June 21, 2004 – The fifth and final position on the USA Olympic Cycling
Team (Road) was determined today on the hilly roads surrounding Redlands,
California. The
winner-take-all 189K race saw only 96 riders take to the start at
12:30 p.m., just in time for the heat of the day to bake the riders on the
mostly wide-open course. The field was a mix of seasoned pros as well as
future Olympic hopefuls, but even with a wide disparity in abilities, the
handicappers would be hard-pressed to predict the outcome given the handful
of serious contenders and the usually unpredictable nature of such
high-stakes selection races.

The obvious choices for the podium were current USPRO National Road
Champion Freddy Rodriguez (Acqua & Sapone), Navigators Insurance’s Kirk
O’Bee, the US number-1 ranked Chris Horner (Webcor), John Lieswyn (Health
Net), Antonio Cruz (US Postal Service), Mark McCormack (Colavita), and
possibly one or two others. The difficulty of the course combined with the
relatively small squads of 2-4 riders on hand (except for Webcor, Health
Net and Jelly Belly which had 6-7 riders each), would throw another monkey
wrench into the conventional racing tactics employed for this event. In two
words, the race was: wide open.

The racing action began on the first of 10 laps through the terrain that
was described as technical, and hilly or undulating, depending what part of
the U.S. you come from. Several riders began attacking the hills in hopes
of gaining an early advantage on the favorites. Approximately 11 riders
had separated themselves on the first of the three main climbs but there
was
not a lot of coordination. By the time the field had reached the feed zone
at the top of the second, more difficult climb, there were three riders in
the
lead group followed by three more riders, with the main peloton several
seconds
behind. The leaders, Chris Baldwin (Navigators Insurance), Will Frischkorn
(Colavita) and Doug Ollerenshaw (Jelly Belly), pushed their pace and had a
gap of 1:30 on the field, with the three chasers at 0:50. At this time, the
Webcor team of Chris Horner massed at the front of the peloton to control
the pace and discourage any additional attacks.

Initially viewed as a defensive move to remove the pressure from their
respective team leaders, the two breakaway groups were gaining time without
much difficulty, although the leaders were gaining time much more quickly
than the chasers. Over the next six laps, the lead grew to more than 6:30
with three chasers maintaining their position almost halfway between the
leaders and the peloton, in “no-man’s -land.” Although not very exciting
racing, this scenario kept the pressure on the Webcor team, using valuable
energy in the hot sun, as the remainder of the peloton rolled along behind
them.

As the lap counter dropped to three-to-go, and the crowd at the finish line
began to grow, Horner decided he’d had enough and pulled his squad from the
front. Immediately, the Health Net riders began to attack, drawing a group
of eight up the road. Included in the group were Navigators’ Kirk O’Bee,
Freddy Rodriguez (A&S), John Lieswyn and Jason McCartney (both Health Net),
Justin England (Webcor), Adam Bergman (Jelly Belly), Andy Bajadali (Ofoto)
and Jacob Rosenbarger (Jittery Joes). The group had many of the favorites
in their midst, and several of the favorites had also missed the move,
notably absent were Chris Horner and all of the U.S. Postal riders.

The eight chasers continued powering through the lap, and with 2-to-go were
within 3:40 of the three leaders by the time they reached the main climb,
with
another group of five about 1:00 further back. There is no peloton at this
point, just the three groups and a bunch of stragglers. More attacks are
launched from both groups of chasers creating a decisive race situation.

Over the top of the climb, there are three leaders, followed by Lieswyn and
Bajadali, with Rodriguez and O’Bee not far behind. The four chasers hook
up
and are only 0:45 behind the leaders with Horner, Cruz and newly crowned
U.S. Time Trial Champion David Zabriskie (US Postal Service) now in the
second
chase group 1:35 behind. Horner, Cruz and Zabriskie were the last to make
it into the group.

Showing incredible strength, the second chase group closed the gap to the
first
group of chasers, which had just caught the three leaders. With just over
1-lap remaining, the peloton was a select group of 16 riders. Just after
cresting the final kicker on the penultimate lap, Jason McCartney (Health
Net) attacked and quickly gained 1:00 on the rest of the group, which was
now looking around to see who would flinch first. McCartney continued on
for the entire lap with attacks and counter-attacks coming from the group
behind, but nothing was sticking. Entering the final 5K, McCartney held
his lead, followed by Adam Bergman (Jelly Belly) and approximately 10
chasers some 1:15 further in arrears. Navigators’ O’Bee attacks and gains
time on the bunch but is countered by Zabriskie. Zabriskie stays away
alone with the bunch behind to claim the third and final spot on the
podium.

Jason McCartney gains the final selection for the 2004 Athens Olympics to
the U.S. Cycling Team with a well-timed attack and powerful
finish. Everyone else goes home tired. The Navigators Insurance Cycling
Team congratulates Jason for a fine performance, and wishes all of our
Olympians luck in the upcoming Olympic Games.