June 15, 2007
For Immediate Release
CAICO / El Meson Pro Cycling Team in the Triple-Crown of Cycling.
Philadelphia, PA - Caico Pro Cycling Team (PUR, USA cycling team now registered in COL for 2007) on June 7th, 2007 showed their true colors at the “PCT Reading Classic” and at the “Philadelphia International Championship” on June 10th, 2007.
At the PCT Reading Classic on Thursday, amazing speeds and aggressive attacks entertained the huge crowd of cycling fans all day after a slow start due to some logistical challenges. When all the barricades and banners were finally set the enthusiasm was felt in the air.
Hats off to Javier Zapata from CAICO who made sure he is present in the next Reading Classic event video or DVD with a heroic attempt to earn “Hill Climb” points. Javier, Kasper Klostergaard from CSC (Denmark) and Christian Meier from Symmetrics Cycling Team (Canada) rolled away in the first 7 fast paced laps and quickly developed a 1:00 min lead ahead of the peloton. On their 8th lap the three riders in the break met the Mount Penn climb for the first time. This is where Javier Zapata outperformed everyone with an impressive effort where he earned the first “Hill Climb” points. Looking strong while reaching the top alone most likely triggered a reaction form T-Mobile, Toyota-United, HealthNet and Navigators who organized and moved to bring him back while the rest of the Caico gladiators remained in the pack. To have an idea of how hard the climb is, out of hundreds that started only about 70 riders were left to start the second climb attempt.
“As we gain more experience, obviously still it is a privilege for Caico to be racing against the top teams in the world like CSC and T-Mobile, it is a great opportunity and I think in one way or another, with Javier’s performance today, we want to demonstrate that we are here to compete and to let ourselves show” commented Franco Font, team captain at the finish of the Reading Classic. “These are teams, some currently in training, which have several riders who will be racing in France next month” Font added. T-Mobile, Toyota-United, HealthNet and Navigators kept a close eye on the break away group as it developed. We bet that words like “Javier”, “Caico” and “strong” could be heard over radios and scanners as Zapata reached the top of the Mount Penn climb. The mighty strength of a “Tour de France” style peloton devoured the break shortly after. This could be a double edge show for the Caico climbing armada.
On Sunday, the Caico team said present at the closing event of the Triple-Crown of cycling, the world famous “Philadelphia International Championship” now celebrating its 23rd year. This is the longest and richest single-day cycling road race in the United States. The cyclists battled for ten laps of a 14.4-mile circuit (23.1 Kilometers laps). The Pros covered 156 miles (251 kilometers) in only 5:45:51. The average speed was 27.6 mph.
From the beginning of the race the climbing specialists from Caico were near the front of the peloton. They aggressively tackled the 17% grade climb prompting reaction from the top teams. Navigators, T-Mobile, CSC and Tecos kept a close eye on any move. There were so many strong contenders that almost every team took a turn at the front bringing any break back. Attacks were constant. During the second lap they got organized for their attack and Jorge Martinez (Caico) reached the top of this monster hill nicknamed “The Wall” in 2nd place earning KOM points just behind Alejandro Borrajo (Argentina) from the Rite Aid Pro Cycling. The riders did this climb ten times in the first ten laps. The last three laps include Lemon Hill and Logan Circle for a finish on Benjamin Franklin Parkway. On the KOM #2 over Lemon Hill, Neil Shirley (Jittery Joes) got 1st, Alexander Gonzalez (Caico) got 2nd and Eduardo Colon (Caico) got 3rd earning more KOM points.
During the entire race it was a challenge to predict the attacks. They were coming from all over on the flats, right before the climbs, in the middle of the climbs and even at the feed zones. All the main teams fought to get away and get KOM points. The well orchestrated moves and breaks at times looked like they were going to succeed, but the peloton was very strong. The constant moves took a toll on Alexander Gonzales (Caico) when he broke his bike’s chain while trying to bridge up into a break. The caliber of riders was at its best with some teams like CSC and T-Mobile racing in the USA in preparation for the “Tour de France” next month. The field of riders even included Marco Pinotti (T-Mobile) wearer of the Pink Jersey in the 2007 “Giro di Italia”.
PCT Philadelphia International Championship full results below:
Pro Cycling Tour
Philadelphia International Championship
156 miles - 5:45:51
1 Juan Jose Haedo Arg Team Csc
2 Matthew Harley Goss Aus Team Csc "
3 Bernhard Eisel Aut T-Mobile "
4 Alejandro-Alberto Borrajo Arg Rite Aid Usa "
5 Dominique Rollin Can Kodak Gallery P/B Sierra Nevada "
6 Mark Cavendish Gbr T-Mobile "
7 Charles Dionne Can Colavita-Sutter Home Usa "
8 Ricardo Escuela Arg Slp "
9 Alex Candelario Usa Jelly Belly "
10 Frank Pipp Usa Health Net - Maxxis "
11 Emile Abraham Tri Priority Health P/B Bissel "
12 Sebastian Haedo Arg Rock Racing Usa "
13 Henk Vogels Aus Toyota-United Usa "
14 Greg Henderson Nzl T-Mobile "
15 Sergey Lagutin Uzb Navigators Insurance "
16 Svein "Tuft," Can Symmetrics Cycling Team "
17 Jacob Erker Can Symmetrics Cycling Team "
18 Benjamin Brooks Usa Navigators Insurance "
19 Valery Kobzarenko Ukr Navigators Insurance "
20 John-Freddy Parra Col Tecos De La Universidad "
21 Alejandro-Ivan Cortes Col Caico "
22 Andrew Randell Can Symmetrics Cycling Team "
23 Andrew Bajadali Usa Jelly Belly "
24 Rory Sutherland Usa Health Net - Maxxis "
25 David Vitoria Sui Bmc Racing Team "
26 Ben Day Aus Navigators Insurance "
27 Christopher Jones Usa Nerac "
28 Trent Wilson Aus Jittery Joe's "
29 Benjamin Jacques-Maynes Usa Priority Health P/B Bissel "
30 Jorge Martinez Col Caico "
31 Chris Wherry Usa Toyota-United Usa "
32 Juan-Pablo Magallanes Mex Tecos De La Universidad "
33 Christian Meier Can Symmetrics Cycling Team "
34 Sean Sullivan Aus Toyota-United Usa "
35 Christian Valenzuela Mex Slp "
36 Oleg Grishkin Rus Navigators Insurance "
37 Ivan Stevic Scg Toyota-United Usa "
38 Cameron Evans Can Symmetrics Cycling Team "
39 Davide Frattini Ita Colavita-Sutter Home Usa "
40 Ryder Hesjedal Can Health Net - Maxxis "
41 Daniel Bowman Usa Kelly Benefit / Medifast "
42 Luke Roberts Aus Team Csc "
43 Cesar-Augusto Grajales Col Jittery Joe's "
44 Dominique Perras Can Kelly Benefit / Medifast "
45 Eric Keim Usa Aeg-Toshiba-Jetnetwork Usa "
46 Allan Johansen Den Team Csc "
47 Michael Blaudzun Den Team Csc "
48 Gregorio Ladino Col Tecos De La Universidad "
49 Marco Pinotti Ita T-Mobile 22
50 Richard England Aus Priority Health P/B Bissel 26
51 Martin Pedersen Den Team Csc "
52 Caleb Manion Usa Toyota-United Usa 29
53 Jesse Anthony Usa Kodak Gallery P/B Sierra Nevada 36
54 Kirk O'bee Usa Health Net - Maxxis 43
55 Javier-De-Jesus Zapata Col Caico 46
56 Shawn Milne Usa Health Net - Maxxis 55
57 Alessandro Bazzana Ita Slp 59
58 Yosvani Falcon Cub Aeg-Toshiba-Jetnetwork Usa 1:01
59 Michael Grabinger Usa Slp "
60 Danny Pate Usa Slipstream P/B Chipotle 1:22
61 Roger Hammond Gbr T-Mobile 1:45
62 Mike Sayers Usa Bmc Racing Team 1:54
63 Mark Walters Can Kodak Gallery P/B Sierra Nevada 2:03
64 Eric Baumann Ger T-Mobile 2:50
65 Erik Lyman Can Calyon - Litespeed "
66 Adam Myerson Usa Nerac "
67 Christopher Frederick Usa Aeg-Toshiba-Jetnetwork Usa "
68 Daniel Holt Usa Nerac "
69 Adam Bergman Usa Colavita-Sutter Home Usa "
70 Todd Yezefski Usa Nerac "
71 Zachary Bell Can Symmetrics Cycling Team "
72 Jake Rytlewski Usa Rite Aid Usa "
73 Martin Gilbert Can Kelly Benefit / Medifast "
74 Ben Raby Usa Kodak Gallery P/B Sierra Nevada "
75 Wendy Cruz Dom Caico "
76 Nick Reistad Usa Jelly Belly "
77 Rudolph Napolitano Usa Rock Racing Usa "
78 Patrick Walsh Usa Nerac "
79 Kasper Klostergaard-Larsen Den Team Csc "
80 Fausto-Marcelino Esparza Mex Tecos De La Universidad "
81 Alex Hagman Usa Aeg-Toshiba-Jetnetwork Usa "
82 Michael Dietrich Usa Kodak Gallery P/B Sierra Nevada "
83 Hector-Hugo Rangel Mex Tecos De La Universidad "
84 Tyler Wren Usa Colavita-Sutter Home Usa "
85 Stephen Kincaid Usa Rite Aid Usa "
86 Herberth Gutierrez Col Tecos De La Universidad "
87 David Mccann Irl Colavita-Sutter Home Usa "
88 Michael Friedman Usa Slipstream P/B Chipotle "
89 Gustavo Artacho Arg Colavita-Sutter Home Usa "
90 James Meadley Aus Jelly Belly "
91 Eric Wohlberg Can Symmetrics Cycling Team "
92 Scott Moninger Usa Bmc Racing Team "
93 Matthew Guse Can Calyon - Litespeed "
94 Scott Nydam Usa Bmc Racing Team "
95 Austin King Usa Jittery Joe's "
96 Garrett Peltonen Usa Priority Health P/B Bissel "
97 Edward King Usa Priority Health P/B Bissel "
98 Geoff Kabush Can Symmetrics Cycling Team "
99 Neil Shirley Usa Jittery Joe's "
100 Scott Zwizanski Usa Priority Health P/B Bissel "
101 Frank Travieso Cub Aeg-Toshiba-Jetnetwork Usa "
102 Matt Shriver Usa Jittery Joe's "
103 Ryan Roth Can Kelly Benefit / Medifast "
104 Nicholas Waite Usa Kelly Benefit / Medifast "
105 Hilton Clarke Aus Navigators Insurance "
106 Cody Stevenson Aus Jittery Joe's "
107 Aaron Olson Usa T-Mobile "
108 Jacob Rosenbarger Usa Bmc Racing Team "
109 Taylor Tolleson Usa Slipstream P/B Chipotle 5:10
110 Heath Blackgrove Nzl Toyota-United Usa "
111 Luis-Fernando Macias-Hernandez Mex Tecos De La Universidad "
112 John Murphy Usa Health Net - Maxxis "
113 Ken Hanson Usa Bmc Racing Team "
114 Evan Elken Usa Jittery Joe's "
115 Nikola Smutny Cze Nerac "
116 Tommy Nankervis Aus Jittery Joe's "
117 Chuck Coyle Usa Slp "
118 William Frischkorn Usa Slipstream P/B Chipotle "
119 Charles-Bradley Huff Usa Slipstream P/B Chipotle "
120 Chad Hartley Usa Bmc Racing Team "
121 Francois Parisien Can Slipstream P/B Chipotle "
122 Karl Menzies Aus Health Net - Maxxis "
123 Michael Creed Usa Slipstream P/B Chipotle "
Thursday’s event pictures can be searched at:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2007/jun07/commercebank07/index.php?id=/photos/2007/jun07/commercebank07/commercebank072/gallery-commercebank072
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Official team address:
AHF Agentes de Seguros / Caico
Calle Padre Feliciano # 3
San Sebastian, Puerto Rico 00685
Tel: +1 787 896 2533
Fax: +1 787 896 2525
Team Manager
Mr. FONT LOPEZ Agustin H.
Reprensentative of the team
Mr. FONT LOPEZ Agustin H.
And anyone with additional info, please feel free to post it. Albert & Archibald - News Collaborators
