Led by co-captain Amy Wallace '04, the Dartmouth cycling team rode away from the 4-Race Army weekend third overall out of 30 teams. Wallace and fellow captain Tim Clement '05 both improved their individual season standings in the conference, moving up to second and third, respectively while the team strengthened its grip on the Ivy Cup and Division II leads.
Saturday featured the team time trial and road race. The team stalled after its domination of the TTT in Boston the previous weekend, settling for eighth place, but rebounded in the afternoon, winning the road race outright. Wallace set the tone for the team, coming from behind to out-sprint her competitors and win the women's A race. Karla Kingsley '05 and Jenna Farleigh '06 both finished in the top 20 behind Wallace, adding to the point total while Sally Smith '05 grabbed 10th in the women's B field.
Wallace's first place finish was particularly sweet. "I'd never won a road race before, and winning the Army road race on Saturday was especially satisfying, considering I finished nearly last three years ago, left in an ambulance two years ago, and had a bike problem that put me out of the race in the first mile last year."
On the men's side, J. Bing Knight '05 and Clement had great finishes in the A race, with Knight finishing in seventh place and Clement coming in 10th. The course featured a long climb and a fast, downhill straightaway at the finish.
"The climb in the road race was significant, but not steep enough to drop the more Rubenesque riders," said Clement. "I had just enough left in the tank to make it up on the fourth lap and contest the wickedly fast downhill sprint."
Matt Pech '07 grabbed eighth in the men's B race, and the men's C squad had great performances from Jon Awerbuch '07 and Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin '07 (who finished second and sixth respectively), while the second place finish of Eric Fitz Th'05 in the Men's D sealed the team's road race victory.
"Thanks to some great blocking at the head of the peloton by Mackenzie, I managed to stay away with a UNH rider in the big headwinds on the long downhill stretch to the sprint finish," Awerbuch said.
Sunday brought the Individual Time Trial and the Criterium. In the morning's ITT, the men's C duo of Awerbuch and Knowles led the team, matching their performances from the road race, taking second and fifth respectively. Had it not been for the misdirection by course marshals, Awerbuch would have scored the first collegiate cycling victory of his career. Wallace finished high in the points again, this time finishing 10th, one spot behind her teammate Farleigh. men's D rider Richard Trierweiler '05 grabbed ninth.
In the afternoon Criterium, Wallace made it two victories in a row, taking first place in women's A. Kingsley and Farleigh were not far behind, both finishing in the points at seventh and 17th. On the men's side, Clement and Knight continued their consistent success by both finishing in the top 10 in the men's A field, while Brian Hendrickson '06 regained his bike form, finishing eighth in men's B. Knowles-Coursin capped his impressive weekend in the points, grabbing 12th in men's C, and Fitz put an exclamation point on his first collegiate cycling weekend, finishing seventh in Men's D.
At the end of Sunday, the Big Green riders took second overall in the Criterium out of the 27 teams that entered the event. Together with their dominance of the Road Race, they walked away from the long weekend third overall and gave themselves the momentum they need going into the final two races of the season.
Co-captain Clement was pleased with the team's weekend performance. "Despite having incredibly bad luck the past two weekends, the team has shown a lot of strength. Everyone is improving and doing well, from our newer riders to the veterans," he reported.
Individually, Clement's consistent top-10 finishes keep him in contention for the overall crown in the conference. Wallace's recent string of victories have put her a 23mm tire-width away from the Women's yellow jersey, and both riders will go for the jugular in the final two weekends.
Dartmouth plays host to its conference rivals this weekend on the roads around the Dartmouth Campus. Criterium and road races take place on Saturday, and the road race climbs the adjacent Norwich Hills on Sunday. The team invites all cycling enthusiasts to come out and race or watch, with the Criterium on Saturday afternoon promising to be a crowd favorite on Webster Avenue.
