A number of New York riders headed to Amish country over the August 6 weekend for the 14th annual Tour de Christiana, a two-day, three-stage race near Lancaster, PA. Eugene Boronow, Jason Bremer and Lisban Quintero of GS Mengoni were in the P/1/2 race, along with Todd Herriott and his Colavita teammates and Karl Rahn of Axis. In the masters 40+ field were Tony Settel of Deno’s Wonder Wheel, Kurt Gustafsson of Axis, and David Taylor of Blue Ribbon-Translations.com. In the Cat 3/4 race Jon Orcutt of Merrill Lynch was joined by Armand Della Monica, Justin Lubeley, Jason Parkin, and Matthew Howard of Blue Ribbon. Adam Duncan and Lorenzo Cavallaro represented Merrill in the 4/5 field. Howard sent us some notes on the 3/4 race:

The first stage was a 45-mile road race, held in 90-degree weather on a demanding 9-mile circuit. The aggressive pace, heat, and the course’s main climb claimed victims on each lap as the field was whittled away by attrition. The strongest rider on the day turned out to be 15-year-old Nick Bax (Artemis), who went on a solo attack for half of the fourth lap before a strong chase led by Blue Ribbon’s Della Monica brought him back. Bax bided his time in the peloton then attacked again with 2 miles to go and held off the charging field to take the win, with Howard and Lubeley finishing 2nd and 3rd just behind.

Matt Howard checking out the track last week.

Sunday’s time trial was held under grey skies and on wet roads made slick from horse dung from the Amish buggies. The course was a 10.5-mile rolling course, with the out and back sections separated by the aptly-named Snake Alley, a challenge to navigate at speed even in dry conditions. Top honors for the stage went to Alvaro Arnal (Human Zoom), who crushed the course in a time of 22:25. Nick Turner (Boston Road Club) was 2nd, Howard was 3rd, and Lubeley was 9th. This put the two Blue Ribbon riders into 1st and 3rd on GC going into the last stage — Christiana’s famous criterium, which features six corners, two climbs, a railroad underpass, and a treacherous 80-degree turn just 250 meters from the finish.

The omnium points system at Christiana makes all stages equal, and the 14-lap race was nervous and fast from the gun. A break of three riders escaped early in the race containing Kipp Bradford (Providence Velo Club) and Justin Waynick (Swashbuckler Brewing). Bradford was sitting 4th on GC and was gunning for a spot on the podium, and Lancaster area native Waynick was clearly motivated to put on a show for the supportive local crowd. The three riders would stay away for the entire race, with Waynick taking the win, while in the pack Blue Ribbon rode a tactical race, marking the other GC contenders to protect Howard’s overall lead. Della Monica and Lubeley got caught behind a crash with 3 laps to go. Howard was fortunate to be ahead of it and sprinted in for 8th, good enough to preserve his lead and his first stage race victory.

It was a banner weekend for the Blue Ribbon squad, as David Taylor also won the 40+ road race and finished 3rd on GC, while back at home in New York Pascal Sauvayre won the 45+ race in Saturday’s Prospect Park Series.

Todd Herriott won the pro race GC, with Jason Bremer 5th. Lisban Quintero took 2nd in the crit.