Team SpiderTech powered by Planet Energy scores two top 10 finishers in America’s biggest one-day race
Boivin and Gilbert place 6th & 7th, squad active in key breaks
Canada’s Team SpiderTech powered Planet Energy came to Philadelphia to be a factor in today’s TD Bank International Cycling Championship and they were, placing two riders in the top 10 while being protagonists in key moves throughout the 250-kilometer/156-mile race. After more than six-and-a-quarter hours on the bike riding through oppressive humidity, heat and windy conditions, the team’s Guillaume Boivin (inset) and Martin Gilbert sprinted home in sixth and seventh places in the twenty-sixth edition of America’s biggest and longest-running one-day professional road race that was won by Australian Matthew Goss (HTC-Columbia) ahead of Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Doimo) and Alexander Kristoff (BMC Racing).
An international field of nearly two hundred riders from invited pro teams, including three ProTour squads (HTC-Columbia, Liquigas-Doimo and Footon-Servetto), took the start. The team’s Bruno Langlois got into a large early race move that escaped on the first lap. Langlois maintained his position when the break thinned the herd during the third of ten big laps that included ascents up the steep Manayunk Wall, a seventeen-percent grade grind of one-kilometer in length. The big lead group rode together until the sixth lap when Canadian Will Routley (Jelly Belly presented by Kenda) attempted a long solo escape. Tenaciously he held off the chase until the last trip up The Wall when he was nailed back by two four-man groups, one of which contained Team SpiderTech powered by Planet Energy’s Ryan Roth. A reshuffling occurred and Roth soldiered on as part of a new four-man lead group that included Daniel Oss (Liquigas-Doimo), Ermanno Capelli (Footon-Servetto) and Serhy Grechyn (Amore & Vita - Conad). For a time, it looked like the break might outfox the sprinters, but when HTC-Columbia, UnitedHealthCare, Jamis-Sutter Homes and Kelly Benefit Strategies combined forces, the catch was inevitable. With approximately three kilometers remaining, they were gobbled up by what was left of the decimated peloton setting the stage for a mass gallop up the long Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Goss came around the right side to score the coveted victory with Boivin and Gilbert close behind in the Australian’s shadow.
“Team SpiderTech was awesome today. We had Bruno Langlois and Ryan Roth in the major breaks, which made things easier for Martin and me since other teams were forced to chase the breaks and we could focus on being there for the (finishing) sprint. Martin did a perfect lead-out, but I got boxed in and couldn't do the sprint I wanted. But we were in a strong position to go for the win and with a complete team, which bodes well for upcoming races and the rest of the season,” said Boivin after the race.
"Team SpiderTech rode all the way to the line with the ambition of winning Philly,” said director Steve Bauer. “Our guys covered breaks all day. First it was Bruno Langlois, who kept the team relaxed in the peloton and then we put Ryan Roth into an important late race move that was caught with only three kilometers remaining. Gilbert and Boivin went man against man with the best sprinters and came up a little short, but not by much. Both sprinters looked disappointed after the long race, but the entire team finished strongly and contributed throughout, which is highly commendable under extreme humidity.”
In addition to close to 300,000 spectators in attendance, the race was televised live in high definition for the first time on Comcast SportsNet and Versus.
Canada’s only UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) continental team, Team SpiderTech powered by Planet Energy is a talented young squad comprised of Canadian Olympians and national champions that have celebrated twelve UCI wins thus far this season. The outfit will next focus on events held on Canadian soil: the UCI Individual Time Trial in Gatineau, Quebec (June 12) where Parisien and Roth will represent the team, and the Tour de Beauce (June 15-20) at which a full squad will compete.
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