Mid-July Round Up

Liam shows fine form at Floyd Bennett (photo: Andy Shen, velocitynation.com)

While the Category 3 trio of Connor Sallee, Graham Lang, and Lewis Almonte were doing nationals prep, CRCA JrDev was posting results all over the area. Here’s a recap:
Khary Ward sprinted to second place in the July 8th Prospect Park Category 4 Senior event. Unfortunately Ward had a massive spill while trying to duplicate his efforts a week later. We expect to see Khary back in action by August.
Liam Quigley is starting to warm up to mass start events after having beginning the season with a time trial focus. Riding in his Organic Athlete sub-team kit, Liam is now 7th overall after three consecutive top five placing in the Category 5 division at the Tuesday night Floyd Bennett Field series.
Pascual Caputy and Ian Harris tag-teamed the Senior Divisions at the Donovan Ruhlman Naugatuck Criterium in Connecticut, Sunday July 14th, with Pascual bringing home third in the 3/4 event and Ian sixth in the 4/5.
And Evan Cooper endured the phenomenally hard Park Ridge Classic in the Category 4 division, riding home with sixth place.

Spanning the Tri-State Area, and Winning Weeknight Races!

Evan Cooper took his second victory in the Category 4 race at Rockleigh on Thursday July 11th. Evan’s second victory came about exactly in the manner his first one did: attacking from a fatigued and diminished lead group with one lap remaining on the 1.2km course. Evan had plenty of time to raise his hands wide.
And Ian Harris “opened his account” at the Friday night Riverhead Series, on Long Island, posting his first career victory in the Senior Cat 4 event. Ian described the win this way: “ I was off the front by myself for five laps and coming into the last lap it looked like the field was going to catch me but just as I thought they were coming up I heard the sound of a crash behind me and suddenly my gap was reestablished and I came across the line all alone.” Sounds like one of those video games where you have one massive bomb per game you can throw when you run out of ammunition...Congratulations to Evan and Ian.

Junior Nats: Almonte 19th in the TT, Sallee Avoids Monster Crash in RR

Life in the fast lane: Connor Sallee tackles the National TT

Connor Sallee, Graham Lang, and Lewis Almonte all made the early registration cut off and the required Category Three ranking necessary to compete at National Championships this year. So the team was a bit lean in representation in the rolling hills of Seven Springs, Pennsylvania. Lewis Almonte blazed the funky out and back time trial course, held on the butt-end of a local highway, well out of the way of any possible walk-by spectating...and we wonder why cycling is a “fringe” sport in the US. But I digress. Lewis Almonte posted the fourth fastest time for most of the day, until one by one the favorites came in. Lew would eventually finish 19th, out of 157 starters, not bad for a bantam weight climber/sprinter from the Heights! Connor Sallee was 49th and Graham Lang 102nd.


Long morning shadows on the National Championship Circuit.


The road race was almost tragic for the team. The Junior 17-18 division had the unholy start time of 7:30AM and the rolling, technical circuit, was under fog in many parts. Less than five km into the 91km stage, on a 50mph descent, the peloton flew into an impenetrable bank of fog. Around twenty riders went down, two flew over a guardrail and sustained injuries requiring a helicopter evacuation. Only Connor Sallee was ahead of the crash. Lewis Almonte received the mother of all tire burns when the rider behind him plowed into his calf at high speed. Lewis didn’t go down but the burn was painful enough that he decided to withdraw and get the wound treated. Graham Lang managed to stay upright as well but was forced to wait for the crash to clear before emerging from the fog with a group of riders over a minute back on the remains of the field.
As loyal team director sportif, parents, and special guests bombed through the bucolic countryside of Western Pennsylvania trying to find an alternative route around the crash, and get to the feed zone, Connor Sallee soldiered on in the main group, his rations running low. The support crew did get to the feed in time to give now-dry Sallee a bottle in the final 15 kilometers of the race. On the final climb to the resort summit of Seven Springs Sallee buried himself, finishing 45th out of 70 remaining riders.

Mixing with the Big Boys: JrDev at Lou Maltese

Graham Lang calm and collected at Maltese (photo: Andy Shen, velocitynation.com)

Not to be out done on their home turf by team Hot Tubes (North America’s big, bad Junior Squad of record for the past 10 years) CRCAJrDev fielded a team at the annual Lou Maltese Memorial Invitational. Lewis Almonte, Evan Cooper, Connor Sallee, Graham Lang and Pascual Caputy toed the start line with the greater New York area’s best amateurs. Seven laps of Central Park brought Jared Bunde (Mengoni) to the line first ahead of a large break. While CRCA JrDev did not make the split, they rode a strongly in their first ever high caliber Senior category 1-3 event. Connor Sallee delt with a tempest of elbows in the sprint finish run-in, crossing the line 32nd, 14th in the bunch.

Fitchburg-Longsjo: Almonte Ready for Prime Time

Lewis Almonte's 8th place in the opening time trial put him in pole position for all four stages of the Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic.


Lewis Almonte posted his best result in a national caliber event this pre-4th-of-July Weekend in Fitchburg, Ma. Lewis led CRCA JrDev's first full-fledged stage race campaign, taking 8th in the TT, and 10th oveall after four days of racing. Connor Sallee finished the weekend in 25th, while Graham Lang, Evan Cooper and Pascual Caputy finished respectably mid-field. Ian Harris was DNF after two stages, fighting the side effects of 10 days on antibiotics.
On day one Lewis bested national team standouts including Carter Jones, fresh from Europe, the bulk of the Hot Tubes formation. From there on the task was about limiting losses. Stage Two saw a field sprint with Connor and Lewis tucked in neatly in 13th and 14th at "same time" as stage winner Andrew Goessling (Tieni Duro) of California. Saturday's Wachusett Mountain Road Race was raced at Pro 1-2 speed as an early breakaway containing points leader Daiel Estevez (Hot Tubes) rode to a commanding lead. CRCA JrDev took command of the chase, with Pascual Caputy driving up the velocity on the climbs. The pack turned up the final climb with half its numbers. Lewis finished the day 16th place, 49 seconds behind stage winner Ben King (Hot Tubes). The team hit the final crit with tired legs and slack motivation. Nothing was sticking in the too-short 15 mile race, despite substantial efforts by Graham Lang and a herculean final lap lead out by Evan Cooper. Lewis crossed the line 21st, his 10th place on GC never in jeopardy.

"Dude, where's my team?" Evan brought the pack to the final corner in the crit, but his efforts were in vain due to a lack of follow up.

JrDev gets friendly with RiteAid pro Alejandro Borrajo

Graham, Stage 2

Look out Nats, Lewis has got his game face on...