Home

First Union Invitational

First Union Classic

First Union USPRO Championship

First Union Liberty Classic

Photos

2000 Results    Report    Results    Preview    Start list     Past winners

Dutch Treat For Mercury-Viatel In Pennsylvania Dutch Country

By Tim Maloney, Cyclingnews correspondent

Leon van Bon
Photo: © JF Quenet

Dutch pro champion Leon Van Bon (Mercury-Viatel) put his red, white and blue colors to the fore with a crafty last kilometre attack to win the First Union Invitational in Lancaster, PA just ahead of the hard-charging red, white and blue USPS jersey of George Hincapie.

The 91 mile race was hard-fought throughout with a group of five finally escaping from a large group of 20 riders under the impetus of recent Peace Race winner and '99 First Union USPRO Championships winner Jacob Storm Piil with 10 miles to go. In fact, Piil was in every key move all race long. After a tough comeback from being hit by a car in 2000, the talented Dane looks like he'll have the legs for Sunday's USPRO Championships in Philadelphia.

If today's race in Lancaster was any indication, his CSC-World Online boys and everyone else will have a helluva time containing the onslaught of Mercury-Viatel. When the decisive group of 20 riders went up the road today, six of them were from the aqua and silver squad, anxious to show that despite their exclusion from Le Tour, they are still Le Team To Beat. And they are... Mercury-Viatel's Scott Moninger had a great ride at Lancaster; although he ended up 26th, dependable Moninger was always either in a break or watching for the key moves and keeping Mercury-Viatel in contention for their end of race game plan that worked to perfection.

Likewise Trent Klasna of Saturn, an excellent third place at the First Union Invitational and leader of the Professional Cycling Tour point standings is looking for confirmation as the top Stateside rider of 2001. Klasna is a classy all-around rider and with his performance at Lancaster, he has the legs and smarts to get the Stars and Stripes jersey on Sunday in Philadelphia.

So does George Hincapie. The USPS rider is looking for another chance to show off the Stars and Stripes jersey at the front of the Tour de France peloton this summer, riding massive tempo for Lance in his Maillot Jaune. Previously at the First Union races, the USPS team was frustrated in their desire to dominate but this year the team looks solid. Levi Leipheimer and Viatcheslav Ekimov are in shape and team director sportif Frankie Andreu looks like his experience and bonds with the riders will pay off.

Let's not forget Lonesome John Lieswyn; the 7-Up/Colorado Cyclist rider and Cyclingnews columnist is a real Larry Lunchbox kind of rider; an unassuming guy who just goes out and does his job. Lancaster showed what Lieswyn can do when his "A" game is on as he too was in all the key moves all day long in Lancaster and won the Pepsi Challenge points competition as well as winning the group sprint for 9th.

Van Bon may not have had the best legs at Lancaster, but he rode the smartest race for the victory and Mercury-Viatel powerfully won round won of the First Union Week in Lancaster, with round two suited for the sprinters in Trenton on Thursday.

Results

1 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Mercury Viatel            3.20.13 (44.05 km/h)
2 George Hincapie (USA) US Postal Service         0.03
3 Trent Klasna (USA) Saturn
4 Jakob Storm Piil (Den) CSC World On Line
5 Baden Cooke (Aus) Mercury-Viatel
6 Geert Van Bondt (Bel) Mercury-Viatel            1.10
7 Michael Barry (Can) Saturn
8 Levi Leipheimer (USA) U.S. Postal Service both
9 John Lieswyn (USA) 7UP-Colorado Cyclist         1.16
10 Julian Dean (NZ) U.S. Postal Service
11 Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) U.S. Postal Service
12 Harm Jansen (Nl) Saturn
13 Henk Vogels (Aus) Mercury-Viatel
14 Eric Wohlberg (Can) Saturn
15 Soren Peterson (Dk) Saturn
16 Graeme Miller (NZ) Jelly Belly-NetZero
17 Pedro Munoz Horillo (Sp) Mapei-Quick Step
18 Luis Rebollo (Sp) Festina Lotus
19 Zbigniew Piatek (Pl) MROZ-Supradyn
20 Victor Laza (Yug) DeFeet-LeMond
21 Leif Hoste (B) Domo-Farm Frites
22 Glenn Mitchell (NZ) Navigators
23 Gord Fraser (Can) Mercury-Viatel
24 Scott Moninger (USA) Mercury-Viatel            1.37
25 Luis Perez (Sp) Festina                        1.40
26 Vassili Davidenko (Rus) Navigators             1.54
27 David Zabriskie (USA) U.S. Postal Service
28 Kirk O'Bee (USA) Navigators                    2.18
29 Simon Kessler (SA) IBM-Lotus                   2.57
30 Siro Camponogara (I) Navigators
31 Kirk Albers (USA) Jelly Belly-NetZero
32 Shawn Willard (USA) DeFeet-LeMond
33 Kirk Willett (USA) Prime Alliance
34 Scottie Weiss (USA) Zaxby's
35 Jason Crookham (Can) Sympatico.ca
36 James Perry (SA) IBM-Lotus
37 Mike Ley (USA) Zaxby's 

Preview

Tuesday, June 5 will see the USA's biggest week of cycling kick off with the First Union Invitational classic in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The 13 lap, 147 kilometre race will feature 18 teams, including 7 from division I, all competing for the US$20,000 in prize money

Each 11.3 kilometre lap will travel around the streets of Lancaster, containing a number of short hills and tight corners. The race starts at 1630 in Queen Street.

Riders to watch include 2000 winner Trent Klasna (Saturn) who will be backed by an in-form and highly motivated team. But the competition will be fierce for the honours this year. Domo have US champ Fred Rodriguez, backed by Dutch speedster Max van Heeswijk and Polish strongman Piotr Wadecki. Mapei-Quick step has sent a "mixed" team including Eugeni Petrov, Fabian Cancellara, Scott McGrory and Adriano Baffi.

CSC-World Online have had success in the First Union series in the past with riders like Nicolaj Bo Larsen, who is not present this year. However, Peace Race winner Jakob Storm Piil is, and is a big threat if he can escape. So too is Latvian champion Arvis Piziks, who packs a powerful sprint.

The two top US teams, Mercury-Viatel and US Postal will be vying for superiority as well, with the big aim being the USPRO Championships on Sunday. Mercury has a team packed with sprinters: Leon van Bon, Jans Koerts, Gord Fraser, Fabrizio Guidi, Henk Vogels and Baden Cooke, with Geert Van Bondt, Chris Horner, Chris Wherry and Scott Moninger in reserve. US Postal has its classics star George Hincapie at the helm, backed by Viatcheslav Ekimov, Julian Dean, Antonio Cruz, Benoit Joachim, Levi Leipheimer, and Christian VandeVelde, not to mention Robbie Ventura, Matthew White, and David Zabriskie.

With other teams such as Saeco, Festina, Mroz, Navigators, Jelly Belly, Simpatico.ca, DeFeet Lemond, 7UP-Colorado Cyclist, Zaxby's, Realitybikes.com and Prime Alliance, the First Union series should produce some very intense racing.

Start list

Domo Farm Frites                 Mercury Viatel
 
1 Fred Rodriguez (USA)           11 Henk Vogels (Aus)
2 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned)         12 Leon Van Bon (Ned)
3 Mario DeClerc (Bel)            13 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita)
4 Leif Hoste (Bel)               14 Geert Van Bondt (Bel)
5 Piotr Wadecki (Pol)            15 Chris Horner (USA)
6 Tomas Konecy (CZE)             16 Baden Cooke (Aus)
8 David Orvalho (Ned)            17 Jan Koerts (Ned)
                                 18 Chris Wherry (USA)
                                 19 Gord Fraser (Can)
                                 20 Scott Moninger (USA)
 
US Postal Service                Festina Lotus
 
21 George Hincapie (USA)         31 Nicolas Reynaud (Fra)
22 Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus)      32 Luis Perez (Spa)
23 Julian Dean (NZl)             33 Rafael Casero (Spa)
24 Antonio Cruz (USA)            34 Luis J. Rebollo (Spa)
25 Benoit Joachim (Lux)          35 Francisco Lara (Spa)
26 Levi Leipheimer (USA)         36 Michel Klinger (Swi)
27 Christian VandeVelde (USA)    37 David Clinger (USA)
28 Robbie Ventura (USA)
29 Matthew White (Aus)
30 David Zabriskie (USA)
 
CSC World On Line                Saturn
 
41 Arvis Piziks (LAT)            51 Mike Barry (Can)
42 Jakob Storm Piil (Den)        52 Matt DeCanio (USA)
43 Bjarke Nielsen (Den)          53 Chris Fisher (USA)
44 Raphael Jeune (Fra)           54 Trent Klasna (USA)
45 Olivier Asmaker (Fra)         55 Harm Jansen (Ned)
46 Michael Sandsted (Den)        56 Mark McCormack (USA)
47 Nikki Sorensen (Den)          57 Frank McCormack (USA)
                                 58 Soren Peterson (Den)
                                 59 Tim Johnson (USA)
                                 60 Eric Wohlberg (Can)
 
Navigators                       7 Up Colorado Cyclist
 
61 Chris Baldwin (USA)           71 Charles Dionne (Can)
62 Siro Camponogara (Ita)        72 Ryan Guay (USA)
63 Vassili Davidenko (Rus)       73 John Lieswyn (USA)
64 Oleg Grichkine (Rus)          74 David McCook (USA)
65 Glen Mitchell (NZl)           75 Kevin Monahan (USA)
66 Kirk O'Bee (USA)              76 Juan Pineda (USA)
67 Franky VanHaesbroucke (Bel)   77 Oscar Pineda (USA)
68 Mark Walters (Can)            78 Andrew Randell (Can)
69 Brendon Vesty (NZl)           79 Clark Sheehan (USA)
70 Burke Swindlehurst (USA)      80 Doug Ziewacz (USA)
 
Mapei Quick Step                 Saeco
 
81 Eugeni Petrov (Rus)           91 Salvatore Commesso (Ita)
82 Fabian Cancellara (Ita)       92 Justin Spinelli (USA)
83 Scott McGrory (Aus)           93 Brad Davidson (Aus)
84 Adriano Baffi (Ita)           94 Alessio Galletti (Ita)
85 Eddy Ratti (Ita)              95 Nicole Gavazzi. Ita
86 Patrick Sinkewitz (Ger)       96 Dario Pieri (Ita)
 
Defeet Lemond                    Mroz-Supradyn
 
101 Roberto Gaggioli (Ita)       111 Piotr Chmielewski (Pol)
102 Gabrielle Rampollo (Ita)     112 Zbigniew Piatek (Pol)
103 Chris Harkey (USA)           113 Skazimierz Stafiej (Pol)
104 Brandon Lovick (USA)         114 Grzegorz Wajs (Pol)
105 Geri Mewett (Ber)            115 Eugen Wacker (Ger)
106 Victor Laza (Yug)            116 Remigis Lupejkis (Ltu)
107 Dragomir Zivkovic (Yug)      117 Pawl Wiedzwiecki (Pol)
108 Ernesto Lechuga (USA)        118 Adam Wadecki (Pol)
109 Shawn Willard (USA)
110 TBD
 
Prime Alliance                   Simpatico.Ca
 
121 Jame Carney (USA)            131 Jason Crookham (Can)
122 Steve Larsen (USA)           132 Joe Giuliano (Can)
123 Danny Pate (USA)             133 Charles Gorman (Can)
124 Michael Creed (USA)          134 Chad Grochowina (Can)
125 Ryan Miller (USA)            135 Josh Hall (Can)
126 Aaron Olson (USA)            136 Daniel Maggiacomo (Can)
127 John Walrod (USA)            137 Dominique Rollin. Can
128 Russell Beall (USA)          138 Peter Wedge (Can)
129 Kirk Willett (USA)           139 Bruno Nella (Can)
130 Colby Pearce (USA)           140 Heath Cockburn (Can)
 
Net Zero                         Jelly Belly
 
141 Jamie Paolinetti (USA)       151 Kirk Albers (USA)
142 Graeme Miller (NZl)          152 Norm Carter (USA)
143 Matthew Yates (NZl)          153 Mariano Freidick (USA)
144 Clark Hilton (Aus)           154 Eddy Gragus (USA)
145 Michael Johnson (USA)        155 Brian Frobes (USA)
146 Ryan Barrett (USA)           156 Brad Buccambuso (USA)
147 Mike Tillman (USA)           157 Damon Kluck (USA)
148 Gregg Medinilla (USA)        158 Jason McCartney (USA)
                                 159 Jonathan Erdelyi (USA)
 
Zaxby's                          Realitybikes.com
 
161 Dirk Friel (USA)             171 Kent Bostick (USA)
162 Alex Ferguson (USA)          172 Andrew Brozis (USA)
163 Scottie Weiss (USA)          173 Ryan Blickem (USA)
164 Jesse Lawler (USA)           174 Ryan Barnett (USA)
165 Michael Ley (USA)            175 Jon Atkins (USA)
166 Max Finkbeiner (USA)         176 Lou Schimmel (USA)
167 Luke Stockwell (Aus)         177 Andy Crater (USA)
168 Jacob Fetty (USA)            178 Travis Hutchinson (USA)
169 Rusty Miller (USA)
170 Justin Gilmore (USA)

Past winners

2000 Trent Klasna (USA) Saturn Cycling Team  147.5 kms in 3.21.04
1999 Jacob Piil (Den) Acceptcard             147.5 kms in 3.19.42
1998 Frankie Andreu (USA) US Postal Service  147.5 kms in 3.23.17
1997 Chan McCrae (USA)                       147.5 kms in 3.22.15
1996 Chris Horner (USA)
1995 Fred Rodriguez (USA)
1994 Andrea Peron (Ita)
1993 Arvis Piziks (Lat)
1992 Roberto Pelliconi (Ita)

back to top