Cheatley in charge of Longsjo
PRINCETON - If Catherine Cheatley holds on to win the 49th annual Longsjo Classic, she will have fond memories of Fitchburg.
Yesterday she powered her way to victory in the Wachusett Mountain stage and took the general classification lead.
"It's been a great weekend so far," said Cheatley, who learned Thursday she had been named to New Zealand's Olympic team. "Winning was a great way to top off the news that I made the Olympic team. I've worked very hard to make this happen this year."
Cheatley, racing for Cheerwine Cycling, missed a portion of the season following surgery on her left leg to correct a narrow artery that was causing numbness. The timing could not have been worse as she had to prove she was in racing condition to the New Zealand Olympic Committee.
Consistent performances at races across the United States, including a win at the CS Invitational in early June, proved she was in top form.
Cheatley outworked Colavita's Kristin McGrath for the mountain stage win. Connecticut Coast Cycling's Kathleen Billington was third, followed by Colavita's Andrea Dvorak and Tina Pic.
"The last time through the feed zone [in Princeton center], Colavita led a charge and got Kristen out front," Cheatley said. "With about 2 kilometers to go, we jumped Kristen, and with 1K to go, I just dug harder and went for the win. My teammates did a great job."
McGrath finished 19 seconds behind Cheatley, giving Cheatley the lead (also 19 seconds, thanks to the 10 bonus seconds she received for finishing first) heading into today's John Fitch Circuit stage. However, McGrath retained her yellow jersey as the overall female points leader in the New England BikeWeek competition.
Billington is third (1:27 behind), while Cheatley's teammate, Stacy Marple, is 1:35 off the pace.
On the men's side, everything seemed set up for a battle between Colavita and Bissell, as both had set their riders up nicely at the bottom of Wachusett. However, Team Type 1 had other plans, as all six team members worked hard to earn Ian MacGregor the win in a sprint finish.
Team Type 1's Shawn Milne, the 2006 Longsjo winner, had led most of the day, but was finally brought back to the pack with three laps to go thanks to the efforts of Colavita and Bissell team members. At the bottom of the climb, it appeared climbers Ted King of Bissell and Anthony Colby and Luis Amaran of Colavita were in perfect position to earn the win.
However, of those three, only King was left with 50 meters to go. But it would be the unlikely duo of MacGregor and Colavita's Kyle Wamsley fighting it out over the last 20 meters, with MacGregor earning the win. King finished third, followed by Matthew Busche of Nova Cycle Sports Foundation and Colby. All five riders plus sixth-place finisher Christopher Jones (Team Type 1) finished with the time of 4 hours 14 minutes 20 seconds.
Wamsley took the lead in the general classification and positioned himself for the overall win.
Justin Spinelli of KBS/Medifast, who finished 14 seconds behind the lead group yesterday, is in second, five seconds behind Wamsley.
