FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 10, 2009
CONTACT:
Jeff Bramhall
Media Coordinator, Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series
(617) 669-5056
jeffrey.bramhall@gmail.com


The 19th annual Cycle-Smart International started off with a bang
today. Under clear blue skies, The Verge NECCS sprung back into action
for its 9th round. The elite fields were won by two local favorites in
decisive fashion. Mary McConneloug (Kenda/Seven/NoTubes) and Jeremy
Powers (Cannondale/cyclocrossworld.com) both continued their stellar
seasons in Northampton, today.

The Elite women split up quickly from the gun with Mary McConneloug
and Natasha Elliott (Garneau/Club Chassure/Ogilvy) breaking away from
the field on the first lap. A chase group formed behind them with
series leader Maureen Bruno-Roy (MM Racing), Laura Van Gilder
(C3/Athletes Serving Athletes), Minuteman Road Club racers Andrea
Smith and Anna Barensfeld as well as Sara Bresnick-Zocchi
(pedalpowercoaching.com/Landry’s Bicycles). McConneloug and Elliott
were able to stretch their advantage on the chase group and were
matching each other move for move until Elliott bobbled in the sand.
McConneloug, hearing of Elliott’s bobble over the loudspeaker, threw
down a huge attack and held Elliott at an arm’s length for the rest of
the race, eventually finishing with a twenty second advantage. Behind
them, Van Gilder proved to be too strong for the chase group and
soloed in for third place ahead of Bruno-Roy. Barensfeld outsprinted
Smith for fourth.

With a field over fifty strong, the Elite men was chaos at the start.
A broken chain caused a massive pile-up only 100 meters from the start
which took down several riders, leaving many riders to walk their
bikes off the course, asses damage and prepare for Sunday. Ahead of
the chaos though, were Jeremy Powers and Jamey Driscoll of the
dominant Cannondale/cyclocrossworld.com team. With them were series
leader Dan Timmerman (Richard Sachs/RGM/Radix) and Nicholas Weighall
(California Giant Berry Farms/Specialized). Not far behind them were
Jerome Townsend (bikereg.com/Joe’s Garage/IF) and Adam Craig (Giant
MTB Team). Powers and Driscoll controlled the front of the race the
same way they’ve been controlling races all season. Their pressure
proved to be too much for Weighall as he fell off the hard pace,
eventually holding on for fourth. Like Weighall, Timmerman was unable
to match the pace, but rode valiantly to keep the leaders within a few
seconds until the last two laps. Timmerman was able to hold on to
third, thirty seconds back, and retain his series leader’s jersey.
Adam Craig looked like he was going to be able to bring himself to the
leaders but with two to go, he dropped his chain and lost several
spots but fought back for 5th place in his return to racing in New
England.
The U-23 race came down to a two-up sprint between Jerome Townsend and
series leader Luke Keough (Team Champion System) with Townsend taking
victory.

The Masters 35+ race was a three-way battle again, but this time
Johnny Bold and Kevin Hines (Corner Cycle) were joined by Matt Kraus
(Richard Sachs/RGM/Radix) instead of series leader and national champ
Roger Aspholm (Westwood Velo) who was plagued by a poor first lap and
found himself fighting back. Keen tacticians, Bold and Hines took
advantage of Aspholm’s absence and, with Kraus’s help, opened an
insurmountable lead. The three at the front remained intact as a group
and hit the finishing straight together, Bold crossing the line first
with Hines behind him and the Sachs rider pulling in third. Aspholm
was the next in, his fourth place finish not enough to keep him in the
series jersey.

The U-19 juniors had a bit of a shake up with the return of Evan
McNeely and Karl Hoppner, both Canadian racers for the EMD/Specialized
squad. McNeely soloed to his fourth series victory this season with
Hoppner behind. Third place went to the consistent Curtis White (Clif
Bar Development Cyclocross Team) for his second podium of the Verge
NECCS season.

The U-15 juniors had Austin Vincent (CL Noonan/KAM/Coast to Coast)
alone off the front, in his favorite position. Behind him was Peter
Goguen from Minuteman Road Club in second and Cooper Willsey (White’s
Bikes/GMBC/Catamount) in third.

Of note, in a bizarre accident at the end of the Masters race, UCI
Official Harry Lam was seriously injured. While details are not
readily available, he was admitted to a regional hospital. A
collection will be opened to help his family during his recovery.
Details on his condition and the collection will be forthcoming.

The Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series will be
contested over 7 weekends in 2009, starting with the New England
Cross-toberfest of Cycling:  3 straights weekends of UCI calendar
racing to be held in Williston VT, Gloucester MA, and Providence RI.
After a weekend of much needed rest, the series will continue with
stops in New Gloucester ME on Oct 24, Northampton MA on Nov 7,
Sterling MA on Nov 28, and the series finale in Warwick RI on Dec 5.
This year series is generously supported by Verge Sport, makers of
fine cycling clothing and products since 1993; by Cycle-Smart,
purveyors of personalized cycling coaching and solutions for riders
across the country; by BikeReg.com, the official online registration
service of the NECCS; by Paul Weiss Photo/Video, the official
photographer of the NECCS, by October Handmade Bicycles, and by Ryders
Eyewear.  You can visit these sponsors and get more information on the
series by going to the web at http://www.cycle-smart.com/neccs.