Newsletter 2

Thursday June 05, 2008

BRISTOL MOUNTAIN -  BEAR MOUNTAIN WEEKEND

It was an excellent month for the Ultralink women. Jen Stephenson pulled out a first place finish at Bristol Mountain, NY, where Alyssa Mellon also made it to the third position on the podium. It was almost an Ultralink sweep with Allison Lampi just missing out in fourth position.  Jen broke away on the first lap with an American rider, and they stayed away till the uphill sprint finish where Jen got an early gap and powered it home for the win. 

 

Allison and Alyssa worked over the chase group to spring Alyssa who solo'ed in for third.  On the men's side, David rode in a 6 man break for most of the day before taking third in the sprint.  The following day at Bear Mountain, one of the New York areas biggest races of the year, Jen and Alyssa both made the main split on the undulating course, with Jen taking out second in the bunch sprint and Alyssa finishing in the top 10.

AND THE BEAT WENT ON WITH THE TEAM'S YOUNGSTERS

In addition to the results posted by the team's veteran leaders, the team's youth shone thru all month long. Denise Ramsden posted some strong results this month, representing the team all over North America. She kicked off the month with second place in the Sturbridge Road Race in Massachusetts.  Then mid-May, she made the trip all the way down to Fayetteville, Arkansas where she took seventh overall in the Joe Martin Stage Race. This NRC level event attracts a hugely talented field of pro women, and riding solo, Denise made the key move of the week on the second stage road race, and protected her GC spot till the end to deliver a most impressive result.

 

Back in Canada, Denise also made the trip to the Niagara Ontario Cup with several teammates where she took third place from a day long break, with support from veteran teammate Julia Farell who returned to form after a long illness to finish 5^th.  Meanwhile on the Quebec side, Sarah Coney was displaying her sprinting prowess.  Returning to the peloton after wrapping up classes at McMaster, Sarah took a well earned 3^rd at the Brossard Quebec Cup in a very fast, very sketchy bunch sprint.

 

MONTREAL WORLD CUP

The women wrapped up the month of May with their biggest race yet - the women's UCI World Cup race in Montreal. Pouring rain added to the difficultly of an already challenging 10 km circuit which the successful racers would complete 11 times. It was no easy start for the women either with the circuit beginning at the base of Mount Royal. After the first lap, the field shattered, as the best women's racers in the world drove the pace.  Team leader Stephenson held the pace for the most part, coming unglued late in the race and finishing in the chase group.  While the rest of the team finished varied number of laps, the experience and exposure to the highest level of pro racing in the world will serve the entire team and staff as all prepare for priority events throughout the year.

 

The Montreal World Cup kicked off a trio of big races for the women as they move on to the Tours of Montreal and PEI - more reports on those results next month.

 

WINS ON THE MEN'S SIDE TOO!

Not to be out done, the men had an equally winning month with Jamie Riggs and David Gazsi winning races just south of the border in New York State. Riggs took a convincing win at Hollenbeck road race in Ithaca, NY, winning solo by three minutes. Gazsi returned to the scene of previous successes, taking first in the GC at Syracuse Race Weekend. He won the road race for the second time in three seasons, took second in the time trial, and seventh in the crit to take first overall by just a single point. Riggs also had a strong showing locally, taking third at the Lyn road race.

 

Gazsi then wrapped up the month for the team with an epic win at the notoriously difficult Charlevoix stage race. Despite facing time penalties and some stiff competition from the some of the strongest racers in the region, Gazsi won the time trial by 2 seconds, and then took third in the road race, to solidify overall victory by some 30 seconds. Overall, it was a stellar month for the team and things are looking great with the North American Masters and Nationals on the horizon.

For more on the GP Charlevoix, here's an excerpt from David's race report...

Road race is awesome - we did over 7000 feet of climbing!  There's not a flat piece of ground in all of Charlevoix I don't think, but the primary feature of the race is an absolute wall of more or less 25% for about 500 meters, which ‘flattens' out to about 10-12% for the next 2km or so...  a hundred other crazy climbs and descents of lesser magnitude, a race start temperature of about 7C, and mist, rain and fog, made this an epic day.  

The featured climb is out of a town called Ste-Irenee, and we do it twice about 40 k into the race, then again in another 40k, total race length about 125, as we loop around Charlevoix... Pelo together first time up, Laflamme and I go off the front, lots of response, no real crazy attacks, still 80 k from the finish... a few meaningless attacks between the Ste-Irenee climbs, nothing sticking, mostly because of a very long fast descent before that climb... ie everyone knew the second time up was going to be the big showdown... 

So at 90 k an hour into the mist, I stayed very near the front on the descent before the second time up... going into the corner, I ramped it up hard... I was surprised, but the peloton sort of let me get a running start without taking it themselves... I launched up the climb, immediately out of the saddle in my 25, then my 27 - pain, lots of pain... then a guy named Yann Deville comes by, Laflamme comes by, I get into third wheel, Hawkes gets on my wheel, and Deville just freaking hammers up the climb... it was pure cross-eyed, ear-breathing effort to hold the wheels, Hawkes coming unglued, getting back, all of us struggling, but just absolutely throwing it down... about 2k later, as we climbed thru the feed zone, there were 5 of us and quite literally no one in site... that was the move, I was in the right place, made the efforts, and all good... except, Laflamme was still there, and Hawkes was riding for GC leader Warren, so he wasn't going to work...  40 k to the finish.

 The 5^th guy was struggling big time, so Deville, Laflamme and I drove the break for the next 30 k, opening up a couple of minutes on the peloton... I was feeling pretty good, never missed a turn, just rolled it thru, with my only concern being Laflamme... I was pretty sure winning the road race was going to be tough because Deville was 2 minutes down on GC, and Hawkes was 50 seconds, and not working... so I decided to concentrate 100% on the GC and make sure I took care of business.

 At 10 km to go, Deville attacks - this changes everything - we were down to 4 now, and Laflamme and I aren't going to chase because we know he cant catch us... but Hawkes wants the stage, so he chases it down over some big long painful rollers and super fast, wet, tight, heart-in-mouth-hope-my-Challenge-tires-hold corners, and we catch him at 3 to go...

At 2 to go, we start the last drag of a climb, ranging from 2-4%, not much, but tough at the end... it was cool - we were full on track standing almost, super slo mo, waiting for someone to make a move... a couple of feints, a couple of attacks brought back, and all together at 1k... now I know I've got it, because Laflamme isn't going to take 15 seconds in 1k, so I attack, actually drop him, get to about 300 meters, Deville comes over the top of me, Hawkes goes over the top of him, he wins the race, I drop 2 seconds, and cross the line with the celebration yell for having won the Charlevoix Grand Prix.

For the full report, more race stories, results and galleries, please visit www.teamultralink.com.

 

 

 

LOOKING AHEAD

June is a huge month for Team Ultralink, and we'll hope to see you at these great events.

PRO WOMEN	ELITE MEN
Tour de Montreal	Milford Ontario Cup
Tour de PEI	Italian Festival Grand Prix
Coupe de la Paix	Coupe de la Paix
National Championships	National Championships

In addition to these races, the team will be out to support both our community and one of our sponsors at the annual West-Fest in the Westboro neighborhood of Ottawa.  Otto's Subaru has been a longtime supporter of the team, outfitting us this year with a beautiful new Forester. Come out and meet the team on Saturday June 14^th, at Otto's, 225 Richmond Road.

The Subaru Forester

First, picture what you've always wanted in an SUV. Then peruse what the all-new 2009 Subaru Forester offers and reflect on how well this smart vehicle stacks up. Underneath the sleek new exterior, there is capability to the core. A rigid chassis, low centre of gravity and heavy-duty, raised 4-wheel independent suspension for superior ride and handling. The assurance of Subaru symmetrical full-time All-Wheel Drive (AWD) for all weather conditions, all road conditions and loads of fun. Active and passive safety features that set a new standard in this class. A versatile interior designed to carry you, your passengers and your gear in higher levels of comfort and style.

 

A FOCUS ON RESULTS

 

 

The notable results highlighted above summarize Team Ultralink's efforts over the last month.  A full list of results, replete with stories and pictures, are available on the team's website at www.teamultralink.com

 

Race Starts	Podiums	Victories
126	35	14