Weekend Recap: Wilmington Grand Prix, Bike Jam/Kelly Cup and NRC Standings

Posted on 18. May, 2009 by lyne in news, race

Two NRC crits were held this weekend – well that’s two for the men and one for the women.

Zach Bell courtesy of Kelly Benefit Strategies

On Saturday,  Canadian Zach Bell of the Kelly Benefit Strategies team outsprinted Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Colavita/Sutter Home) for the win at the Wilmington Grand Prix. Bell’s team mate Jake Keough rounded off the podium. Again this year the riders were faced with gust of winds through the gaps in the buildings on the .8-mile rectangle-shaped course in the heart of Wilmington, Delaware.  The race stayed mostly together as attacks were brought back  until a group of 14 riders went off the front with a bit more than half of the 35-mile race still to go. The powerful group included riders from Team Type 1, BISSELL, Colavita/Sutter Home and Kelly Benefit Strategies. With five laps to go, the break was caught and field prepared itself for the field sprint won by Bell.

C3 Sollay’s Laura Van Gilder came out  the victor in the women’s  25-mile race winning the uphill sprint to the line ahead of Belinda Goss of the Australian National Team and Colavita/Sutter Home’s Cath Cheatley.  The fast pace was brutal on the large field as only 30 women finished the race with more than half of the starters being pulled by the officials. (Complete results here)

Kirk O'Bee (BISSELL) in solo attack at Redlands

The action continued on Sunday, at the Bike Jam/Kelly Cup in Baltimore, MD.  Nothing stuck in the 40 lap around the 1-mile flat & fast course in Patterson Park as time and time again the attacks were neutralized. Coming out of the final corner in sixth spot, BISSELL’s Kirk O’Bee kicked in the after burners and won the tight sprint to the line.   Coming in  second was Aldo Ino Ilesic (Team Type 1) followed  by  Haedo was third.

Not being on the NRC schedule didn’t stop the women from racing hard in their 20-laps with  Bridie O’Donnell (Australian National Team) taking the solo win after being out in front for most of the race.  O’Donnell attacked with only 4 laps in and built up a gap until a crash with 11 laps to go forced the officials to neutralize the race until everything was sorted out. Once that was done, O’Donnell was allowed to regain her lead and she was off crossing the finish line first with a gap of 8 seconds on the chasing peloton. Van Gilder won the field sprint to take second and Erica Allar (BMW-Bianchi) was third. (Complete results here)

Looking for photos? Check out GamsJams.net

One  change on top of the NRC Standings after seven races completed in both the men’s and the women’s series. Rory Sutherland (OUCH) and Alison Powers (Team Type 1)  stay on top of the individual standings.

BISSELL grew its lead in the men’s team standings following O’Bee’s Kelly Cup win, while Webcor took over the top spot in the women’s team standings.

Complete results available at USACycling.org.  The next race on the 2009 NRC is the Tour of Somerville in Somerville, N.J. on May 25.

Tags: Aldo Ino Ilesic, bissell, bridie o'donnell, c3 sollay, cath cheatley, colavita-sutter home, jake keough, kelly benefit strategies, kelly cup, kirk o'bee, laura van gilder, nrc, seaba haedo, team type 1, wilmington grand prix, zach bell