Johnson Outsprints Wells, Bessette Rolls in Farmington
November 12, 2005
An a ending as rare as it was exciting, Tim Johnson (Cyclocrossworld.com-Louis Garneau) closed out the Elite Men�s race at ChainBIter 7.0 in Farmington, Conn. with a narrow sprint finish win over Todd Wells (GT-Hyundai). Stop two on the 2005 Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series presented by Cycle-Smart, Farmington�s final race came down to the final meters with Johnson leading out Wells, racing in his first UCI categorized event of the year, and just barely holding off the 2004 mountain bike Olympian.
�We were trying to hurt each other the last couple laps,� said Johnson, who took the Verge NECCS overall leader�s jersey off Mark McCormack�s back by virtue of his win and McCormack finishing out of the top five.. �Todd was flying, he hasn�t missed a beat from the end of his season. I led out the whole way, you know, �When in doubt lead it out.� He eased back on me, but I had just enough.�
Johnson and Wells formed the decisive trio with Under-23 series leader Jesse Anthony (Team Clif Bar) after several laps. Anthony hung on until two-to-go, when he couldn�t maintain the fierce pace of the two former national champs. Anthony held on for third overall and top U-23, solidifying his hold on the U-23 jersey.
Newly crowned Canadian National Champion Lyne Bessette (Cyclocrossworld.com-Louis Garneau) chalked up her 11th straight win of the 2005 �cross season in the same fashion as she had the previous 10. Bessette soloed off the front of the Elite Women�s field during the first lap and never looked back. Charging hard out of every corner and keeping her pace high for the duration, Bessette opened a minute-plus gap within a few laps, more than enough for another convincing win. Bessette was followed home by Rhonda Mazza (Team S&M-Vanilla Bicycle) with Maureen Bruno Roy (Independent Fabrication) filling out the top three.
Pascal Biussieres (Biogen idec, Auberge La Go�liche) won the B Men�s race, repeating his win from the Verge NECCS opener in Maine. Ethan Gilmour (Coyote Hill-K2) claimed a thriller in the Junior Men�s race ahead of series leader Jerome Townsend (Bicycle Alley). Rob Hult (Fior di Frutta) turned the tables on defending series champion Jonny Bold (Corner Cycle) in the Men�s 35+.
The 2005 Verge NECCS is sponsored by Verge Sport, makers of quality cycling apparel, and specializing in custom clothing orders; Cycle-Smart: Solutions for Cycling, personalized coaching for all cycling disciplines: Greyhound Juice, warming salves and skin care products for all athletes; Felt Bicycles, builders of the best bicycles in the world: BikeReg.com, the solution for all of your online registration needs for cycling events; and Litmus Designs, integrating web technology and graphic design solutions for your business needs.
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