March 2010 News Articles

BISSELL Pro Cycling Team Masters Redlands

The Sunset Road Race was a grueling 94 mile course comprised of 2 circuits which was made even tougher on Sunday but warm temperatures and aggressive riding. Cody O’Reilly, David Williams, and Kyle Wamsley kept the pressure on from the start to keep BISSELL’s 4 top GC riders at the front. Adding to the demands for the day was a one second time bonus gained by race leader, Ben Day (Fly V), on the first KOM.

Andy Jacques-Maynes got himself in the key move which came at the second climb. The break of 10 riders had representation from all the major teams and stayed out for most of the day building up 3 minutes over the chasing peloton. AJM was the virtual leader on the road and took the pressure off of BISSELL forcing Fly V to control the race.

Fly V set a tough tempo, and the chase was put under added pressure with attacks from Bahati Foundation and Jelly Belly out of the main group. The break was finally pulled back with just 3 miles to go.

Ben Jacques-Maynes fought hard in the closing laps and regained one second in the final time bonus sprint putting him back on time with Day. The final GC was to be decided on the tenths of a second that separated the two top riders with BJM taking a narrow 2nd place overall.

Adding to the outstanding results were 4 BISSELL riders, BJM, AJM, Jeremy Vennell, and Paul Mach, in the top 10. BISSELL demonstrated excellent team racing at the four days in Redlands which was further confirmed by The BISSELL Pro Cycling Team winning the team classification. The team capped off their first NRC race of the season in great form and is looking forward to continuing their successes.

As the world’s best track cyclists heat up the Ballerup Super Arena in Copenhagen, 2 BISSELL riders will be there to represent their countries. Pete Latham is comfortable on the world’s stage as he has contested world championships before and was a member of New Zealand’s 2008 Olympic track team. Daniel Holloway, holder of several national track titles, will also revisit the world championships for the United States.

Latham is a member of New Zealand’s biggest squad to ever go to the worlds as one of 17 men and women. Pete will be competing in the team pursuit with Jesse Sergent, Sam Bewley, Wes Gough, and Marc Ryan.

Holloway will be contesting two events: the scratch race and the madison. Dan has had success in Denmark before where he finished 3rd in the scratch race in the 2008 Copenhagen World Cup. He will be pairing up with partner, Colby Pearce, for the madison.

Congratulations to the BISSELL guys in Denmark!

Banner Day for BISSELL

The BISSELL Team displayed text book racing on Friday’s 106 mile Redland’s Road Race. The undulating course was comprised of an initial 35 mile loop and followed by 4 smaller 18 mile circuits.

The team was aggressive from the gun with Paul Mach taking the first KOM just 9.4 miles into the race. The guys covered all of the early moves. Rob Britton tagged a 4 man move which got off just at the start of the first smaller loop. The 4 man group was soon reduced to three and was able to build up a 4 minute gap. Rob’s place in the lead group put the team in great position to capture the sprint and KOM points and even had Rob as the virtual leader on the road. Rob contested each intermediate sprint and took maximum points and time bonuses.

The break was finally pulled back on the final uphill section in the last 5k. As the catch was made, attacks quickly erupted and Ben Jacques-Maynes bridged up to a 2 man move inside 3k to go. The trio stayed clear to the finish with BJM and Luis Amaran (Jamis Sutter Home) doing the lion’s share of the work while Will Routley (Jelly Belly) sat on in order to protect his team’s GC positions. Routley, the freshest in the group, came through for the win with Ben right behind for 2nd. Back in the main group, the BISSELL Team continued to race hard as Kyle Wamsley finished 3rd in the field sprint taking 6th on the day.

After considerable calculation, it was determined that with time bonuses BJM was .6 seconds behind Ben Day (Fly V) for the GC lead. Rob came away with the sprinter’s jersey and the team commands the team classification.

The team looks forward to the City of Redlands Crit on Saturday. It will be imperative to watch out for the time bonuses available at the intermediate sprint points. With the top 6 riders on GC all within 6 seconds of the lead, the racing is sure to be aggressive. BISSELL has 3 riders in the top 10 and sprinters, Kyle Wamsley and Cody O’Reilly, are in great form. It is sure to be an exciting race!

BISSELL’s Paul Mach 3rd at San Dimas

The BISSELL Team persisted against some tough factors to deliver Paul Mach to the podium at San Dimas. The BISSELL 6 man roster included Paul Mach, Kyle Wamsley, Andy Jacques-Maynes, Cody O’Reilly, Rob Britton, and David Williams. The three day stage race opened on Friday with a 3.8 Glendora Mountain Time Trial. The TT was an uphill course and the variable winds made the conditions even more difficult. Paul who has already shown great form this season had a great ride and finished 2nd on the day. Kyle rode a solid race, as well, and Cody and David tempered themselves in preparation for the hard work to come. Unfortunately, Rob and Andy were hit with salmonella poisoning. They fought hard through the TT; however, their condition would eventually take its toll.

Saturday’s 84 mile road stage was aggressive from the start and a five man move went clear on the third lap. There were a couple of threats to the GC in this lead group but, as expected, Fly V controlled the group to protect their overall lead. Andy and Rob tapped whatever remaining resources they had but eventually withdrew half way through the race. David rode defensively to help the 3 remaining BISSELL riders hold their position. On the final ascent of the day, a small group of riders drilled the climb and stayed clear to the finish. Paul finished in the first chase group only 5 seconds back. Kyle and Cody finished in the second group. Due to a time bonus taken at the intermediate sprint, Paul was knocked down to 3rd in GC. The BISSELL team sacrificed themselves in protection of Paul’s place in the GC and remained focused on maintaining his position heading into Sunday’s crit despite a shrinking roster.

Sunday’s 90 minute crit was very fast. Once again, BISSELL had the overall picture in mind and Cody attacked early in the race. This move set the tone for the day which resulted in a multi lap break that absorbed the potentially significant time bonuses. Kyle did a great sprint in a very chaotic finish and crossed the line for 7th and Paul retained his 3rd place in GC.

As the BISSELL Pro Cycling Team wrapped up this final spring training race prior to the NRC season opener next weekend, The Redlands Classic, they demonstrated that they have all the components for a winning season: solid form, a unified team, the best equipment, and the strongest support network!

Posted on 12. Mar, 2010 by lyne

One of the cornerstones of the bolstered speed for the BISSELL Pro Cycling Team is criterium strongman Kyle Wamsley.

“I’ve been very successful in the criteriums but this year I’m going to go for some stage race finishes.” said the 30-year old. Over the past two years, Wamsley won the Cox Charities Cycling Classic, a stage win and the overall points jersey at Redlands Bicycle Classic and the overall at Fitchburg Classic. He also had two top 5 finishes at the 2009 Tour of Missouri.

“I think after my success at Missouri in the past couple of years, to move over to the stage race and especially with how good this team is at that, is going to be more of a priority. I’d like to get a podium at Missouri and California if possible.”

After two years with the Colavita/Sutter Home team, Wamsley found himself to be one of the new guys on the team at training camp, a position he found somewhat refreshing.

“Because you have something to do, you have to learn everybody and try to figure out how to interact with your teammates especially from the standpoint of being a sprinter and to be able to motivate the guys in front of me so it actually makes camping a little more exciting than riding around with the same old guys.” laughed Wamsley.

To help motivate his teammates he looks for “just what jokes to crack to different guys to keep them positive. That way you can get under their skin when you need to or make them happy when they’re getting down to keep good morale.”

That motivation will be needed as the BISSELL team hopes to set up a leadout train this year to bring Wamsley or his teammate Daniel Holloway to victory.

So how does one set up a leadout train? “It’s going to take a little bit of guesswork in the first couple of races, certainly Eric’s knowledge of the riders last year we’ll tap into that.” said Wamsley about DS Eric Wohlberg.

“I think Frank Pipp can pretty much put me wherever I need to be. Then we’ve got guys like Peter Latham, Cody O’Reilly and Dan Holloway that are certainly fast enough in the last kilometer to put us in the right spot and take a run on any other teams that we need to so it will be a little bit interesting, some other teams with a lot of speed there should some good battles this year.”

One of the teams that they will battling is the Colavita/Sutter Home, a team that has perfected the train in the past years.

“It’s going to be fun.” laughed Wamsley about taking on his previous team. “I know a lot of what they do, they’re a little bit sneaky, they like to jump the train so it’s going to be hard to stay in front of them. But they’re the ones going to be under the microscope at the beginning of the year with Dominguez on the team now, he certainly still has the speed. I hope we can surprise them early on, these guys are so strong it will be interesting to see, it will good for the fans.”

After being on a team with such strong sprinters in the past, Wamsley is hoping that he is undervalued going into the season.

“It puts a little bit less pressure on the team but the problem is that the directors that really know what’s going on know how fast I am, they know I wasn’t used to that sprinting capacity last year and for good reason, we had the best sprinter in the country on the team, you have to sacrifice your individual goal for the team. Certainly I was certainly willing to do that last year and this year when I need to but I intend to prove that people did undervalue me last year and they will underestimate me this year, that’s a goal of mine.”

His first goal will be Redlands Bicycle Classic. “I had good success there last year”.

Then the Amgen Tour of California where there will be strong sprinting competition. “The measure of the result is not the race you’re at but the riders that you’re racing against, sprinting against and defeating. There’s not better stage to do it on than a stage in California.”

Wamsley wants to go head to head with the best sprinters in the world.

“I think I’ve learned a lot last year with the changes I need to make and the abilities I need to have in the sprint, I could see what areas I was lacking in my acceleration to the line so I’m trying to improve those areas and hope I can be competitive.”

He is counting on his teammates, co-captain Pipp and O’Reilly to put him in a position where he can compete with the best. “It’s definitely a team effort getting to the line, it’s just not me against them.”

Wamsley’s first race with the BISSELL team will be the San Dimas Stage Race next week.

http://www.podiuminsight.com/2010/03/12/kyle-wamsley-is-ready-to-battle/

BISSELL Takes TTT & BJM Wins RR

The BISSELL Pro Cycling Team confirmed its strong form this weekend as Ben Jacques-Maynes won the season opener, Merco Cycling Classic Foothills Road Race, and a 4 man-BISSELL squad dominated the team time trial.

BISSELL’s time trial quartet included Ben Jacques-Maynes, Jeremy Vennell, Andy Jacques-Maynes, and Rob Britton. The 20 mile out-and-back course covered rolling terrain from the City of Merced with the finishing time based on the 3rd rider across. BISSELL rode a solid pace on the first half of the course and turned on the after-burners for the final 5k. Andy Jacques-Maynes did a massive lead-out heading into the finish before dropping off. The team clocked in at 38:37 and was 1:06 faster than 2nd place team, Giant Strawberry. The team credits their size and power uniformity, and great team coordination for the win.

BISSELL continued to perform well on Saturday’s 40mile/50 lap Downtown Grand Prix. Paul Mach and Ian Boswell rounded out BISSELL’s squad for the weekend’s races. The 6 man team rode a smart crit. BISSELL was a principal team with AJM throwing out the first early moves and BJM challenging in the decisive break of the day. BJM and AJM finished 6th and 8th, respectively.

The team’s main focus for the weekend, however, was the Foothills Road Race which consisted of 5, 24 mile rolling loops totaling 120 miles. Thirteen riders successfully broke away on the second lap and held the gap around 2 minutes for most of the day. BJM and Paul Mach represented BISSELL in the break which also hosted riders from the other major teams. The break never eased and the consistent pressure eventually resulted in the group splintering on the last lap. However going into the final climb, 9 riders from the original breakaway reunited and Ben timed his move perfectly. With 200 meters to go, BJM blasted from the group for the win. After drilling the day’s break for Ben, Paul finished 8th and AJM put out a great final sprint from the main group for 11th place.

Rounding out BISSELL’s racing efforts this weekend was the 3 man team of Kyle Wamsley, Daniel Holloway and Cody O’Reilly who were off at the OCBC Cycle Singapore. The three BISSELL riders rode a smart race in 100 degree temperatures to finish 11th, 13th, and 15th.

These great early results bode well for a strong season and the team will use these results as motivation. “With this win, we’ll bring some confidence in our ability to race together effectively,” says Ben Jacques-Maynes.