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Still at the helm. Another chapter of the USA Crits Series has come to a close and team captain, Jeff Hopkins, still maintains the overall lead.
The Harlem Skyscraper classic has been conquered on two other occasions by "Lightning" Jeff Hopkins, and he aimed for a third. The team was headed to Harlem with momentum and plans.
Photo credit - USA Crits Series/Swagger.US
An accident earlier in the week rendered the team transport truck totaled by a deer, leaving impossible last minute travel dilemmas for the team for both Skyscraper and Philly week! As a result, only two would take the line in the form of Jeff Hopkins (who faced a series of cancelled flights, arriving only hours prior to the start) and the always faithful Jim Baldesare.
"I was drained from the chaos of the days leading here, but Jim helped quite a bit and I managed to get in the points and keep the hat (leaders jersey)." says Hopkins. A hard-charging Rock Racing brought Rashaan Bahati to a podium finish, where he now lurks in second overall by a 91 point deficit to Jeff. Next stop? AT&T Austin Twilight Criterium.
Back in the driver's seat! After a truly impressive and consistent weekend at Tulsa Tough Omnium, Team Inferno Pro Cycling has put Jeff Hopkins in the USA Crits Series overall leader's jersey. This is not unfamiliar territory for the team, and Inferno is both motivated and dedicated to maintaining his lead, as well as attempt to capture the USA Crits Team Competition prize as well. Next up for the series is Harlem Skyscraper Classic on Father's Day.
Local racing is feeling the brunt of Inferno's roster, too, with 2 consecutive days of podium sweeps! Day 1 found Jim Baldesare taking the top spot, followed by Kiwis Josh England and Hayden Godfrey at the Garrett Wonders Memorial Criterium in Westerville, Ohio. The second day (Rocky Boots Starbrick Criterium) was much the same, with new comer, Joe Cooper (New Zealand) time trialing solo to lap the field twice and take the victory. wrapping up the final podium availabilities were fellow Kiwi, Hayden Godfrey and Ohio's own Tim Swain. Great work guys!
We're Rollin! Following 2 solid performances in Baltimore and Somerville, Inferno ends the week-long NRC campaign with another podium finish! 'Lightning" Jeff Hopkins was narrowly inched out by Toyota-United's Dominique Rollin for the victory and had to settle for 2nd.
Photo credit - Kurt Jambretz/Action Images
Hopkins, who admits to "Not quite being in form yet." is on a very consistent roll, that many are calling a come-back. Jeff heads with the team to Tulsa Tough for more NRC action and the 2nd leg of the USA Crits Series this coming weekend. Stay tuned!
We're coming! The conclusion of this year's Tour of Somerville gave Team Inferno Pro Cycling an opportunity to showcase a sample of things to come for the remainder of 2008. With 5 laps remaining, Inferno drilled the field with a 6 man lead-out train for Hopkins. Things did go haywire with a small crash and Crit super-team, Colavita/Sutter Home, took over for the final lap. While losing a couple of riders and re-organizing, current UCI world track champ, Hayden Godfrey, held on for his first 2008 NRC top 5 since his return to the US last week.
Photo credit - epicimages.us
"The race was crazy. We had it under control, but it got a bit out of hand. I was able to sneak in for fourth, and the team displayed incredible unity today." clamed Godfrey. A job well done for Inferno. Next up is Ricola Criterium, to be held tomorrow evening. Stay tuned for results.
Leelanau proves grueling for pin-striped team. The 109 mile Tour de Leelanau brought more frustration to Team Inferno's America's ProTour campaign. More illness and injury, plus a call-up from the U23 National Team (Christian Parrett) narrowed the team's initial 8 rider list to just 5 starters.
All 5 riders saw the course as a compliment to their talents, as it served the pure climber well. A large break missed by the team set the tempo for the day, though, that ended up with the team ultimately missing out of the top 25 spots. "It's unfortunate. The guys were ready and wanted to avenge the USAF disaster." says team GM, Thompson, "They all rode well and for each other, but in the end, we missed the moves we should have been with. We have no one to blame but ourselves. They guys did ride above expectations, though. 4 of the 5 finished the day and never quit. We will have our day in the ProTour yet, we promise."
Team Inferno has several other America's ProTour invitations on the table and will attend each and every one extended to them. "The ProTour is important to us." claims team GM, Thompson, "We are making significant strides to bring this program to the forefront of US Cycling. We are young and patient, yet we have a lot to prove!"
USA Crits success and ProTour disappointment for Team Inferno. The USA Crits Speed Week Series wrapped up this passed Sunday and found "Lightning" Jeff Hopkins on the Men's overall podium. While not the top step the team hunted for all week, a string of consistent top 5 finishes for Jeff granted him a spot on the box with the narrowest of margins separating all three podium finishers. "We did the best we could with what we had." states Hopkins, "We were short handed going into the last events with illness, injuries and riders going to the USAF race. We got the job done nonetheless." Great job, Jeff!
Photo credit - USA Crits/Swagger
The team's inaugural America's ProTour event did not emulate the Crits Series, though. A tough squad lined up for Inferno with hopes of showing their grit to the ProTour organizers. The team, like many others, suffered blow after blow throughout the speedy 106 mile day. All 3 team leaders for the event flatted out, with two of them doing so on the first lap. "It was rough." claims team DS and GM, Chad Thompson, "We lost 2 of our 3 hitters right off the bat with mechanicals and another 2 laps later! Our high hopes washed away with the gravel on the course!" The day saw only Tim Swain finish with the select 30 finishers of the 150 plus starters. "We will have better luck and a better showing next time!"
We have lift off! The 2008 USA Crits Series and USA Crits Speed Week Series got under way last night with the 29th edition of the Athens Twilight Criterium in Athens, GA.
The team aims to defend its Speed Week title (won last year by Mark Hekman while riding for Inferno's program) and pursue the national series as well, lost after an unfortunate crash to then team leader, Mark Hekman. The untimely crash saw the team lose the lead in 2 of the 4 competitions that seemed a lock throughout the season!
Photo credit - epicimages.us
Team Inferno starts this year's edition with much of the same hunger that launched our team into the spot light in 2007. Bennet van der Genugten rocked a phenomenal ITT CompuTrainer effort on Friday's qualifier for 6th and set the tone for the pin-striped posse.
Athens did not disappoint with the country's top sprinters coming to the line for the win. While Rock Racing's Rahssan Bahati scored the victory, a photo finish for the next 7 spots saw Jeff Hopkins taking 5th place on the line behind Haedo and a hard charging Kevin Lancombe of Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast. The team placed 4 riders in the top paying spots as well, hopefully placing Team Inferno Pro Cycling as the team competition leaders . . . here we go again!
Make it 2! Josh England has done it again, by winning his second US race in as many entered on consecutive days. Unbelievable.
Both Kiwi sensations, Josh England and Joe Cooper found themselves in the top 5 today after a flawless day of teamwork and selfless efforts by Cooper and Aledia at the Tour of Gettysburg, in Gettysburg, Ohio.
Next up for Josh is the USA Crits Speed Week Series, and Joe can be found at RATL and the US Air Force Cycling Classic in the coming weeks. Good job, lads!
Repeat offender! Josh England has done it again, by winning his first race entered shortly after arriving to the United States.
As he did in 2007, England has flown from his home country of New Zealand, organized himself at the team house, acclimated and started tallying the victories.
In a field boasting current National Elite Road Race Champion, Paul Martin, Kirk Albers, a very strong RGF team and even members from Team Type 1, England was the stand out talent on the day. The final break of the race saw Josh out numbered with teammates Martin and Albers, RGF members Jeremy Grimm and Stefan Kadar, and one isolated Kiwi (Josh). Despite the odds, Josh responded to all attacks and sprinted to the top spot. Great job, Josh!
More roster adjustments for April. A severe illness has attacked Team Co-Captain, Remi McManus. Though Remi is doing fine and on the road to recovery, it has quashed all of his hard off-season work and set him back for a month. As a result, both the US Air Force Cycling Classic and USA Crits Speed Week Series rosters have seen adjustment.
Revised USA Crits Speed Week Roster:
- Marco Aledia (USA)
- Jim Baldesare (USA)
- Josh England (NZL)
- Jaime Gandara (MEX)
- Bennet van der Genugten (USA)
- Rich Harper (USA)
- Jeff Hopkins (AUS)
- Matt Winstead (USA)
Revised US Air Force Cycling Classic Roster:
- Andy Applegate (USA)
- Joe Cooper (NZL)
- Ryan Gamm (USA)
- Jaime Gandara (MEX)
- Hayden Godfrey (NZL)
- Christian Parrett (USA)
- Tim Swain (USA)
- Matt Winstead (USA)
Congratulations to Jeff Hopkins and Leigh Valetti on their recent engagement! She actually said "yes" to the wacky Australian. They plan to wed later in 2008 and currently reside in Decatur, GA.
Keep your eyes peeled for the couple at races across the US, as Leigh is also a top-level competitive cyclist, riding for Team Vanderkitten. Meow. Be sure to say hi and congrats when you spot them.
Team Inferno Pro Cycling names USA Crits Speed Week roster. With the task of defending the program's overall 2007 title, Inferno held no punches with team selection for the event. "This is big for us." says team boss, Thompson. "It marks our first big 2008 event with the cancellation of Jacksonville and our withdrawal from Sea Otter. It also is what this team is all about: Crits, baby!"
Photo credit - Grant Blankenship
2008 USA Crits Speed Week Roster:
- Marco Aledia (USA)
- Jim Baldesare (USA)
- Josh England (NZL)
- Bennet van der Genugten (USA)
- Rich Harper (USA)
- Jeff Hopkins (AUS)
- Remi McManus (USA)
- Matt Winstead (USA)
More ProTour racing for Team Inferno Pro Cycling! Arlington Sports, Inc. has confirmed the team's place for the inaugural US Air Force Cycling Classic, a UCI America ProTour event.
US Air Force Cycling Classic Roster:
- Andy Applegate (USA)
- Joe Cooper (NZL)
- Ryan Gamm (USA)
- Jaime Gandara (MEX)
- Hayden Godfrey (NZL)
- Christian Parrett (USA)
- Tim Swain (USA)
With new set of New Zealand National Championship stripes earned just weeks ago in the Elite Men's Track Omnium Championship, Hayden Godfrey has added a significant number of colors and stripes to his collection by winning the UCI World Championship for the same event!
"We are all so freaking excited at Inferno!" raves team management. "We have too many former world and national champions to count, but only two others to earn championships while actively on our roster. A world title is not only exciting, but a first for us!" Congratulations, Hayden!
For related stories, click here and here.
With the announcement of the USA Crits Speed Week Series, Team Inferno Pro Cycling adjusts calendar. As the season is just barely starting, Inferno has had to make some changes, as both the Speed Week and USA Crits National Series remain the team's focus.
Most notably are the moving of Sea Otter Classic to "tentative" and the Sunny King and Nalley Roswell Criteriums removal from the initial plan. "We still hope to attend these fine events, but we must concentrate on the plan we have laid out prior to the season's start. We will hopefully showcase riders at these events simultaneously." states team VP, Ryan Rish. Stay tuned for further updates in the coming weeks.
All systems are go! Team Inferno concluded its week-long camp today and the team is all fired up. Hosted by LH Thomson Co., in Macon, GA, the camp was attended by 13 riders, 6 staff, 4 volunteers and 5 sponsor representatives.
Photo credit - Grant Blankenship
The event was filled with bike fits by Wobble-Naught, training seminars by AltoLab and SolRX, great rides and tons of photo sessions with Grant Blankenship. The camp was a tremendous success and all of the riders in attendance were fit and anxious for the season kick off in Jacksonville, FL, at the Jacksonville Cycling Classic. This marks our first stop on the NRC Calendar and the first of our criterium campaign.
Inferno scores yet another USA ProTour invitation! Priority Health Tour de Leelanau, to be held May 25, 2008 will see the presence of a formidable Inferno Pro Cycling roster. The single day road race roster will be heavily contested as the ProTour season will be heading to the half way mark. Be sure to attend and cheer on your favorite Team Inferno rider!
Tour de Leelanau Roster:
- Andy Applegate (USA)
- Joe Cooper (NZL)
- Josh England (NZL)
- Ryan Gamm (USA)
- Christian Parrett (USA)
- Tim Swain (USA)
- Matt Winstead (USA)
Team Inferno Pro Cycling welcomes another quality sponsor to the growing family. SolRX is the manufacturer of the world's finest water blocks and sunscreens, and is now an official team supplier.
We are excited to utilize and promote the finest sun block lotions on the planet! For more information, visit SolRX.com.
The world has lost a hero, and now must say good bye to a devoted husband, father and industry mogul. Ronnie Thomson, founder and CEO of LH Thompson Co., has passed.
Ronnie has left behind a legacy. He was a staunch supporter of our sport, our team, his friends and his family. You will be sorely missed, Ronnie.
We are deeply saddened by this sudden loss. Our condolences and well wishes are extended to any and everyone close to Mr. Thompson. May he rest in peace.
Finished product from Champion System is finally unveiled!
Team Inferno Pro Cycling, AKA Inferno, Inc., will again be trying to set the style bar that much higher in 2008. Thank you to MATTEO Studios and Champion System for their hard labors and fished result. Kits will be made available to the public by contacting the team.
Inferno Racing LLC confirms media partnership with ROAD Magazine!
Already the leading mag of choice for this program, ROAD has agreed to follow the team and let the world know of our missions and talents. Be sure to pick up the February issue to get the first of many Team Inferno Pro Cycling stories and team product reviews. To subscribe, visit roadmagazine.net.
Inferno has added its final rider for 2008! Joe Cooper comes stateside after a successful 2007 season with Discovery-Marco Polo. The 2006 U23 New Zealand National Road Race Champion joins his fellow countrymen and Subway NZL teammates, Josh England and Hayden Godfrey.
TEAM SCORES US PROTOUR EVENT INVITATION! Team Inferno Pro Cycling has received and confirmed its invitation to the Tour of Pennsylvania, to be held June 24-29. The U25 event is the highest prize purse stage race of its kind, anywhere. Be sure to follow the daily results during the Tour of Pennsylvania and cheer on your favorite Inferno rider!
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