Ottieni il feed rss del blogHere is a list compiled by David Trimble and edited by Lodovico Pignatti-Morano which covers, category by category, the riders to watch next Saturday:
Road
1. Neil Bezdek
(foto credit: Federico Stanzani)
Professional road rider with the Mountain Khakis. Won two years ago at Red Hook with a solo breakaway. Raced in Milan last year as heavy favourite – bad positioning through the last corner there left him unable to bridge the gap and overcome Ortu’s early jump. Word is he’s HAUNTED by the error. Will be super-motivated come Saturday.
2. Giancarlo Bianchi
(foto credit Andy Shen)
Two time winner of the fixed gear night series "Boogie Nights" Giancarlo has broken away and won solo at Floyd Bennet Field which is one of the hardest circuit races in New York City. He recently moved to Miami and has been racing all winter so expect him to bring some highly tuned legs.
3. Scott Savory
A big fast sprinter... If he´s there at the end nobody will touch him. Scott went from Cat 5 to Cat 2 in one year by winning nothing but field sprint after field sprint.
Cyclocross
1. Dan Chabanov
Winner of last years crit in New York and mysterious no-show in Milan. He recently moved to the pro ranks on the cyclocross circuit and has been racking up hard to earn points easily.
2. Gerald Adasavage
Rides for the famous Embrocation Cycling Journal squad (who ride with custom painted Cinelli RAM bars). Finished 2nd in the very competitive Mac Series B field.
3. Dan Langlois
Gerald´s teammate and East Coast Rapha Continental project star. Races in the Elites for Embrocation Cycling Journal.
Street
1. Alfred Bobe
4 time winner of Monstertrack and considered one of the greatest ever street track-bike riders. Has been making a lot of noise about this race over the years but will finally race it for the first time this year. Has a lot of early-season kilometres in his legs and is completely focused – you will not find a smarter rider out on the course.
2. Austin Horse
Arguably the most talented active street racer in New York City (along with Alfred Bobe). Is almost unbeatable when he races in the city. Extremely fast and impossible to count out.
3. Chris Thormann
(foto credit David Trimble)
Has won Monstertrack twice including last week’s 2011 edition. Won Rumble in 2010. Won Cranksgiving in 2009 and 2010. Finished 4th last year in the Red Hook Crit. The only rider to have raced in all 4 crits. Cunning rider who will need to avoid a sprint to win.
4. John Taki
3rd in Milan. This kid is leaving and breathing for this race. Hard to find a hungrier rider in the whole field – has raced everything in sight in the lead up (including 2nd place at Monster Track) – the most fluid stylist in the field.
5. Chas Christensen
(foto credit Mike Martin)
MASH team rider who helped develop the new histogram frame geometries – wins race after race after race on the West Coast. One of the fastest active messengers around – has his own company TCB Courier. Is extremely motivated to race Red Hook for the first time – though is his track bike handling skills are completely beyond question he remains an unknown quantity on this type of circuit. Dark horse.
Track
1. Affinity team
Cameron Reider (foto credit Anthony Skorochod)
Local powerhouse track team. These guys are used to spinning a big gear. Can they handle the course and the distance? By far the biggest cohesive team in the field. None of them, however, has raced Red Hook before.
a. Jody Pogue
b. David Bachman
c. Jonathan Chambers
d. Jason Gallacher
e. Andrew Lacorte
f. Cameron Reider
g. Joshua Theil
2. Kacey Manderfield
Winner of the first Red Hook Crit in 2008. The only women in the field but she is strong enough to win. Represents the US on the track.
Foreign Contingent
1. Jon Ander Otruondo
(foto credit Federico Stanzani)
Beat all the Americans in Milano out-positioning and out-smarting the foreign field which had been expected to dominate – also had the fastest lap of the race. He knows the pressure in New York will be a whole other level so he´s been training hard all winter just for this race. Has won every similar styled race held in Italy since Red Hook.
2. Matteo Zazzera
(foto credit Federico Stanzani)
Crazy beard but fast legs. He hung in the lead group almost the entire race in Milano, has the incomparable asset of coming through the Italian youth and U-23s racing system – knows how to handle a big group smartly and has plenty of kms in his legs.
Mountain bike
1. Harlan Price
Price is a record-breaking elite mountain biker with overall wins in the NUE series and other world class Endurance events. Will be the first time Red Hook sees world class mountain bikers trying their hand at the race – if anybody from the discipline is going to pull off a win its going to be this man.
2. Rueben Cline
(foto credit Tom McMiller)
This race is nothing for Rueben... He nearly won the Trans-divide mountain bike race but fell out due to injury after almost two weeks of 200+ mile days in the wilderness. He claims to be faster than even Harlan.
3. Nathan Trimble
Race organiser David Trimble’s younger brother. An incredibly gifted natural athlete: this kid was running 2:40 marathons at the age 19. He switched to endurance mountain bike racing and is insanely fast and regularly finishes ahead of the pros. He´s also a cat 2 on the road and has many technical skills. His drawback is lack of track bike experience.
Red Hook Specialists
1. Al Barouh
An accomplished track, road, and cross rider Al is obsessed with the idea of winning Red Hook. He finished 3rd last year and 6th in Milano.
2. John Kniesly
(foto credit David Trimble)
This guy is unknown outside the small fixed gear racing community but he´s fast. He finished 2nd the last two years in Brooklyn and 5th in Milano. Nobody can figure out how he can be so fast in Red Hook and not race much the rest of the year.
3. Izumi Kuremoto
(foto credit David Trimble)
He has raced in all 3 Brooklyn Red Hooks so he knows the course and the potholes better than anyone. A dark horse.