provided by Navigators Insurance

May 22, 2004 – The 2004 Tour of Connecticut headed back into the hills earlier today with the 53-mile Waterbury (CT) Climber’s Cup. After two days of mostly flat racing (stages 2,3), the climbers went on the attack with a tailor-made event on a crowd-pleasing course in and around Waterbury. The 13-lap course is a demanding circuit that quickly weeds out the contenders from the pretenders and by the end of the 3rd lap, the peloton had already been pared down to about 40 competitors.

The team of current race leader Mark McCormack (Colavita Olive Oil) was at the front of the peloton in the early going, knowing the attacks on the Yellow Jersey would be coming from many teams. Although several riders tried to escape, it wasn’t until the 4th lap that a breakaway was able to establish itself. Navigators’ strong-man Jeff Louder was joined by Chris Wherry (Health Net), Wil Frischkorn (Colavita), and Imanol Ayestaran (Webcor) on a quest to steal the show. With representation from the four strongest teams in the race, the gap climbed quickly to peak out at about 3:30 over the next four laps.

The 4 ‘iron men’ continued driving on while the lap-cards continued to tick down. Most of the driving was being performed by Louder and Wherry as their breakaway companions had little reason to contribute to the effort. Frischkorn was covering the attack in defense of teammate McCormack, while Ayestaran had team leader Chris Horner back in the main field. With the lap cards showing 4-to-go, Ayestaran lost contact with the other leaders and lost ground quickly.

With the gap holding steady at about 2:30, the contenders for the Overall GC were now forced to let their legs do the talking, as the leaders were showing no intention of giving in to the difficulty of the course. A late race attack by seven riders appeared to have the horsepower to get the job done, but as the leaders crossed the line for the final time, it appeared that the ‘iron men’ were going to succeed.

As the leaders entered the final 1000-meters around the Town Green, the three-man sprint looked more like a track race as each rider cautiously watched the others, than the finish of one of the most demanding courses in North America. With all three coming to the line together, it was a bike-throw that gave Louder the winning edge over Wherry and Frischkorn. It was a well-deserved victory for Jeff Louder, and his Navigators Insurance teammates.

Going into tomorrow’s final stage of this points-based (Omnium format) event, Navigators’ Marty Nothstein will still be wearing the green Sprint Jersey, which he acquired in stage-1, as teammate Vassili Davidenko tries for his 3rd win in three years on the tough Housatonic Valley course that starts and ends in Danbury.

Stage-4 (Unofficial):

1. Jeff Louder (Navigators Insurance)

2. Chris Wherry (Health Net)

3. Wil Frischkorn (Colavita)

Overall GC: (Unofficial)

1. Mark McCormack (Colavita)

2. Georges Eduard Duquette

3. Alexandre Fortier

Junior Expert Women

1. Emily Batty (Bay Cycle)

2. Olivia Gagné

3. Kylie Case