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Yosvany Falcon Still Wearing the Overall USA CRITS Leader Jersey

In a star-studded field of riders from almost every major American and Canadian team, including Jittery Joe's, HealthNet, Bissell, Jet Fuel, Symmetrics, and lone Astana rider Chris Horner, TOSHIBA-Santo came to Vancouver, Canada with two things on its mind - winning the BC Cancer Foundation Tour de Gastown and keeping its lead in the USA CRITS Series.  

Frank Travieso, Yosvany Falcon, and Mark Hekman traveled to our neighbors to the North and raced extremely well.  Travieso was off the front with Horner for several laps, and Hekman showed good form, leading for a few laps and remaining stong in the chase - all to protect Falcon and his lead in the Series.

Symmetrics, the hometown team, was all over the front, initiating attack after attack.  It would not be our boys' day, however, with two Symmetrics riders bookending the podium.  TOSHIBA sprinted well and finished 7th, 8th (ahead of Horner) and 20th.

Not all was lost, as Falcon still holds the lead with 1,111 points in the USA CRITS Series with Travieso in second and Time Pro Cycling's Adam Myerson 203 points back from 1st place.  TOSHIBA-Santo presented by Herbalife still is in the lead in the Team Competition, 1,016 points ahead of Time Pro Cycling, while Mark Hekman is still in the Lap Leader's Jersey.

Next up for TOSHIBA-Santo presented by Herbalife is the Ciclista Clasico Cuidad de Caracas (UCI Event)  in Caracas, Venezuela, the Giordana Crossroads Classic in North Carolina, stop # 8 of the USA CRITS Series at the Presybterian Hospital Invitational in Charlotte, North Carolina and the Hanes Park Classic in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (NRC Event).

TOSHIBA-Santo Pro Cycling Team presented by Herbalife
Win at Iron Hill Twilight Criterium; Race Fitchburg Longsjo Classic

Iron Hill Twilight Criterium, West Chester, Pennsylvania

Now in its 4th year, the Iron Hill Twilight Criterium is increasingly becoming a favorite among riders and spectators alike, as an estimated 20,000 fans came out to cheer on all the participants of the race.  The Boys in Red were excited about the atmosphere that this small college town creates and were looking for the win.  Early in the race, strong man Mark Hekman went off the front and held a steady 20 second lead in front of the group.  With no one willing to organize on the front, Hekman's lead increased to 45 seconds, and with the main field in his sites, he laid on the throttle and catched the back of the pack with a little more than 20 laps to go.  Frank Travieso dropped back, navigated Hekman to the front of the group, and launched an attack himself.  Time Pro Cycling's David Guttenplan bridged up to Travieso, and the two never looked back, with Guttenplan nipping Travieso at the line for 2nd place.  A second chase group formed with three riders, including TOSHIBA's John Fredy Parra.  The sprint to the line saw Parra taking 4th place, with Yosvany Falcon sprinting to a 10th place finish, which vaulted him into the 1st place position in the USA CRITS Series.  The voice of the USA CRITS Series, Chad Andrews, has already once been called by Travieso the "Lucky Charm," and rightfully so as all 4 TOSHIBA-Santo presented by Herbalife riders finished in the top 10.  Travieso went on to explain that "the team did not come all the way up to Pennsylvania for 2nd or 3! rd, we c ame to win."  

1.  Mark Hekman, TOSHIBA-Santo presented by Herbalife
2.  David Guttenplan, Time Pro Cycling
3.  Frank Travieso, TOSHIBA-Santo presented by Herbalife
4.  John Fredy Parra, TOSHIBA-Santo presented by Herbalife
10. Yosvany Falcon, TOSHIBA-Santo presented by Herbalife

USA CRITS Standings

Individual Overall
1.  Yosvany Falcon, TOSHIBA-Santo presented by Herbalife
2.  Frank Travieso, TOSHIBA-Santo presented by Herbalife
3.  Adam Myerson, Time Pro Cycling

Lap Leader
1.  Mark Hekman, TOSHIBA-Santo presented by Herbalife (31 laps)
2.  Kyle Wamsley, Colavita Sutterhome presented by Cooking Light (30 laps)
3.  Frank Travieso, TOSHIBA-Santo presented by Herbalife (17 laps)

Team Standings
1.  TOSHIBA-Santo Pro Cycling Team  presented by Herbalife
2.  Time Pro Cycling
3.  Toyota-United Pro Cycling

Fitchburg Longsjo Classic

Andrew Talansky, Dan Vaillancourt, and Winston Davidmade the trip to central Massachusetts for the four day NRC stage race, The Fitchburg Longsjo Classic.  Andrew Talansky and Dan Vaillancourt were looking to capitalize on the form and confidence they gained at the Vuelta Puebla, where Winston David was looking to get his chops back after recovering from a early season injury.  The field for this race was packed with full, strong teams and at least four former winners.  Andrew Talansky had a banner performance in the 10km, mostly uphill prologue by going 5th.  Dan and Winston stayed within sight of the top time and kept their hopes high for a good general classification result. 

Usually, a tough circuit race is the second stage at Fitchburg, but this year the road race came first.  This small change had a huge impact on the way the racing played out.  All three of the Toshiba-Santo racers watched for opportunities early in the road race, but the group more or less stayed together until the final 5km climb.  Positioning going into the Wachussett Mountain climb is crucial, and there is a small war at the base every year.  Vaillancourt fell off the pace of the lead group and finished 13th, while Talansky and David came up in the first half of the group. 

The general classification was still fairly tight going into the downtown circuit race, so we knew the race would be fast and aggressive.  The Toshiba-Santo plan was to get in a breakaway with other riders low enough on GC that the larger teams would let a break stay away until the finish.  Talansky took a nice shot with a group of 5, but was brought back after a few laps away on a brutal course.  Vaillancourt followed a promising counter that held 45 seconds for a few laps, but when a rider high in GC bridged up, that move was brought back as well.  In the end, the race stayed together for a bunch sprint up the hill, and all of the Toshiba-Santo riders stayed in the main pack.  
 
The final criterium at Fitchburg is flat and fast with not too many opportunities for a breakaway to stick.  Colavita-Sutter Home controlled the group and everyone finished together with no changes in General Classification.

Stage 1, Time Trial, 10 K
1.  Jonathan Chodroff, CRCA/Empire Cycling
2. Graham Howard, Bissel Pro Cycling
3.  Luis Amaran, Colavita Sutter Home
5.  Andrew Talansky, TOSHIBA-Santo presented by Herbalife

Stage 2, Road Race, 104 miles

1.  Ian Macgregor, Team Type 1
2.  Kyle Wamsley, Colavita Sutter Home
3.  Ted King, Bissell Pro Cycling
13.  Dan Vaillancourt, TOSHIBA-Santo presented by Herbalife

Final General Classification

1.  Kyle Wamsley, Colavita Sutter Home
2.  Justin Spinelli, KBS/Medifast Pro Cycling Team
3.  Ted King, Bissell Pro Cycling Team
16.  Dan Vaillancourt, TOSHIBA-Santo presented by Herbalife

Next up for TOSHIBA-Santo presented by Herbalife are stops number 6 and 7 of the USA CRITS Series in Vancouver, British Columbia at the BC Cancer Foundation Tour de Gastown and in Boise, Idaho at the Wells Fargo Criterium, as well as the Prova 9 de Julio race in Sao Paolo, Brazil.