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22nd CISM WORLD MILITARY ROAD CYCLING CHAMPIONSHIP
Clonmel, Ireland
9-14 SEPTEMBER 2009 |
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Air Force Cyclist Ian Holt Solos to
Second
National Championship |
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Road Race Podium Photo Left to right: Young, Holt, Mlujeak.
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(Irvine, California, 10 Aug 08) Ian Holt made the winning attack 15km from the finish of the 195km, U.S. Military National Championship Road Race and held off the peloton to solo in for victory. The effort also finished Holt 14th of 130 starters for the Elite National Championship. This was Holt's second Military National Championship of the week after capturing gold in the Wednesday time trial. Silver in the military event went to Steve Mlujeak, Coast Guard, and bronze to Marine Ken Young.
The military event was more than just a race within a race. Additionally, Mlujeak and Army's Charles Hutcheson were the only two non-Armed Forces Team members vying for the military title. Mlujeak rides for Herbalife-Bike America and Hutcheson for Battley Harley Davidson. According to Team Manager, Debra Ponzio, "of course, our first priority was to put an Armed Forces Team member on the top spot of the military podium. We had a plan that would give everyone on our team a chance at the title but also to ensure he met our team goal of winning the race. The plan was executed well."
Early work of covering breaks by George Ganoung, Coast Guard, along with Bill Jacobus and Zach Garrett, both Air Force, paid off when Ganoung got in a break of about 30 riders on lap 2 of the 6 lap race, on one of the three steady climbs that the riders tackled on each circuit. They gained more than a minute on the peloton over the next two laps. Ganoung was hopeful, "when I looked around and saw the number of former national and even world champions in our group, I knew I was in the right move." But, over the course of laps 4 and 5, this group broke apart with some continuing to the finish and others, including Ganoung, being absorbed back into the peloton.
On the final lap, with Mljueak and Hutcheson still in the main group, along with Armed Forces riders Holt, Young and Coast Guard's Sean Coleman, Holt attacked with 15km remaining, "I knew we couldn't guarantee beating these two if we waited for the final sprint. I took a chance knowing that I had teammates behind me also ready to go if I was caught. It paid off and I was able to stay away, even passing a few guys from the original break." Nearly a minute behind him, the main group rolled in with Mlujeak outsprinting both Young and Coleman. Hutcheson was with this group but flatted with about 5km to go and did not finish.
Holt added that "our team tactics today worked well and, more importantly, we were able to execute our plan. In hindsight, there are always things you wish you would have done a bit differently but, overall, our team performed well. Throughout the race, I felt I was one of the strongest in the peloton and could win. I was happy that I was able to show my abilities in the end and come through for the team by winning the military title." Holt has been a member of the Air Force World Class Athlete Program for the past year. He's been training and racing full-time this season, representing both the Air Force and Armed Forces in national and international competition. He spent three months of European cycling immersion earlier this year at the Johan Bruyneel Cycling Academy in Belgium.
Final U.S. Military National Road Race Championship Placings:
U.S. Military National Road Race Champion, Ian Holt, Air Force, U.S. Armed Forces Cycling Team
2nd – Steve Mlujeak, Coast Guard, Herbalife-Bike America
3rd – Ken Young, Marine Corps, U.S. Armed Forces Cycling Team
4th – Sean Coleman, Coast Guard, U.S. Armed Forces Cycling Team
5th – George Ganoung, Coast Guard, U.S. Armed Forces Cycling Team
6th – Zach Garrett, Air Force, U.S. Armed Forces Cycling Team
7th – Bill Jacobus, Air Force, U.S. Armed Forces Cycling Team
DNF – Charles Hutcheson, Army, Battley Harley Davidson (in the main group but flatted with 5km to go)
U.S. Armed Forces Team Placings in the U.S. Elite National Road Race Championship (of 130 starters):
14th – Ian Holt
30th – Ken Young
38th – Sean Coleman
67th – George Ganoung
71st – Zach Garrett
74th – Bill Jacobus
The next major goal for the U.S. Armed Forces Cycling Team is the 2008 Military World Cycling Championships, 1-6 October, hosted by Slovenia.
Armed Forces Cycling is the elite cycling team of the Department of Defense. Athletes are from the active duty military, reserve or national guard of all service branches. Armed Forces Cycling competes in national and UCI events and represents the United States in international military competition. Corporate sponsors include: Cervélo, Lifeforce, Shimano, 3T, Verge, PowerBar and FitLinxx.
Find out more information about U.S. Armed Forces Cycling at www.ArmedForcesCycling.org.
Debra Ponzio, Manager, U.S. Armed Forces Cycling |
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Air Force Cyclist Ian Holt Wins U.S. Military National Time Trial Championship
(Irvine, California, 6 Aug 08) Ian Holt posted the best military time in today’s 33km U.S. National Championship Time Trial to claim the military national title in 47 minutes, 54.93 seconds (41.7kph). Holt also placed 20th in the elite field of 70. In the military competition, second and third went to the Coast Guard with George Ganoung and Sean Coleman posting times of 48:15.53 and 49:45.89, respectively. Air Force’s Zachary Garrett clocked a fourth place time of 51:42.46.
The course was an out-and-back 33km with three moderate-grade climbs totaling 1287 feet elevation gain. The 6km climb at the start proved critical as too fast a pace this section left some riders with no power later in the race. Holt and Ganoung have both competed in numerous time trials this season so they knew how they needed to manage their efforts for this course.
Holt had the advantage as he’s been a member of the Air Force World Class Athlete Program for the past year. He’s been training and racing full-time this season, representing both the Air Force and Armed Forces in national and international competition. He spent three month of European cycling immersion earlier this year at the Johan Bruyneel Cycling Academy in Belgium. This certainly gave him the edge today. According to Holt “the opportunity the Air Force gave me with WCAP support over the past year has been incredible and I’m happy that I could come through today to show their support paid off.”
Holt bested Armed Forces teammate George Ganoung, who specializes in time trials and who has won this title several times before, by only 20 seconds. “It’s obvious that Ian has used his WCAP time well; he’s much stronger and more confident than in the past and he’s still improving,” Ganoung commented. “As for me, I’ve been time trialing well this year and had hoped to do a bit better today. I spent a lot of time working on my position and equipment this season. The Cervélo P3C time trial bike with the 3T bars are a huge advantage but, since my Armed Forces teammates have them as well, this was even.” Ganoung was 23rd in the elite field.
Holt, Ganoung, and Coleman have earned the right to represent the United States in the time trial event of the 2008 Military World Cycling Championships, hosted by Slovenia in early October.
Sunday’s Elite National Championship Road Race will also serve as the Military National Championship. Starting at the peak of afternoon heat at 2:30pm, 130 riders will compete over 190km.
Find out more information about U.S. Armed Forces Cycling at www.ArmedForcesCycling.org
20th CISM World Military Road Cycling Championship
U.S. ARMED FORCES RIDERS GAVE IT THEIR BEST -- BUT FAILED TO QUALIFY FOR TEAM CLASSIFICATION
07/22-28/2006 - Breda, The Netherlands - Ukraine's Kykhaylo Khalilov captured the CISM World Military Road Race Championship title in a photo finish with Germany's Robert Bengsch. Breakaway partner Lukasz Modzelewski from Poland finished third. Russia's Evgeny Popov was favored to win the event.
On a day with temperatures hitting 100 degrees, the 120km World Military Championship road race was the highlight of the day in the town of Chaam, The Netherlands. As expected, the group of 86 riders was very active from the start. The German team was the most aggressive and had someone in every break. In the end, a five-man break of the three medal winners plus riders from France and Slovakia stayed away for many laps and, in large part due to the work from the German rider, finished two seconds in front of the main group.
For the U.S. Armed Forces, LCDR George Ganoung(Coast Guard HQ, Washington D.C.), 1LT Ian Holt (Air Force - F.E. Warren AFB, WY), and MAJ Eric Obergfell (Air Force - Randolph, AFB, TX) finished in the main group in 41st, 47th, and 50th places respectively. LCDR Ganoung was in the best position for a top 10-15 finish behind the Polish lead-out train with 500 meters to go but a hamstring cramp prevented him from standing to sprint and he quickly lost many places. Four other U.S. Armed Forces riders - PO1 Steve Mlujeak (Navy - Air Station Detroit, MI), AM1C Shaw Olin (Navy - NS San Diego, CA), SSG Michael Gallagher (Army - Fort Lewis, WA), and Maj Andrew Shaw (Marine Corps - Pentagon, Washington, D.C.) - dropped off this main group near the end of the race.
AM1C Olin would have been the fourth place U.S. rider for the team classification but suffered from heat exhaustion in the final laps and eventually passed out on the course. Medical attention was required. With only three finishing in the main group, the team classification was automatically lost to those with four finishers. Germany topped the team classification with three riders in the top-ten. They were followed by Ukraine and Slovakia.
 In The Time Trial on 25 July 2006 - Jani Brajkovic, from the Slovenian Armed Forces and the Discovery Channel pro team, captured the World Military Championship with a time of 31:31.17 over the 25km, technical course. Second place went to Germany's Robert Bengsch who came in 20 seconds behind Brajkovic with a time of 31:51.48. The third place finisher was Oleksander Klymenko of Ukraine at 32:22.17. After first three, the next sixteen riders finished with times between 33 and 35 minutes. Twenty-five starters from thirteen countries competed in this event. For the U.S. Armed Forces, LCDR Ganoung finished in 16th place with a time of 34:21.01 followed closely by AM1C Olin in 17th place at 34:28.28.
Participating countries were: Russia, Poland, Austria, Slovenia, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, France, Germany, Slovakia, Ukraine, United States and Sri Lanka.
20th Military World Cycling Championship: http://www.mwcc.web-log.nl
2005 World Military Cycling Championships.
07/04/2005
Air
Force's Sean Cahill Captured the U.S. Military National Road Race Championship.
05/22/2003
Coast
Guard Athlete George Ganoung Crowned U.S. Military National Time Trial Champion.
05/21/2003
Kent
Wheeler Places 13th and 10th in Mid-Atlantic Racing.
04/05/2003
Mlujeak Finishes First, Second, Fourteenth
and Fifteenth in Dade City.
03/05/2003
Coast
Guard’s Mlujeak Wins Second National Championship.
07/21/2002
Marine
Mike Easter Captures the U.S. Military National Road Title.
07/20/2002
Coast Guard Athlete Steve Mlujeak Crowned
U.S. Military National Time Trial Champion.
07/18/2002
Armed Forces Cyclists Tune Up For
CISM.
06/02/2002
U.S. Team Places Fourth at CISM Cycling
Championship. 08/20/2001
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