September 17, 2011 (Souderton, Penn.) – Canadian Ryan Roth of Team SpiderTech powered by C10 capped an aggressive team race at the Univest Grand Prix Saturday, winning from a three-man sprint after counter-attacking when his teammate Francois Parisien was caught after a 75-mile/120km breakaway.

Roth flew up the right side of the downhill into an uphill finish, out-kicking Americans Frank Pipp (Bissell Pro Cycling) and Tom Zirbel (Jamis/Sutter Home) to win the 100-mile, dual-sanctioned UCI and USA Cycling National Racing Calendar event. In the 2007 edition of the Univest Grand Prix, Roth was runner-up to Will Frischkorn.

“It’s definitely a sprint that helps if you’ve done it a few times,” Roth said. “The timing is really crucial, even more so than just having strong legs. I knew I had to get some good momentum and come from behind Tom and just jump first.”

Pipp and Roth attacked with three laps to go on a 4.5-mile finish circuit, maintaining a gap of about 40 seconds for the last nine miles of the race.

“The race kept getting harder and harder, and, as it gets longer, you get more tired,” Roth said. “I was just waiting for a good opening to exploit that.”

Zirbel decided to bridge with a lap remaining, catching Pipp and Roth with about a mile remaining.

“I just went into time trial mode, and it hurt,” Zirbel said. “I felt the 100 miles we already had in our legs. The pace wasn’t that hard all day, but the course just makes it so difficult. Those steep kickers just catch up with you in the fourth hour. I was definitely feeling it, and wish I had caught them a bit earlier.”

The difficult course proved beneficial for Parisien and Garneau Club Chaussures rider Brett Tivers when they attacked just a few miles into the race. Parisien said the two know each other, so it was a good combination.

“From the gun I went on the attack, I went uphill,” Parisien said. “I knew Brett was strong and my teammates were behind and were fresh. They were also coming from big races, so I knew they were on form. I was pretty confident we could get this one. We planned the race perfectly, raced aggressive and wore out all the other teams.”

Parisien attacked Tivers with 35 miles to go, a move that ultimately earned him The Intelligencer Most Aggressive Rider jersey and best climber honors. Tivers took home the Leidy’s Pork Products sprint jersey and Team SpiderTech powered by C10 earned the best team award.

“At one point I said we’re pretty close from the little laps, the final five laps,” Parisien said. “I saw two minutes and thought ‘man, I still feel good, I might as well go for it’. I went as hard as I could and then it dropped down real quickly. When it was at one minute I completely sat up.”

However, after several failed attempts to bridge by various riders, the field began chasing the break, dropping the gap from slightly more than two minutes to 45 seconds within a single lap.

Univest Grand Prix Promoter John Eustice said the race was exactly what he imagined. This was the 14th year for the event that was preceded by the Cyclosportif 100K, a fully-supported bicycle ride through four counties on many of the same roads used in the race.

“This race satisfied all my hopes and aspirations,” Eustice said. “It was hard-fought, it was dramatic, it enthralled the public and united the town. It showed how strong the North American racing class is, and what a great performance we’re capable of putting on.”

Sunday is the Univest Grand Prix Criterium of Doylestown, a 50-mile, 35-lap race on a 1.4-mile circuit.

Results

1. Ryan Roth (Can) Team SpiderTech p/b C10  3:52:27
2. Frank Pipp (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling Team
3. Tom Zirbel (USA) Jamis-Sutter Home
4. Eric Young (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling Team  0:00:13
5. Alexey Shmidt (Rus) Team Type 1-Sanofi
6. Martin Gilbert (Can) Team SpiderTech p/b C10  
7. Jacob Keough (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
8. Robin Carpenter (USA) Bikereg.com-Cannondale
9. Adam Thuss (Can) Champion System Racing  
10. Shawn McCarthy (Aus) Garneau Club Chaussures-Norton Rose
11. Sebastian Balck (Swe) Team Cykelcity
12. Thomas Brown (USA) Team Mountain Khakis p/b SmartStop
13. William Dugan (USA) Team Type 1-Sanofi
14. Adam Farabaugh (USA) Kallisto-Wheels of Bloor
15. Simon Lambert-Lemay (Can) Team SpiderTech p/b C10
16. Nick Frey (USA) Jamis-Sutter Home
17. Ian Crane (USA) Hagens Berman Cycling
18. Chris Gruber (Can) Kallisto-Wheels of Bloor
19. Ben Zawacki (USA) Team Mountain Khakis p/b SmartStop
20. Bobby Lea (USA) Pure Energy Cycling-ProAirHFA
21. Mathieu Roy (Can) Gaspésien-Passion-Vélo
22. Adam Carr (USA) Gaspésien-Passion-Vélo
23. Jackie Simes (USA) Jamis-Sutter Home
24. Ricky Gargiulo (USA) Heart House-CADV-CC Evesham
25. Kennett Peterson (USA) Hagens Berman Cycling
26. Andrew Dahlheim (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling Team
27. Heath Blackgrove (Nzl) ELBOWZ Racing
28. Remi Pelletier-Roy (Can) Garneau Club Chaussures-Norton Rose
29. Gabe Varela (USA) Hagens Berman Cycling
30. Bruno Langlois (Can) Team SpiderTech p/b C10
31. Jason Donald (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-OptumHealth
32. Barry Miller (USA) Pure Energy Cycling-ProAirHFA
33. Igor Volshteyn (USA) Champion System Racing
34. Mat Stephens (USA) ELBOWZ Racing
35. Michael Chauner (USA) Team Cykelcity
36. Hilton Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
37. Christian Helmig (Lux) ELBOWZ Racing  0:00:36
38. Tim Mitchell (USA) CCB Racing
39. Aaron Fillion (Can) Ride With Rendall  
40. John Loehner (USA) Stan’s NoTubes-AXA-Equitable-CRCA
41. Jeremy Durrin (USA) Heart House-CADV-CC Evesham
42. Clayton Barrows (USA) Stan’s NoTubes-AXA-Equitable-CRCA  0:00:55
43. Benjamin King (Aus) Team Type 1-Sanofi
44. Keck Baker (USA) X/O Communications-Battley Harley-Davidson  0:01:02
45. Clay Murfet (Aus) Team Mountain Khakis p/b SmartStop
46. Amos Brumble (USA) CCB Racing
47. Andrew Bajadali (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-OptumHealth
48. Mark Batty (Can) Team SpiderTech p/b C10  
49. Mike Margarite (USA) Stan’s NoTubes-AXA-Equitable-CRCA  0:01:11
50. Sam Witmitz (Aus) Garneau Club Chaussures-Norton Rose
51. Francois Parisien (Can) Team SpiderTech p/b C10  
52. Davide Frattini (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
53. Chris Parrish (USA) Hagens Berman Cycling  0:01:21
54. Chad Haga (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-OptumHealth  0:01:48
55. Adrian Hegyvary (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team  0:01:56
56. Robert Pölder (Swe) Team Cykelcity  0:02:12
57. Michael Olsson (Swe) Team Cykelcity
58. Peter Hurst (USA) Bikereg.com-Cannondale
59. Reid Mumford (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-OptumHealth  0:02:52
60. Tyler Jewell (USA) ELBOWZ Racing
61. Bradley White (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team  0:04:05
62. Scott Zwizanski (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
63. Jesse Anthony (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-OptumHealth
64. Cody Campbell (Can) Hagens Berman Cycling  0:06:17
65. Nicholas Rogers (USA) Breakawaybikes.com-IFRACTAL  0:07:01
66. James Stevens (Aus) Champion System Racing
67. Yahor Buben (Blr) CCB Racing  0:15:22
68. Thomas Soladay (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-OptumHealth  0:16:22
69. Aliaksandr Bieliauski (Blr) CCB Racing  0:17:22
70. Max Korus (USA) Bikereg.com-Cannondale  0:17:27
71. Brett Tivers (Nzl) Garneau Club Chaussures-Norton Rose
72. Brendan Spencer (Can) Kallisto-Wheels of Bloor  
73. Jean-François Racine (Can) Garneau Club Chaussures-Norton Rose  0:17:50
74. Andrew McCullough (USA) Gaspésien-Passion-Vélo  0:18:39
75. Evan McNeely (Can) Ride With Rendall  0:36:43
76. Ryan Pettit (USA) Heart House-CADV-CC Evesham  0:37:07
77. Neil Bezdek (USA) Team Mountain Khakis p/b SmartStop  0:38:07
78. Brett Kielick (USA) Breakawaybikes.com-IFRACTAL  0:38:34
79. Casey Roth (Can) Ride With Rendall  
80. Alex Bowden (USA) Team Type 1-Sanofi
81. Andrew Seitz (USA) Breakawaybikes.com-IFRACTAL  0:49:08
82. Dylan McNicholas (USA) CCB Racing  0:50:08
83. Evan Burkhart (USA) Bikereg.com-Cannondale  0:51:08
84. Andrew Gonzales (USA) ELBOWZ Racing  0:54:08
85. Wes Kline (USA) Pure Energy Cycling-ProAirHFA  0:58:13
86. Robert Ralf Harris (Can) Gaspésien-Passion-Vélo  0:59:13
87. Kiernan Orange (Can) Ride With Rendall  1:01:13
DNF  Zack Noonan (USA) Bikereg.com-Cannondale
DNF  Patrick Bevin (Nzl) Bissell Pro Cycling Team
DNF  Andrew Baker (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling Team
DNF  Shane Kline (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling Team
DNF  Zamastil S.Charles (USA) Breakawaybikes.com-IFRACTAL
DNF  Ryan Shebelsky (USA) Breakawaybikes.com-IFRACTAL
DNF  Sergio Atocha (USA) Champion System Racing
DNF  Zoltan Tisza (Hun) Champion System Racing
DNF  Phil Penman (USA) Champion System Racing
DNF  Joseph Schmalz (USA) ELBOWZ Racing
DNF  Yannick Bedard (Can) Gaspésien-Passion-Vélo
DNF  Dan Bechtold (USA) Hagens Berman Cycling
DNF  Michael Jenks (USA) Heart House-CADV-CC Evesham
DNF  Beau Edwards (USA) Heart House-CADV-CC Evesham
DNF  Gregory Leach (USA) Heart House-CADV-CC Evesham
DNF  Andrew Guptill (USA) Jamis-Sutter Home
DNF  Guido Palma (Arg) Jamis-Sutter Home
DNF  Derek Ivey (Can) Kallisto-Wheels of Bloor
DNF  Bayden Pritchard (Can) Kallisto-Wheels of Bloor
DNF  Edwin Bull (USA) Pure Energy Cycling-ProAirHFA
DNF  Derrick St John (Can) Ride With Rendall
DNF  Joe Whitman (USA) Stan’s NoTubes-AXA-Equitable-CRCA
DNF  Chris Johnson (USA) Stan’s NoTubes-AXA-Equitable-CRCA
DNF  John Minturn (USA) Stan’s NoTubes-AXA-Equitable-CRCA
DNF  Jonas Bjelkmark (Swe) Team Cykelcity
DNF  Johan Landström (Swe) Team Cykelcity
DNF  Jacob Mueller (USA) Team Mountain Khakis p/b SmartStop
DNF  Scott Stewart (USA) Team Type 1-Sanofi
DNF  Sean Barrie (USA) X/O Communications-Battley Harley-Davidson
DNF  Russ Langley (USA) X/O Communications-Battley Harley-Davidson
DNF  Timothy Rugg (USA) X/O Communications-Battley Harley-Davidson