Just this past week, four Dartmouth students raced at the U.S. Cycling National Festival in Seven Springs, Penn., and each posted strong results. In the U23 Men's Road Race, Toby Marzot '09 put in the best finish of the Dartmouth students with a 41st-place effort, five and a half minutes behind the race winner. Eric Schildge '10 and Team Captain Jon Awerbuch '07 finished seven and nine minutes later, in 55th and 61st place respectively.
In the women's time trial, Jen Stebbins '09 finished 11th, while in the men's time trial, Schildge and Awerbuch finished 60th and 70th respectively.
At the end of June, members of the cycling team traveled to Fitchburg, Mass., for the Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic -- one of the biggest and oldest races on the East Coast. The race consisted of four stages, each one marked by a distinct format. The riders began with a time trial race, followed by a circuit race, a road race, and a criterium race.
Some of the best results achieved by a Dartmouth racer came from Schildge, who won the Circuit Race event competing in the Category 2 Classification -- the highest level of competition available for amateur racers. Schildge beat out the rest of the peloton in the final sprint to the finish line, finishing the 62-mile course in 2:15:43. He finished third in the general classification, which is based on the finishes from all four races.
"I had a disappointing time trial on the first day of the race, and that really hurt my chances for the overall standings," Schlidge said. "As a result, I went into the circuit race looking to redeem myself. When I crossed the finish line, I was in disbelief. It was one of the best results of my career, and before that morning, it wasn't even a goal of mine."
Marzot also impressed with his efforts, placing himself atop the podium with a strong 92-mile ride. Marzot finished the race in 4:01:12, just ahead of two other racers with whom he had broken away from the pack.
Stebbins put on an extraordinary show throughout the four days of racing. She competed in the Women's 3/4 classification and raced well, beating out over 60 racers to win the 17-mile criterium race. Stebbins also finished eighth in the 6.55-mile individual time trial, second in the 22-mile circuit race and 11th in the 46-mile road race. Those results were enough to run away with the general classification points title, having accrued more than twice the total points of the next best finisher over the four days of racing.
At summer races, Dartmouth cyclists do not ride with the College's name on their chest. The college cycling season runs from March through May, and for the summer, racers join different club teams. Marzot, for example, races for Team Fior di Frutta during the summer, a team that is widely considered the best amateur team in the country.
During the road race, he played a major support role, slowing down the pack so that his teammate had a chance to pull away in the lead group. Through hard work, Marzot was still able to finish a very strong 41st.
Even though the team members split up and race with different squads for the summer, they still have very strong bonds.
"Obviously, the team is very close," team member Erik Newman '09 said. "Most of the people on the team live with each other during the school year and even during the summer we see each other, even the non-sophomores, almost every weekend."
Team captain Awerbuch echoed Newman's sentiments.
"We ride together almost every day, all spring, all fall, and most days in the winter too," he said. "We're a pretty tight team."
When asked if they were doing anything special in celebration of the Tour de France, the answer was an enthusiastic yes.
"When it gets to the more exciting mountain stages, we'll probably start watching it as a team," Newman said. "We certainly talk about the professional European cycling season a lot. There's plenty of exciting racing that goes on in Europe other than just the Tour de France, although most of it doesn't get broadcast here in the U.S."
