September 18, 2005 — For the second straight day, dynamic riding was on show at the 8th Annual Univest Grand Prix as thousands of spectators in Doylestown, PA were treated to a 50-mile criterium won by 23-year old Pennsylvania native Mike Friedman (Northwest Mortgage/Fuji). Friedman, former US under-23 National Champion, out-sprinted defending Doylestown Criterium winner Chad Hartley (TIAA-CREF) and Californian David Clinger (Helen’s RPM) to claim victory.

Animated racing was the norm on this extremely fast circuit, with a breakaway of four establishing a 30-second lead early on in the race. Fuelled by the aggressive riding of the Advantage Benefits-Endeavor team, Frank Pipp (Advantage Benefits — Endeavor) teammate Garrett Peltonen — who put in a powerful mid race effort to bridge from the field to the break — Scott Zwizanski (Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada) and young rider classification leader Dan Bowman (TIAA-CREF) worked smoothly to establish a dangerous time gap. After four more riders closed the distance to the original four, 23-year old Wouter Mol (Holland) single handedly brought the powerful group back into the 150-rider field.

With yesterday’s top three place getters — Herdia, Tardaguila, and Brumble — all active as they tried to secure the overall Univest Grand Prix Omnium title, the decisive move left the field with just three laps to go. “I was trying to set up my teammate Bobby Lea for the overall Omnium. He had a good day yesterday and I was just giving him an early lead-out and wound up with a gap,” Friedman said when recalling how the winning move started, “When Chad and [David] Clinger came across, we went for it.” When asked if his goal was to turn professional after this performance, Friedman replied, “our team’s goal is 2008. We are primarily a track team and we want to represent the US at the Beijing Olympics”.

By finishing 7th in the Doylestown Criterium, Alvaro Tradaguila of Uruguay (UPMC-ACT) claimed the 2005 Univest Grand Prix overall Omnium title, with Amos Brumble second and Melito Heredia rounding out the top-three. Frank Pipp (Advantage Benefits — Endeavor) amassed enough sprint points from his efforts on the front to win the Leidy’s Premium Pork Products Best Sprinter, inheriting the classification lead from his teammate Karl Menzies.