December 9, 2006 (South Kingston, RI) – Picking up where they left off two weeks ago, the wife-husband duo of Lyne Bessette (Cyclocrossworld.com) and Tim Johnson (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) won Saturday’s W.E. Stedman Grand Prix in South Kingston, Rhode Island, round 6 of the 2006 Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series.

Less than 20 miles from the site of next week’s U.S. national Championships, the penultimate Verge NECCS race went to form, with Bessette dominating the Elite Women’s field and Johnson forming an early breakaway and then soloing in for the Elite Men’s win.

On a dry afternoon with temperatures hovering below 5 Celsius, Johnson initiated a strong early move with U.S. National Champion Todd Wells (GT), Jeremy Powers (Jelly Belly), and Matt White (FiordiFrutta). The quartet rode well together with White the first to come off. An acceleration by Johnson eventually dropped Wells and Powers and it was clear sailing for the defending Verge NECCS champ. Powers came in for second with Wells filling out the podium.

As she has done all year in the Verge NECCS races, Bessette set a withering pace from the gun and never looked back. Even with other regional champions in attendance – recently crowned Verge Mid-Atlantic champ Deirdre Winfield (VeloBella-Kona) and Oregon Cross Crusade winner Rhonda Mazza (Vanilla-S&M) – Bessette showed no mercy in chalking up another win. Winfield took second with Mazza coming third.

With her fourth win in as many starts, Bessette regained the Elite Women’s leader’s jersey, helped in large part by former jersey holder Mackenzie Dickey (Verge) recording a DNF. The Elite Men’s race tightened considerably with White (FiordiFrutta) clawing to within 5 points of Series leader Mark McCormack (Clif Shot) going into the final race. McCormack lost the overall title to Tim Johnson in 2005 on the final day of the Series. The Verge NECCS concludes tomorrow with Caster’s Cyclocross in Warwick, Rhode Island.

Elite Men
1. Tim Johnson (Cannondale-cyclocrossworld.com)
2. Jeremy Powers (Jelly Belly)
3. Todd Wells (GT)
4. Matt White (FiordiFrutta)
5. Mark McCormack (Clif Shot)
6. Tristan Schouten (Trek-VW-Michelin)
7. Justin Spinelli (RGM Watches-Richards Sachs-Rex Chiu)
8. Johannes Huseby (FiordiFrutta)
9. Matt Kraus (Alan Factory)
10. Eric Tonkin (Kona)

Elite Women
1. Lyne Bessette (Cyclocrossworld.Com)
2. Deirdre Winfield (Velo Bella-Kona)
3. Rhonda Mazza (Vanilla-S&M)
4. Maureen Bruno Roy (Independent Fabrication-Wheelworks)
5. Christine Vardaros (Lotto-Bodysol)
6. Rebecca Wellons (Gearworks-Spin Arts Cycling)
7. Anna Milkowski (Velo Bella-Kona)
8. Melanie Swartz (Velo Bella-Kona)
9. Betsy Shogren (FORT Factory Team)
10. Cris Rothfuss (NEBC-Cycle Loft)

For more information on the 2006 Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series please go to www.necyclocross.com.