May 12, 2008 – Team Ultralink enjoyed another fabulous weekend of results. Building on several early-season victories already, Jen Stephenson lead the weekend’s tally by winning the Bristol Mountain Road Race in Bristol Mt. NY solo, with teammate Alyssa Mellon taking 3rd out of the chase group. The next day saw the women travel to the prestigious Bear Mountain Road Race just north of New York City where Stephenson capped her weekend with a 2nd place finish from a small bunch sprint. Additional podiums over the weekend included David Gazsi’s 3rd place at Bristol, while back in Ontario at the Lyn Road Race in Brockville, Jamie Riggs’ took a very impressive 3rd in the 1-2 race out a long breakaway.

The team’s impressive results didn’t stop there, as Denise Ramsden, racing solo at the Joe Martin Stage Race as a second year junior, more than held her own against a seasoned NRC pro peloton. The 4 day stage race through the foothills of Arkansas saw Denise make the crucial move of the race in stage 2 for a 5th place finish, which put her into 7th on GC. She was able to defend her position for the rest of the week to deliver an incredible result for the team’s youngest rider.

Please visit www.teamultralink.com for all the latest results and updates.

May 7, 2008 – Team Ultralink is off to a fast start with big wins in the early season and strong showings all around. The official team launch on April 4th, brought out an amazing crowd and gave riders, sponsors and supporters a chance to get to know each other in this first year of the new, expanded Ultralink team. The evening included a presentation from Cervelo, a brief team meeting and general mingling in the new Cyclelogik Powered by Caffeine coffee bar.

The evening’s festivities kicked off a weekend mini-camp for the team with long rides on Saturday and Sunday and another get together on Saturday night. With the blessing of good weather the team was out on the local roads, showing off its team colours for the first time.

Although the nice weather didn’t hold, the team’s good riding did when it was time to face the first big test of the season: Paris-Roubaix. Nine team members headed out on a cold and windy Sunday morning to test themselves on the back roads of Almonte. More gravel meant more mud but for three Ultralink riders these seemed like perfect conditions. David Gazsi battled it out with two of the regions strongest riders in a day-long breakaway to take 3rd overall and 2nd in his category while Andrew Lees and Jennifer Stevenson both took 3rd in their respective categories. And, despite the cold and the mud, all nine Team Ultralink riders crossed the finish line.

The team’s local success continued with the Ultralink Calabogie Ontario Cup on April 20th. With bright sun and warm temperatures, everyone was anticipating a great day for the team and no one was disappointed. With Jennifer Stevenson and two other riders getting away in an early break in the women’s race, it looked like the podium was going to be settled early. After an hour though, a few strong riders broke away from the pack and managed to bridge up to the breakaway group. The Ultralink women kept the race under control though with Stephenson taking the sprint victory while Denise Ramsden and Alyssa Mellon took 5th and 6th positions.

In the M1 group, the guys had to face down a super strong field with the usual local riders as well as some from southern Ontario. The race was spent either swapping turns taking flyers off the front or making sure all the competitors’ moves were covered. By the end, the peloton was spent and let David Gazsi go it alone for 18 km’s and the solo victory.

Congratulations to Paul Chedore who not only ran a great event but also managed to race on top of everything else.

While Team Ultralink doesn’t officially have a junior program, we’re excited to have 2 of the best juniors in the country riding for our senior teams in 2008. Denise Ramsden, current junior National Road Champion, and Devon Novakowski, current Ontario Provincial Road Champion, have enjoyed some outstanding early season successes on their own, as they prepare for a season that will see them mix with the seniors on a regular basis for the first time.

In addition to strong rides with her teammates at the first 2 Ontario Cups, Denise rode the prestigious Redlands Classic in California in early April, finishing in the top third overall, while competing against some of North America’s fastest professional women. Devon, meanwhile, has been riding as a guest rider with a French club this spring, racing throughout France and Belgium. The trip initially focusing on gaining experience and fitness for the coming year has turned into a tour de force, with several podium places in some of the most prominent early season races in Northern Europe.

This is an excerpt from one of Devon’s latest race reports from the Tour de Vaucluse:

…the stage consisted of a 110km road race around a 15km circuit. In this circuit was one climb about 1km long, a twisting descent on hard packed dirt and gravel, and the rest was all rolling hills. The racing was very aggressive right from the start, no time to relax and take a breather, it was full throttle or you were off the back. The first two laps went very quickly and without any breaks.

It wasn’t until partway though the third lap that anything serious got away, and I was among the riders who managed to hop into the train and do his share to make the break.

The gap between the peloton and the break began to grow and another group of three bridged the gap. The group worked together very smoothly and our combined work was enough to hold the peloton at bay. The pace was extraordinarily hard. After 110km of racing the break finally reached the line with an average speed of 48km/h. We finished 3 minutes ahead of the first chase group, 4 ahead of the second and 5 minutes ahead of the peloton.

I finished with the first group coming across the line in 11th putting me in the first place junior jersey…

You can read the entire report on our website, at www.teamultralink.com Devon in club kit in France.

The notable results highlighted above summarize Team Ultralink’s efforts over the last month. A full list of results, replete with stories and pictures, are available on the team’s website at www.teamultralink.com

– 43 Race Starts
– 8 Podiums
– 3 Victories

May is a huge month for Team Ultralink, and we’ll hope to see you at these great events:

Pro Women
– Bristol Mountain, Canandaigua, NY
– Bear Mountain, Harriman, NY
– – Niagara Classic Ontario Cup
Montreal World Cup

Elite Men
– Lyn Road Race, Brockville, ON
– Syracuse Race Weekend
– Niagara Classic Ontario Cup
– GP Charlevoix Stage Race, Baie-St-Paul, QC