Press Release
Manion, Pic tops in Roswell
Velo News
By Joe Silva
May 5, 2008
Toyota-United made it two NRC victories in a row during a big weekend of racing in the Southeast, by taking the win at Sunday's Nalley Historic Roswell Criterium just outside of metro Atlanta.
Caleb Manion benefited from the same race situation that delivered teammate Hilton Clarke to the line first during the Sunny King Criterium on the previous day in Anniston, Alabama.
In Anniston, Manion figured in the winning breakaway, and in Roswell he was also one of four riders that left the 70-man field behind.
"I was actually better today than last night. I hadn't raced for a while before last night, so that was a bit of an opener for me, so I was much better today."
Jittery Joes and HealthNet drive the peloton through the final laps. Photo: Ben Ross - Action ImagesThat move would not see the pack again until they succeeded in lapping the main group not long after the midway point of the race. Along with Manion was Kyle Gritters (Health Net), Ted King (Bissell), and Jittery Joe's rider Cody Stevenson who maintained that the workload was shared equally by the quartet throughout.
"The cooperation was fantastic in the move. I knew that I had my Jittery Joe's teammates back in the bunch controlling things. The race was (won) on the back hill, wherever you were on that hill is basically where you wound up for the finish."
Fast Freddie Rodriguez, Rock Racing, takes his son for a ride after the finish. Photo: Ben Ross - Action ImagesAdvertisement This year's Roswell criterium was run under stellar conditions in front of a larger crowd than the seven year-old event has ever seen. Riders were out on the 1-mile course for approximately 90 minutes before the final five laps were count down.
Making an unexpected appearance in the field was Rock Racing's "Fast" Freddie Rodriguez.
"It's a pretty hard course." Rodriguez said afterwards. "The corners are pretty tight. The last corner is off camber and kind of dangerous, so it's one of those corners that you really have to come in hot but I didn't take any risks. I was kind of hoping for a field sprint today, but that's not what happened."
With King, Stevenson, Gritters, and Manion safely back in the field with one lap up on their competition, the race settled down quickly. That is until Ken Hanson (California Giant) and Clinica Union's Oscar Henao did their best to reanimate the situation by also attempting a flyer. The duo worked extremely hard and came within 30 seconds of the back end of the race, but simply couldn't complete their mission.
Teddy King, Bissell, overcooks turn one Photo: Ben Ross - Action Images"We got close." Henao said of his and Hanson's bid. "If we'd had another person with us there was a good chance that we might have made it."
With the duo of Henao and Hanson clearly not able to bridge up before all was said and done, Jittery Joe's did its best to maintain control at the end of the race in order to give Stevenson his shot at the victory. But with one remaining lap to go Health Net ramped up the speed and shattered the local squad's ability to keep its lead-out train intact.
Toyota responded to that acceleration, and put both Ivan Dominguez and Dominique Rollin into action on the backside of the course. Then it was up to Hilton Clarke to repay Manion's efforts of the previous day and lead his fellow countryman out of the last corner before unleashing him for the win. Stevenson followed in second and Gritters held on for third.
In the women's event, a week of solid racing finally began to show on the riders since most of the field had participated in many if not all of the USA CRITS Speedweek races held throughout the Southeast.
The pro women's field rounds the first turn in downtown Photo: Ben Ross - Action ImagesVirtually no efforts had a realistic chance of survival, leaving the end of the race to be determined by a field sprint. This meant that the likelihood of another win by the current U.S. National Criterium Champion was almost certain. And as she has done all week long, Tina Pic and her stars and stripes jersey delivered once again.
"I'm glad all of this is over. We're just all so tired now." Pic said cradling her winner's bouquet after the race. Pic was also victorious here in 2007.
Pic, who will soon celebrate her 42nd birthday, maintains her position as one of the fastest women on two wheels in the U.S. But any early season hopes that the Georgia resident might have had for demonstrating that speed at this year's Olympics are now in doubt.
Tina Pic (Colavita) is called to the start line Photo: Ben Ross - Action Images"I raced in Europe at the beginning of the year, and I just didn't get the right kind of starts to put me on the long list. Plus it's probably better that people who can deal with that hilly course go."