Rytlewski thankful for helping hands

FITCHBURG -- At 5 feet 9 1/2 inches and 145 pounds, Jacob Rytlewski couldn't have been an imposing physical presence as a high school quarterback. But he sure learned how to carry out a game plan, because it worked to perfection at the 48th Fitchburg Longsjo Classic.

The 24-year-old Rytlewski, who entered yesterday's Workers' Credit Union Downtown Criterium with a 19-second lead over Symmetrics' Cameron Evans, kept his eye on Evans throughout the 50-mile stage and held that margin, placing 26th to capture the overall men's pro event in his fourth trip to Fitchburg.

In the women's pro event, Montreal native Genevieve Gauthier held onto her 11-second edge over Team TIBCO's Katherine Lambden to take the overall title in her first Longsjo, with UNH Cycling's Susannah Pratt winning the 25-mile stage.

Rytlewski had help from his friends on Rite Aid Pro Cycling, who took turns setting the pace during yesterday's 55 laps and throughout the weekend.

Rytlewski, a native of Bay City, Mich., who now lives in Avon, Ind., didn't win a stage, but he rode the help of his teammates to sit fifth through Stages 1 and 2 and climb into the orange jersey Saturday after taking third on the 104-mile Wachusett Mountain race.

"Every single one of them," Rytlewski credited his mates. "Coming into the race, they were looking to me for the [general classification] because I'm a better climber on the team, and with Stage 3 with the big climbs, it was up to me to get to the mountain, and they would help me get as close to the lead, and that I'd try to take it over on that stage. And that's what happened.

"This team is great. They worked for me, we got the job done, and they were more than happy to see me get the leader's jersey. There's no selfishness here, everyone worked for the team goals."

Teammate Alejandro Borrajo, the winner of Friday's Fitchburg State College Circuit Race, finished third overall after taking fifth in the stage. With 275 points, Evans took home the green jersey as the verge points champion, capturing two of yesterday's nine sprint segments.

Another table-setter for Rite Aid was Michael Norton, who set the pace for much of Friday's race and placed second in verge points with 100.

Shocking the field in the men's criterium was GS Mengoni's Amaurys Perez, a 22-year-old from the Dominican Republic who entered the day in 75th place out of 76 racers but won the stage in a frantic finish.

"I didn't have too many teammates here [two], but I tried to lean on the big teams to chase and at the end just look for a good shot to win the race," Perez said through an interpreter.

For much of the criterium, Russ Langley, the leader after the first two stages, set the pace with Ben Kneller, Jonathan Swain, and Phillip Gaimon, with the four opening a break by as many as 35 seconds. The pack whittled the break to 10 seconds with 10 laps to go, and with seven circuits remaining, only 8.08 seconds separated the entire field.

Evans passed City Hall with the edge and appeared to be making a last effort to slice the deficit. But with seven to go, Rytlewski was right behind him and never let him get out of sight.

"I stayed right behind the guy, and I knew if I was right on him, he couldn't beat me," Rytlewski said. "I had to stick with [Evans]. I just had to finish and not crash in the last lap."

Terry Precision's Megan Guarnier, runner-up in verge points after winning one sprint and taking second in three others, placed third in the women's pro event.