Cheerwine's Catherine Cheatley (below right) gets a victory hug from teammate and defending champion Laura Van Guilder after making good in a three-woman breakaway (photos by Steve Klein).

New faces dominated the 11th annual CSC Invitational Sunday in Arlington, Va.

New Zealander Catherine Cheatley of Cheerwine was part of an unusual (for this race and course) three-woman breakaway and won a sprint finish to take the women's 50K. Americans Laura Kroepsch of ValuAct Capital and Andrea Dvorak of Colavita-Sutter Home lost out in the thrilling finish.

Colavita's Tina Pic, the 2006 winner, and Cheerwine's Laura Van Guilder, defending champion and a three-time winner, brought home the pack in fourth and fifth.

Despite some big names in the men's 100k field, Italian Luca Damiani of Colavita-Sutter edged out Canadian Dominique Rollin of Toyota-United, Austrian Karl Menzies of Health Net-Maxxis, and American Brad Huff of Jelly Belly.

-- Cycling News: Damiani, Cheatley sprint out of breaks for CSC wins

Start of the 2007 CSC Invitational (photo by Steve Klein)

As I wait for the fourth game of the Stanley Cup finals to begin (GO WINGS!) ...

WHAT: The 11th annual CSC Invitational, part of USA Cycling's National Racing Calendar.
The race showcases a form of cycling involving a series of high-speed bike races that take place on a short course through city streets. The CSC Invitational is known as one of the most difficult criterium races in the U.S. due to technical demands of the course and the quality of the participants. The spectator friendly course is 1km in length.

WHEN: Sunday June 1

Imagine my shock this morning when, after retrieving the dead-tree product from my driveway and pulling out the Redskins -- oops, I mean Sports section, I saw a centerpiece story on cycling. How did I know that it was a cycling story and not a disguised Redskins story? Well, the first word of the headline was "Cycling's." Of course, the rest of the headline was: "...Drug Test."

Naturally.

The drophead: "After Years of Doping Controversies, the Tarnished Sport Knows It Has to Come Clean or Become Obsolete."

Naturally.

The article is overlaid on a lovely picture of two professional cyclists and runs over to an inside page and about a half page more.

Now, it's important for you to know that we have a major pro cycling event here in Northern Virginia on Sunday: The CSC Invitational, a 62-mile race around the streets surrounding the Clarendon Metro station.

You might think that the timing of the story was tied to the event, but its mention is an afterthought in the long piece. The CSC Invitational isn't mentioned until the penultimate paragraph. That's just bad journalism, but the Washington Post doesn't even list the Versus Network's Cyclism Sunday telecasts in its sports listings.

Of course, that's why there are blogs like the Triple Crankset. Niche sports fans no longer look to mainstream media like the Washington Post to satisfy their sports interests. My friends in the MSM often complain that blogs are unreliable and biased. I would agree that many blogs, like the TC, are biased. They're passionate, too. Biased and passionate about cycling. As to unreliable, I would argue that it is MSM like the Washington Post that is unreliable in its coverage of sports like cycling.

Competing teams include Team CSC, Rock Racing and Slipstream-Chipolte. Cyclists include defending champion Rashaan Bahati and Fred Rodriquez of Rock Racing; four Danish riders from CSC; and Magnus Backstedt of Slipsteam. There's the men's 100k and a women's 50k. The local cycling community turns out in big numbers for the full-day event, which does very well without the MSM.

It all adds up to a great day for cycling, even if the Post thinks there's nothing more to the sport than the doping controversy.

There's plenty of video available on YouTube of the 2007 CSC Invitational June 2 in Arlington, Va.

Presenting of the colors at the 10th annual CSC Invitational in Arlington, Va.
(photo/Tour of '03)

Getting ready for the race. (photo/Tour of '03)

Disabled riders get ready for their race. (photo/Tour of '03)

I don't know what it is about cycling that mainstream media like the Washington Post finds so unappealing. I guess you could say its the doping culture of men's professional cycling, but that would assume that sports editors have an idea of something beyond football, baseball and basketball in this country.

Perhaps as many as 20,000 people showed up in the multi-cultural, ultra chic, she she, Clarendon neighborhood of Arlington, Va., on a hot, muggy Saturday for the 10th annual CSC Invitational. The event is free, so perhaps that keeps the mainstream media away (I'm looking for excuses here). If they don't like the men pros -- and there were 178 of them in the 100-km race -- because of whatever it is that Bad Boy Floyd may have done, or the 75 or so female pros, maybe it was all the little kids on bikes with their parents (it's a family event) or the disabled cyclists giving it their all that is so unappealing. After all, some overblown ego on the Washington Redskins probably deserves more attention in the off-season.

I believe that good news -- people news -- interests people and can sell newspapers (not that I care if the Washington Post sells two more papers). But couldn't the website have at least run some coverage ... taken some pictures ... shown some interest in its community and what really does interest people? Or is it just that people should watch, not do? Whatever it is, as a long-time journalist and teacher, I understand why the mainstream media is struggling to remain viable these days. To be financially viable, you have to be relevant to your community. That means knowing something about that community, whether its on the day that the toughest crit in the U.S. takes place in its coverage area, or whether it's any day of the week when thousands of area residents are out on their bikes, whether it's on the W&OD Trail or the streets, recreating.

If the mainstream media wants to remain relevant to people's lives, it needs to understand what's taking place in people's lives. Saturday in Arlington, the mainstream media once again demonstrated that it just doesn't have a clue. That's bad business.

Rock Racing is a new name in men's pro cycling to me (Granny is probably more familiar with this tier of men's pro cycling). So Rashaan Bahati's sprint finish victory, the team's first, was a big deal on a hot, muggy Saturday afternoon in the 10th annual CSC Invitational in Arlington, Va.

The women's race in the somewhat (but not much) cooler morning went to Laura Van Gilder of Cheerwine. She outsprinted race-long breakaway companion Rebecca Larson of Aaron's Corporate Furnishings in a thrilling finish.

Here's the VeloNews' Ryan Newill's account of the men's race:
With temperatures hovering around the 90-degree mark, it was once again a race of attrition on the notoriously difficult 1-km, five-turn course, which winds its way through Arlington's Clarendon district of bars, shops and restaurants.

In the men's finale, it was the Toyota-United squad that seemed to have the upper hand, with Henk Vogels bringing Ivan Stevic into the final turn in perfect position with just 200 meters to go.

But Stevic, filling in as team sprinter while 2006 CSC Invitational champion Ivan Dominguez recovers from a bad crash, tried to come around Vogels on the outside of the turn, rather than on the inside, as he usually does. As Stevic was momentarily pinched by Vogels, Bahati saw his opportunity and jumped around Stevic to the win.

"I should have told [Vogels] I was coming on the inside. It was my mistake. I can usually do the corners really tight, so I usually go to the inside," said Stevic. "[Bahati] saw my mistake and jumped, and there was no way to catch him then."

Despite the miscommunication, Stevic held on for second place ahead of Navigators' on-form sprinter Hilton Clarke. Clarke, already a winner at the Kelly Cup and the Tour of Somerville over the past week, saw his luck interrupted when a rider fell in front of him in a Wednesday-night training race in New Jersey, but shook off the scrapes and bruises to bring home a third-straight National Racing Calendar podium spot.

Navigators' work started early, when Viktor Rapinski leapt away alone with 89 laps remaining in the 100-lap men's race. Eleven laps later, the Belorussian strongman had forged a gap that had him sitting just 20 seconds off the back of the chasing peloton. While a number of teams threw riders into the chase, it was Rapinski's own efforts that finally got the better of him, and after 21 laps off the front, he rolled back into the field.

Aggressive racing saw a number of small moves form and dissolve before Jonny Sundt (Kelly Benefits Strategies) and Kyle Wamsley (Navigators) squeezed out a five-second gap. They were joined by Allen Johansen, representing the CSC ProTour team in its sponsor's stateside event.

With Johansen, the break hovered in front for several laps before drawing out a six-man counterattack, but when the groups merged, the break became too unwieldy and returned to the field. The same fate befell another promising move several laps later that included Clarke, Rapinski, Gustavo Artacho (Colavita-Sutter Home), Henk Vogels (Toyota-United), Emile Abraham (Priority Health) and Chad Hartley (BMC).

Clarke and teammate Ben Brooks (Navigators), Stevic, and Shawn Milne (HealthNet) carved out an eight-second gap in a move that lasted several laps, but were caught with 25 laps remaining, sparking a counterattack by Sebastian Haedo (Rock Racing).

Haedo's move attracted the attention of Oleg Grishkin (Navigators) and Colavita's Luca Damiani, who joined up with the young Argentinian and carved out a 20-second gap. Alas, family ties apparently don't count for much in cycling, as it was Haedo's older brother J.J. Haedo's powerful CSC squad putting five men on the front of the peloton, hoping to bring the elder Haedo a valuable win in front of the sponsors after an early exit from the Giro d'Italia.
CSC's chase brought the gap down to 12 seconds before the move began to implode on its own, with first Damiani and then Haedo returning to the field. Grishkin forged ahead on this own for several more laps, hoping to keep his Navigators teammates rested for as long as possible before the coming sprint finish.

Grishkin's time ran out with seven laps remaining, and Stevic's Toyota-United and J.J. Haedo's CSC traded leadership of the peloton several times before giving way to the Navigators' train with one lap remaining.

From there, the stage was set for Bahati, who took his biggest win since winning both the national elite and junior criterium championships in 2000 in Downer's Grove, Ill.

"Yeah, it's big," said Bahati. "I don't really have a lot of words. My cheeks just hurt I'm so happy."

And the women's race:
While the men's race consumed break after break on the way to a field sprint, the 50-lap women's race featured only four laps without a break, and no breaks without Laura Van Gilder.

After several probing moves, Van Gilder went away with Rebecca Larson with some 40 laps remaining. The pair worked together well, as did their respective Cheerwine and Aaron's Corporate Furnishings teammates, who quickly extinguished any hopes of a concerted chase or bridge attempt from the field.

At the halfway mark, Larson and Van Gilder had 25 seconds in hand, enough time to be totally out of sight of the field, even on the long finishing straight.

Once out of sight, the break expanded its advantage further, coming within 15 seconds of the tail of the deflated field.

"I don't think it was in either of our interests to lap the field," said Van Gilder. "Once you do that, it can get messy. You can have a hard time keeping track of each other, and you bring the teams back into it."

The pair instead used the insurmountable gap on the final lap, with Larson refusing to come around Van Gilder despite slowing to a crawl. With no other choice save a trackstand, Van Gilder led out the sprint just after the final corner. Larson drew nearly even with just meters to the line, but didn't have the extra punch to topple the two-time CSC Invitational champion.
Just as they had for the majority of the race, Aaron's and Cheerwine riders dominated the field in the sprint for the remainder of the placings, with Cheerwine's Sarah Uhl and Kelly Benjamin nipping Aaron's Sarah Caravella at the line.

With her win this year, Van Gilder becomes the only three-time champion in the history of the race. The Pennsylvania native appears to be sticking to winning the CSC Invitational every two years, having won in 2003 and 2005 as well. Two other riders have taken two victories each: Germany's Ina Teutenberg (2001, 2002) and the late Nicole Reinhart (1999, 2000).

Here's the winning podium for the Women's Pro Race of the CSC Invitational Saturday in Arlington, Va. (from L to R: 4 -- Kelly Benjamin (Cheerwine); 2 -- Rebecca Larson (Aaron's); 1 -- Laura Van Gilder (Cheerwine); 3 -- Sarah Uhl (Cheerwine); 5 -- Sarah Caravella (Aaron's).
(Photo/Tour of '03)

The men's pro field chases the leader in last year's CSC Invitational in Arlington. (By Douglas Graham)

If you're around Metro D.C. Saturday, the place to be is Arlington's Clarendon neighborhood Saturday morning to watch Bobby Julich and other world-class professional cyclists in the 10th annual CSC Invitational. It's 100 laps around a 1k course (see map below). Proceeds benefit Paralyzed Veterans of America. Viewing is free.

Triple Crankset will be on hand for the 10th annual CSC Invitational in Arlington, Va., on Saturday.

As a long-time journalist who now teaches and only reports and writes occasionally, this is the first time that I've ever been credentialed as a blogger. This is very much to the organizer's credit (Arlington Sports) since the debate continues to rage as to who is and isn't a journalist. I'm probably more of a "journalist" than some bloggers since my background is as a journalist; I'm just not an active journalist, although I do write for the Poynter Institute.

Back around 2000, while consulting for the now defunct drkoop.com health care site, I obtained the first credential for a pure-play online news organization from the House Radio-Television Gallery. Back then, the credentialing process served either the daily press (newspapers) or radio/TV outlets. There was no separate classification for online media; there still isn't. We qualified for the Radio-Television Gallery.

But back to the event ...
Saturday’s race begins at 8:25 a.m. ET with a number of amateur races and the Women’s Pro race at 9:55 a.m. At 11:25 a.m., handcycling will take to the stage with the Health Net Federal Services U.S. Handcycling Criterium Championship. The Kid’s Race at noon will be the final event before the Men’s Pro event begins its 100 laps through Clarendon at 12:25 p.m.

General viewing for the CSC Invitational is free.

There are 18 teams and 178 male professionals entered. CSC, as the title sponsor, usually shows up with a strong team, and this team is no exception. Bobby Julich, JJ. Haedo, Marcus Ljungqvist, Martin Pederson and Allan Johansen are among the CSC riders scheduled to participate.

“For the pro’s, it’s 500 turns. You have to be physically strong, you have to be super mentally tough to get through it and be in the right position at the end,” says Vasili Davidenko, the 2002 CSC Invitational winner and a former Russian National Champion.

Says Mark McCormack, the former USPRO National Champion and 2006 CSC Invitational Winner: “It is the Philly of Crits. It’s savagely hard. You have to close the gaps, you have to have the right positioning, it is incredibly technically challenging with all the turns and there is always wind that blows you over between turn 2 and 3 Only 30-40 guy finish it, for the shere fact that it is that hard!"

“This is the hardest crit we do all year,” says Ivan Dominguez, 2005 CSC Invitational winner and former Cuban National Champion.

Yeah, we have crashes in Arlington, too, at the CSC Invitational.