Vitamin Cottage riders Beth Fisk and Dirk Friel are newly crowned 2007 State Criterium Champions. The races were contested in 90 degree plus temperatutes in downtown Longmont on Sunday, July 15.
The two VC stars went about it in different ways. First up was the men's race in which Friel took off with Timmy Duggan (Slipstream Chipotle) and Kevin Nicol (Tokyo Joe's) 10 minutes into a 90 minute criterium. To its demise, the field decided to play “I'm not chasing, you chase“, which was a bad idea given the collective horsepower of the three breakaway riders. With a strong Vitamin Cottage team marking any of the serious moves from the field, the break stuck until the end and Friel took a photo finish victory with a dramatic bike throw.
L to R: Timmy Duggan, Dirk Friel, and Kevin Nicol Photo Courtesy of Chuck Bolden
In the women's race, the pressure was on Fisk and her Vitamin Cottage teammates as the odds-on favorite for victory. And deliver they did. With the whole team lined up on the front in the final laps, Fisk took a field sprint finish victory to score state championship number two on the day. The Vitamin Cottage supporting cast in Anne Lannan, Renee Eastman, Lisa Matlock and Syrae Weikle are to be commended for their role and sacrifice in the Vitamin Cottage victory.
L to R: Renee Eastman, Lisa Matlock, Syrae Weikle, Anne Lannan and Beth Fisk Photo Courtesy of Chuck Bolden
The Boulder Daily Camera did a feature article describing Friel's and Fisk's victories in its Monday Sports page. http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2007/jul/16/friel-heats-up-to-collect-win/
To put a little more polish on the day, the VC masters 45+ team also took a victory with Bill Kellagher. Though the masters state championship was contested at City Park earlier in the year, the victory was sweet nonetheless for a team that has really gelled together in 2007..