Tour de Parc Criterium Race Report – Pro/1/2/3 Race

Chilly weather and steady 20+ mph winds greeted riders for the Tour de Parc Criterium race in Wantagh, Long Island on Sunday, May 9th. I checked the confirmed riders list – as I always do – before the race on Friday and saw Mengoni represented one-third of the confirmed riders (7 of 21) — knowing they have a very talented squad, I figured it was their race to lose. As I was warming up I observed in the Masters and Womens race that the group (albeit with less riders) stayed together the entire race — not a day to be a brave soldier and eat wind all day. The course is a “crit” course in length only (approx. 1mi) as there is only one real “turn” and a small, very short big ring hill. Given the course conditions and layout, it was perfectly suited to a “power” rider like me.

“Day of” registration meant many more riders were are the line for the start – probably 30-40 total – with Mengoni (7), Major Taylor (5), Foundation (3), Adler (3) and Champion Systems (3) all having multiple riders. Mengoni sent Kyle Peppo off the front on lap 2. I figured it was a suicide mission given the many sprinters in the race and the windy conditions. However, Mengoni raced a very smart race covering all attacks and discouraging any solo attempts by just sitting on any attacker’s wheel. Kyle yo-yo’d off the front for 15 or so laps. The pace never felt particularly high to me, but at one point the field split almost in half and the rear group – which contained a lot of strong riders – basically fell off the pace, never to be seen again.

With Mengoni sending 2-3 guys to the front to sit and block any chase efforts, I tried to make it clear to the other riders that the only way we were bringing Kyle back was a concerted paceline effort – the “attack and stop” technique was getting us nowhere. I went to the front and took some big pulls, but every flick of the elbow brought a Mengoni guy around me who just slowed the pace. Frustrated at this point, I launched an attack with about 16 laps to go in an attempt to bridge up to Kyle. I caught Kyle after 2 laps and we were soon joined by a Champion Systems rider. We worked well for about 2 laps, but were swallowed up by the then-diminished “peloton” of about 12 riders. Things slowed down as the attack and chase, combined with the wind had shattered the group. With 10 laps to go, Kyle launched another attack and quickly grew a good gap. With 8 laps to go a Champions System rider attacked and I grabbed his wheel. A Mengoni rider – Jared Bunde – latched onto my wheel and the three of us went after Kyle. We quickly dropped the Champion Systems rider after only a few hundred meters. I pulled alongside Jared and asked if he would work with me if I caught Kyle. He confirmed he wouldn’t do much work to help me bridge, but once we made contact he would work. We caught Kyle after 2 laps, so with 6 laps to go it was the three of us off the front. We worked well together and saw our lead steadily grow. The remnants of the peloton at this point consisted of only 7 riders, including 2 from Mengoni. Coming through the S/F line with 3 laps to go, the race official yelled “turn around” to us. As we entered the one turn on the course, I lost my concentration for a minute and took the turn WAY too wide, lost control and had to jump the curb and narrowly missed running into a garbage can. Jared asked if I was okay and I confirmed I was, but I also heard him say “hit it” — not a good sign… (FYI: the “turn around” yell from the official was to let us know a Mengoni rider was attempting to bridge up to us – yeah, what help that would have been for me!).

I confirmed the bike was okay and then entered full-on TT mode for the next 2 laps. I chased for two laps and finally caught Kyle and Jared with about 1/2 lap to go. As soon as I made contact, Kyle attacked off the front and I was forced to chase him down. As soon as I caught Kyle, Jared made his move and jumped off the front. I tried my best to bring him back, but he was just too strong after being protected most of the day. I knew Kyle had a good sprint, but I thought maybe the day’s efforts had taken its toll. Nope. Kyle ended up pipping me at the line for second place and I had to settle for third.

In a testament to the tough race conditions, I believe only 10 riders finished the race and we finished 36 seconds ahead of the chase, which was also won by a Mengoni rider.

A video of the sprint finish, with Kyle pipping me at the line can be seen here: http://cyclingreporter.com/2010/05/09/mengoni-1-2-bunde-wins-parc-peppo-second/
Not sure why, but I get no respect for bridging twice and finishing third in the race – seems like the reporter has a real hard on for Mengoni, but oh well…

I actually gave a video race report immediately following the race to cyclingreporter.com (the website/link above) and it should be posted sometime this week.