What's New
July 2010
Squadra Coppi was featured in August issue of Washingtonian magazine. Team member and
photographer Jay Wescott had been taking portraits of team members as a personal project,
but after receiving so many compliments on the pictures, pitched a photo feature on the
team to the magazine and was accepted. Pick up the issue at your local newsstand to see the
profiles of the Coppis featured in the article.
After all the early season office park circuit races, July is where the climbers and road racers
finally get to shine. The onset of hot, humid weather coincides with the start of a series of
hilly road races in MABRA. The first of those is Squadra Coppi’s very own Giro di Coppi, with
Lost River the week after and Page Valley occurring in early August. In addition, MABRA
crowned their criterium champions this month, and while no Coppi was crowned champion,
we still had some great results.
Giro di Coppi
Jason Hall 3rd (M3/4)
Lindsay McAlpine 4th (W4)
Christie St. Pierre 5th (W1/2/3)
Hagerstown – MABRA Criterium Championship
Mike Davis 5th (M3/4 35+)
Lost River
Tom Blonkowski 1st (M3/4)
Steve Robinson 3rd (M35+)
Tour of the Catskills
Tom Blonkowski 4th - Time Trial, 3rd - Stage 2 Road Race, 2nd - General Classification (M3)
Featured Race Report: Jason Hall – Giro di Coppi (Men’s Cat 3/4)
With eight Coppis registered for the race, we knew we could control the race if
we had an effective game plan. And that game plan was: Get Tom or Nate in a
break, or if that didn’t work I would take the field sprint. On the first few laps,
my teammates Andrew and Pat L. pushed the pace on the climbs on Old Hundred
and Comus roads. On the penultimate lap, I ended up off the front with a GamJams
rider and an unattached rider. It wasn't really an attack as much as it was a slow
detachment from the field. We were caught shortly after the climb up Old Baltimore.
Tom and Nate tried to counterattack then, but the field was hot on their tails. When
we started the last lap, I could sense the peloton was resigning itself to a field
sprint. Going into the final turn onto Barnesville Rd, Nate, Jordan, and Tom jumped
to the front to ramp up the pace. I was about four wheels back. Nate buried himself
until the bottom of the climb with 200 meters left, then Tom took over with me right
on his wheel. With 100 meters to go, I came around and was able to secure the last
spot on the podium all because of the hard work of my team.
June 2010
Podium finishers for this month included:
Spring Church Creek Time Trial
Steve Robinson 1st (M35+)
Joaquin Salas Orono 2nd (M3)
Max Prola 4th (M65+)
Ride Sally Ride
Mike Davis 4th (M4)
Tour of Washington County Stage Race
Christian Gillette 3rd - Road Race (W open)
Jason Hall 5th – Criterium (M3)
Nate Miller 3rd - Time Trial, 3rd - General Classification (M3)
Reston Town Center
Meg Schiffman 5th (W4)
Featured Race Report: Nate Miller – Tour of Washington County (Men’s Cat 3)
The Tour of Washington County (ToWC) stage race consists of a 37 mile road race, a 19
kilometer time trial, and a 20 mile criterium over a two day period. Squadra Coppi was well
represented in the men’s CAT 3 field with a number of riders capable of good results. The
road race had a few breakaway attempts during the first few laps of the five lap race but
nothing stuck. Midway through the 4th lap, a group of six including my teammate Jordan
was able to get off the front. The peloton didn’t seem interested in chasing the break down
so I decided to attack hard and bridge the gap. One rider went with me and the chase was
on. Over the next few miles, two other groups attacked and soon enough, we had a second
group of six chasing the lead group. We managed to catch the lead break with half lap
remaining. Unfortunately, I cramped coming into the final sprint and ended up 11th but at
least I had the same time gap as the others in the break.
A solid result in the time trial is critical for finishing high in the general classification at the
ToWC. So I had been gearing myself up for it for some time and knew I would have to go
seriously into the red for 20-25 minutes. The course was an out and back with some slight
rolling hills and riders start individually every 30 seconds in order from last to first. Just
before the turnaround, the guy 60 seconds behind me managed to catch me and the 30
second guy was closing in. At the turnaround, I put it into another gear and ripped my guts
out chasing the guy who had passed me earlier. In the end, I managed to pass about five
riders and finished with the 3rd fastest time of the day; the rider who had passed me rode
the 2nd fastest time of the day across all of the fields. But because he had not been in the
12 man break the day before, I moved into 2nd place overall. However, I had a number of
riders within seconds of me going into the criterium later in the day.
With my previous efforts in the road race and time trial, my legs were completely shot for
the final criterium stage. Fortunately, my teammates stepped up to help me by controlling
the pace, chasing down breaks, and keeping me protected and towards front during the
race. Despite their hard work, two riders got off the front midway through the race and
were never seen again. One of them was around 10th place going into the crit and managed
to get just enough time to hop over me in the standings so that I finished 3rd overall. Ah well,
you can't mark everyone right? Regardless, I was excited with the result and it was a great
weekend of team racing!
May 2010
With two races nearly every weekend in May, road racing is officially on in MABRA-
land. Squadra Coppi continues to be a major factor in the men’s and women’s races
–racking up 23 top 10 finishes including Steve Robinson and Joaquin Salas Orono’s
2nd place in the Deep Blue team time trial on May 9 and Nate Miller’s 9th place finish in
the general classification at the Killington Stage Race May 29-31. Podium finishes this
month included:
Turkey Hill
Chris Crowther 2nd (M4/5)
Bunny Hop
Christian Gillette 1st (W4)
Meg Schiffman 3rd (W4)
Fort Ritchie
Meg Schiffman 1st (W4)
Deep Blue
Joaquin Salas Orono 3rd (M3)
Steve Robinson 1st (M35+)
Poolesville
Jordan Cross 2nd (M3/4)
Steve Robinson 5th (M35+)
Leonardtown
Lindsey Hillesheim 2nd (W4)
Steve Robinson 4th (M35+)
Trexlertown Velodrome
Bill Short 5th (M35+)
BikeJam
Jason Hall 4th (M3)
Casey Auto Group Crit
Owen Hassig 5th (M3)
Featured Race Report: Meg Schiffman – Fort Ritchie (Women’s Cat 4)
Lindsey and I made the trek out to Cascade, MD for the Ft. Ritchie criterium last year,
and had a total blast racing this course. It's challenging, windy and offers quite a few
dynamic corners. This year, on the heels of a solid weekend of racing, I was eager to get
back out there and give this race my all.
Our Cat 4 women's field was relatively small with 21 gals. Lindsey and I had a solid
warm-up and talked some strategy. We figured we'd attack a few times, see if we could
get something to stick, and if not, just stay up front and maintain good position for the
finish. Bike racing 101!
Start:
I figured that crashing out my only teammate at the start line would be the best way
to start things off instead. Unfortunately, this is not a joke. I was all fired up, ready to
explode at the start line - and couldn't clip in. I was looking down, and started to lean
into Lindsey. And I kept leaning into Lindsey--until I was bent over her rear wheel with
body on one side and bike with foot still attached on the other. Whoopsies. The race
officials pulled us off the course, fixed up Lindsey's bike, and got us set up to join the
field on lap two--thank goodness for the free lap rule!
Race:
Cornering in this race is challenging--mainly because the field takes them very gingerly.
There is a chicane section just beyond the start/finish line, and the field was slowing to
what felt like a complete stop to maneuver through this section. I learned early on that
attacks could be effective there, and put in quite a few throughout the race. At one point,
I was able to get away for a solid two laps but I had five laps to go yet, and figured I'd get
back in the peloton to rest up since I didn't think I had the energy to stay off the front by
myself for the rest of the race.
Finish:
Bell lap. We approach the chicane, and again, the field slows waaaay down. I decide I
have the energy to attack again and use every ounce of energy left in my legs to carry
me through to the finish. I kept waiting for the field to come around me or at least come
catch me...but they never did. I pulled around the final corner and crossed the line with
time to spare. It was the best feeling ever. I figure I had to win in order to make up for
falling all over myself...no one ever said winning is easy.
April 2010
Squadra Coppi is off to a smoking start in the 2010 road racing season with
twenty top 10 finishes in April. Podium finishes this month included:
Tour of Walkersville
Christian Gillette 3rd (W4)
Tyson’s Corner
Christian Gillette 4rd (W4)
Christie St. Pierre 3rd (W4)
Jeff Trinh 4th (M4)
Tour of Battenkill
Tom Blonkowski 4th (M3)
Chantilly
Christian Gillette 3rd (W4)
Christie St. Pierre 5th (W4)
Jeff Trinh 5th (M4)
Carl Dolan Memorial Circuit Race
Christian Gillette 1st (W4)
Christie St. Pierre 3rd (W4)
Meg Schiffman 5th (W4)
Jeff Trinh 2nd (M4/5)
Joaquin Salas Orono 2nd (M4)
Featured Race Report: Tom Blonkowski – Tour of Battenkill (Cat 3)
The Tour of the Battenkill is often said to be the amateur equivalent of the spring
classic for professional cyclists, the Paris-Roubaix, but there are no pavé
sections. Rather there are significant stretches of dirt road making it more akin to
the Montepaschi Strade Bianche. I toed the start line with teammate Jordan
under sunny skies and 55 degree weather, perfect racing conditions. The first
15km are flat and cross a one lane covered bridge with a steep punchy hill right
afterwards. I spent in the top 15 to 20 wheels so that I could choose my line
through the dirt sections and make sure if any cross winds picked up I would not
get caught out in the wind.
On the first big dirt section, another racer came to the front and laid down a nice
pace and I made sure to sit 10 wheels back and just mind everyone surging. No
real attacks came. About 2/3 of the way through the race the peloton remained
rather large and a field sprint was something I wanted to avoid. A Westwood
Velo rider attacked hard and I perhaps should have bridged up to him, but I
thought we were too far from the finish. He was hung out to dry. On the next dirt
hill I went to the front and accelerated. I opened a gap and crested the hill with a
few seconds on the field. No one came with me and the best choice was to
maintain my pace and have good position on a long gravelly decent. At this point in the race,
Jordan and I were both in the front of the peloton and feeling strong.
Then we got to final climb, and I was relegated to holding wheels rather than
attacking, because I didn’t think I could hold off people on a 5 mile run-in. We
crested the hill in a group of 11 or so, finally creating a selection. I took a few
pulls, realized my legs were tired and that if I kept pulling I would not have
anything left for the finish. With 2km to go a few people surged, but I placed
myself in the top 5 behind a guy I thought would take me to the line. We made it
to the final kilometer and at about 500m there was a sharp right. I came into this
turn in about 4th place. I just did not have the space or the legs to get around the
last few racers and finished 4th. This was a fantastic race and I hope to go back
next year.
March 2010
Squadra Coppi held its annual training camp March 11-14, 2010 at The Acorn Inn in Nellysford, VA. Kathy & Martin Versluys have been hosting the team for the last several years. They welcome cyclists and are happy to provide ride recommendations--in fact Martin may even accompany you!
The miles the team put in climbing up and down the Blue Ridge Parkway have been paying dividends in the early season races. Notable results in March included:
Vint Hill
Joaquin Salas Orono 1st (M4/5)
Jefferson Cup
Chris Crowther 4th (M4)
Christie St. Pierre 3rd (W4)
Steve Robinson 1st (M1/2 35+)
Geoff Hughes 4th (M5 35+)
Featured Race Report: Christie St. Pierre – Jefferson Cup
The Women’s 4 race at Jeff Cup was 30 miles--3 laps of the 10-mile course. Meg, Christian, Liza, Kirsten and I made up the Coppi contingent, and while it was chilly, the rain thankfully gave us a reprieve through the entire race. I knew the last lap would be critical from racing last year. A large portion of the pack was still together as the final lap began. I was sitting second wheel when we started the longest climb on the course for the last time. I looked back and noticed a gap was opening, and we picked up the pace to try to establish a break. Four others from the field came along, and we stayed away for the rest of race. One of the women attacked with less than two miles to go and was able to solo in for the win. I tried to take off with about 200 meters to go, but one girl got around me at the end, giving me 3rd overall. Despite the weather conditions, it was a fun race and a solid start to the season. It was great to have so many teammates in the field!
January 2010
Squadra Coppi held its annual banquet and team awards ceremony at Eventide Restaurant in Clarendon on January 17. The 2009 racing award winners were
Women’s Road Racer of the Year: Christie St. Pierre, tied for first in the MABRA Women’s Cat 4 BAR competition and won the MABRA Hill Climb Championship.
Master’s Racer of the Year: Steve Robinson, took 2nd in the MABRA Men’s 35+ BAR competition and won the MABRA Time Trial Championship.
Senior (Cat 1/2/3) Men’s Road Racer of the Year: Jason Hall
Novice (Cat 4/5) Men’s Road Racer of the Year: Tom Blonskowski, tied for first in the MABRA Men’s Cat 4 BAR, won the MABRA Road Race Championship at Page Valley.
Women’s Cyclocross Racer of the Year: Jean Woodrow, won the MABRA Cross Women’s Cat 3 series.
Men’s Cyclocross Racer of the Year: Andrew Welch, won the MABRA Cross Men’s Cat 3/4 series and the MABRA Cross Championship race at Taneytown.
Serse Coppi Greggario Awards (for those that sacrificed their own results for the team): David Wolfel, Chris Crowther, James Bellora
The most prestigious team award, however, is the Fausto Coppi award; it goes to member who has contributed the most to the team over the past year. The 2009 awardee was Jim McNeely for going above and way beyond the call of duty for the 2009 Tacchino and his many years of service as team treasurer.