Will Frischkorn of Garmin-Chipotle was on hand (briefly) to defend his title at the Univest Grand Prix in Souderton, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, but it was teammate Lucas Euser who won the 100-mile road race.
It was clear from the video stream that the 131 pro cyclists battled rainy weather all day, but that didn't stop Euser, later joined by Frederick Ericsson (Sweden, Cykel City), from launching a breakaway and turning the final laps into a two-man race.
Although they worked well together to keep the rest of the peloton at bay, Euser attacked on the final lap and beat Ericsson by 13 seconds. Having competed in the Tour de France in July, Garmin-Chipotle completely dominated the race. Pat McCarty and Tyler Farrar finished third and fourth. Frischkorn dropped out early because of tendenitis.
(Ukrainian Yuri Metlushenko won the Univest Criterium in Doylestown on Sunday. Saturday's No. 2, Ericcson, won the overall omnium award for high finishes both days. More at VeloNews.)
Free video stream
The second race of the Grand Prix weekend — the Doylestown criterium — is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday.
Universal Sports offers free video-streaming (follow the link at the top of the Universal Sports page and be prepared to click to allow pop-ups and plug-ins) beginning at 11 a.m. (ET) each day. Local station WFMZ-TV 69 will televise and video-stream both races from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day as well.
In Euser's words
Here's some of what Euser, 24 years old from Napa, had to say about the victory at the Garmin-Chipotle website:
“Countering a solid move by Pat, I attacked with 8 laps to go on the 5 km circuit. It was a little far out, but that is the glorious part about having such a strong team. If I got pulled back, there was someone there to go again and again and again. I rode solo for a few km only to look back and see a huge Swedish dude bridging. A quick check of the mental race library told me that would be one damn good breakaway companion. I waited, and soon enough we were working together holding a 20-second gap. After a few laps, the gap started going up and ballooned to almost 3 minutes with 5 laps to go. With two really strong teammates behind me, I played the team card for awhile. However, the gap came back down to 2 minutes as the Swede made it clear he was content with second place. As he began to cramp, I had to take over the majority of the work and in the final lap was able to ride away from him taking it to the line for my first victory.”
2007
Frischkorn won the road race in 2007 by more than 2 1/2-minutes over the rest of the field. He went on to finish 2nd in the 2007 Tour of Missouri later in the month.
This year, the 27-year-old cyclist finished a close second in a three-man sprint at Stage 3 of the Tour de France. The effort placed him in 3rd overall after that stage.
Italy's Mattia Gavazzi won the criterium the next day in 2007.
The Grand Prix is one of 13 UCI-sanctioned men's cycling events in the US this year. Some 150 cyclists from 20 international and domestic teams are expected to compete over the weekend.
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