007 campaign with a “classic” double-header of UCI racing on the first weekend of December. Mike Hebe’s Carlisle Classic in central Pennsylvania kick-starts the racing weekend on Saturday, December 1 and the traditional season-ending Capital Cross Classic brings international cyclocross back to the Washington DC suburb of Reston Virginia the following day.

One thing that has changed dramatically for the Pennsylvania leg of the weekend is the new venue at the Carlisle Fairgrounds. After outgrowing its former home in nearby Lower Allen Township, race promoter Mike Hebe has relocated his race to the Carlisle Fairgrounds, site of the some of the world’s largest auto shows. The new venue not only provides more infrastructure and a centralized location, it also offers the racers a different kind of challenge. “The new course is fast,” says race promoter Hebe. “It may be the fastest cyclocross course in America. But there are enough obstacles to mix up the action, and most of the course will be visible from the covered bleachers.”

Big changes are also on tap for Sunday’s Capital Cross Classic that takes place just outside the Washington Beltway. “I thought about calling it the Capital Cross Construction Classic this year,” jokes promoter Chip Sovek. “Ongoing construction of new park facilities has made significant parts of the old course unavailable, yet a new footbridge resulting from that construction will significantly improve our pits. It will be the fastest, and yet the slowest, course ever at Lake Fairfax. 60% of the course will be very similar to years past, but there are now two new incline sections that will add a new dynamic to the race. It will definitely be cowbell friendly, especially for the REI Classic Women’s race.”

Two of the top contenders for the weekend’s Elite Men powered by SRAM races will be Team RGM Watches Richard Sachs teammates Jon Hamblen and Justin Spinelli. Together, they swept the top of the podium at both of North Carolina’s UCI races in November and their exploits at top races around the country are the basis for the popular rscyclocross blog. One rider they will have to contend with, at least at Carlisle, is Davide Frattini. The Italian, who rides for the Colavita/Sutter Home presented by Cooking Lite pro cycling team, is on a two-race winning streak and will be looking to wrap-up the season title at Carlisle. But he’ll only have one chance to clinch the title because conflicting obligations will keep him from participating in Sunday’s race. Another rider who should love the weekend’s high-speed courses is Adam Myerson. Myerson nearly won the Verge MAC Beacon Cyclocross which, like Carlisle and Reston, features long high-speed sections punctuated by slow technical sections. Myerson was the rider to beat at Beacon until a tire went flat just past the pits in the closing stages of the race.

Details on Verge MAC’s “classic” grand finale weekend can be obtained by clicking the Verge MAC button at BikeReg.com.

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