Webcor Cycling Team News

Webcor Dominates Cal Cup

The Webcor Cycling Team continued its domination of the Cal Cup Omnium with strong performances in the final weekend of racing to clinch the overall victory and 3rd place in the final standings.

The weekend began with James Mattis winning the San Ardo Road Race, with three other Webcor riders in the top ten, and ended with Jeff Angermann sprinting for 2nd place in the Giro di San Francisco Criterium.

James ended up winning the Cal Cup by an impressive margin, with Marc Hagenlocher in 3rd place, confirming the strength and depth of the team. Ted Huang round out the top 10 in 10th place.

This month the team has earned four victories, two 2nds, five thirds, and 16 other top ten places. The team has dominated local California racing all season, winning the State Road Race, the Northern California District Road Race, the Cal Cup Omnium, and taking 2nd place in the Northern California District Criterium Championship.

Victory at the Esparto Time Trial

Marc Hagenlocher won the innagural Esparto Time Trial with an impressive ride to victory over Canadian time trial champion Eric Wholberg (Saturn). Dario Falquier also made the podium with a fantastic ride for third place.

This continued the Webcor Cycling Team's string of podium finishes in California Cup races this August. James Mattis finished 3rd at three consecutive races - the Corral Hollow Road Race, the Suisun Harbor Criterium, and the Winters Road Race.

James and Marc are giving Eric Wholberg tough competition for the overall victory in the Cal Cup, just a few points behind in 2nd and 3rd place overall. The Cal Cup concludes on September 1st with the Giro d' San Francisco Criterium.

On The Podium in Altoona

The Webcor Cycling Team put on an impressive team performance at The International - Tour de Toona stage race in Altoona, PA.

Marc Hagenlocher made a bold move during the 2nd stage circuit race in Johnstown to take 2nd place on the stage, but more importantly moved into 2nd place overall, and took posession of the KOM jersey.

Elkhorn Classic

The Webcor Cycling Team continued its string of recent success with perhaps its best performance yet in the Elkhorn Classic Stage Race.

The team dominated the race, with James Mattis taking 2nd and Roman Kilun 5th place in the opening road race, James winning the time trial, Jeff Angermann winning the criterium, Ben Haldeman placing 1st in the crucial final road race, with Greg Drake in 2nd and James in 4th.

The final overall results were heavily stacked with Webcor green with the team taking 1st (Ben), 2nd (James), 4th (Greg), and 5th (Roman).

Nevada City Classic

The Nevada City Classic is one of the oldest races in North America. A true classic with a brutally tough parcours, and a fantastic palmares - Greg Lemond won the race three times before heading to Europe to race and win the Tour de France.

The team honored this event with a sterling team performance, with James Mattis soloing to a hard earned 2nd place, John Kelly taking 4th, and Jeff Angermann winning the sprint for 5th place.

Racing in Belgium and Luxembourg

The Webcor Cycling Team made an immediate impact on the european peloton during its first ever trip to Europe with James taking top honors in the Herk-de-Stad Kermesse.

The team sent a select group of riders to race near Lionel's hometown of Stavelot, Belgium for three weeks. The racing schedule included the difficult Fleche du Sud stage race in Luxembourg, and the Tryptique Ardennais stage race in the Belgian Ardenne. The Tryptique Ardennais race is basically Lionel's hometown race, and passed within 6 kilometers (4 miles) of Lionel's home in Stavelot.

It was no wonder then that the team was super motivated to win a valuable sprint-prime in the town of Trois-Ponts, just down the road from Stavelot, during the first stage of Tryptique Ardennais. Lionel and James used their local knowledge of the roads to catch the peloton by surprise and take 1st and 2nd in the sprint, and earn a fine, Rodania watch for their efforts.

The team's greatest success though, came at the Herk-de-Stad Kermesse in the Limburg region of Belgium.

James dominated the strong, 190 rider field at this Kermesse. He not only instigated the main breakaway of the day only 27 kilometers (15 miles) into the race, but he also held on at the end of 116 kilometers (72 miles) of racing to take the victory in a tough sprint finish. The 13 rider breakaway was strong enough to keep the massive peloton at bay all day on the twisty, pan-flat roads around the small village of Herk-de-Stad. James helped force the pace at the front and made all the splits as attacks splintered the break on the final laps of the race.

In the end, James used his cunning, and tough sprint to win out over a strong field of riders including two Domo-Quickstep professionals, and a rider from the strong Flanders-ITeam Nova pro squad.

Tour of Georgia

The Webcor Cycling Team continued its string of impressive race performances at the inauguralTour of Georgia. The team may not have had many impressive results to show for its efforts, but the team's aggressive racing style throughout the event was highlighted by Lionel's epic 100 mile solo breakaway during the 3rd stage.

The 138 mile third stage from Pine Mountain to Rome began under weather reminiscent of Lionel's home in Belgium - cool, cloudy, and wet. These inclement conditions seemed to lift Lionel's spirits as he set off in the opening miles of the stage on a long solo breakaway. Lionel's lead reached as much as 16 minutes before he was brought back to the pack just following the second hot spot sprint of the day.

Steve soon made his own bid at victory. Attacking with two other riders in the closing miles of the stage. His small group gained nearly a minute on the pack before it was chased down in the final kilometers of the stage.

Steve made another attempt at glory during the final circuit race stage in downtown Atlanta. After a very short lived attack by James, Steve joined a select breakaway of strong riders including Rabobank's Maarten Den Bakker and Ofoto's Tim Larkin midway through the race. The group gained as much as a minute, and looked like they might stay away to the finish, but were brought back with less than a lap to go by a bunch determined to sprint out the finish.

Sea Otter Classic

The Sea Otter Classic, with a stage starting in downtown Redwood City, was an important event for our San Francisco Peninsula based sponsors.

Representatives from Webcor Builders, Anning-Johnson, Jensen Corp, Rosendin Electric, Diversified Fire Products, Critchfield Mechanical, AGA, and J.W. McClenahan joined the team for a pre-race breakfast at the Court House Coffee Shop in Redwood City before the start of the first stage. Riders and sponsors feasted on omelettes, pancakes, and coffee as the sponsors gave short talks on the nature of their business and their role on the Webcor Construction Team.

Though the stage was later cancelled due to safety concerns with the tight, technical course, all the sponsors nonetheless had a good time enjoying the sunshine on this spectacular California spring day.

When the racing got underway on Thursday with the time trial, Steve Larsen continued to demonstrate his fine form with an 8th place finish behind some of the top time-trialists in the country. Steve was able to maintain his position in the general classification through the next two stages with the help of the team to take home an impressive top 10 finish in one of the toughest stage races in the country.

Solano Bicycle Classic

Another weekend, another strong performance by the team.

The team worked hard to deliver Steve Larsen a podium finish in this important early season race. For Steve - a native of Davis, CA - this was almost his hometown race, and he was excited to deliver results.

Steve finished 5th behind the nations' top climbers in the opening road race, in a day when the team placed riders in every key breakaway. When the race split over the 1st KOM at Cantelow Grade, the team placed 5 riders in a small group of 20! Dario Falquier made the next key move infiltrating a large group of 12 riders that was only caught at the base of the steep, two-mile climb to the finish. Steve then hit the turbos and went to work, dropping all but the finest climbers in the country.

The team made its next stunning move late in Saturday's criterium. Patrick and Steve both made a key break with less than 10 laps to go that managed to gain nearly 40 seconds on the field and leapfrog Steve into 4th overall.

Not quite the podium Steve had hoped for, but nonetheless a fine result, which included a surprising 3rd place finish for Steve in the sprint competition as an unexpected bonus.

McLane Pacific

On a soggy, wet day in the central valley, the team once again delivered Lionel Syne to the a find 3rd place podium finish. The team raced stronly all day with Patrick Heany covering the early breakaway, and then sending Ben Stafford and James Mattis to drive the peloton along in chase of a dangerous late breakaway.

Pomona Valley Stage Race

The Pomona Valley Stage Race opened up the 2003 California spring series of National Racing Calendar events, and the Webcor team started off the season with a strong 2nd place finish by our Belgian sprinter Lionel Syne in the 3rd stage.

The team raced well in the stage, and was active in break aways throughout the race. Patrick Heaney featured prominantly in the longest break of the race, and allowed the rest of the team to relax and rest in the safety of the peloton.

Patrick leads the break.

The final sprint was a wide-open, chaotic affair, but Lionel managed to work his way through the pack, and was only narrowly beaten by HealthNet's super-sprinter Gord Fraser. Lionel has written an excellent race report on the stage and final sprint.

Overall, the team showed good early season form, placing two riders in the top 25 in the final GC of this early season test. John Kelly placed 17th, with Patrick finishing in 21st.