The Zipp OVCX Tour is now down to its final three races heading into Columbus, OH this week for the Ohio State Championships. For a quick recap of last week's action and the series outlook in each category we turn once again to the Masked Prognosticator. Elite Men Ryan Knapp of BikeReg.com turned in yet another dominating performance in Lexington this week. After trailing Mike Sherer of Pony Shop for a couple laps, Knapp took the lead and then laid the hammer down, dispatching of Sherer and anyone else that thought they had a shot -- primarily the Barbasol boys. Speaking of which, Mike Purvis and Mitchell Kersting pretty much rode circles together for an hour in 3rd and 4th with Purvis pulling most of the way only to be unceremoniously whooped by his teammate in a sprint for the finish that left Kersting only one point behind Purvis in the series standings. Knapp has now won the last three races and has certainly convinced me that he's the cream of the crop at this point. Masked Prognosticator’s pick: Ryan Knapp Elite Women Nikki Dallaire made another visit to the Zipp OVCX Tour this week and ran away from the field right from the start. BioWheels' Amanda McKay posted a solid 2nd followed by Ter Meek of BikeClicks / Team Louisville, who doubled up again this week and has pulled into 3rd in the Women's Elite category while leading the Cat 3/4. With a couple more races Teri and Michelle Morris will both get around Georgia Gould who's still hanging in 2nd from the 5 UCI races and fill out the podium, the question is who will end up in 2nd. Michelle looks to have the advantage as Teri's Cat-up points from the 3/4 category are holding her down. I also hear that many of the Louisville riders aren't coming to Columbus this week which will limit her chances. Masked Prognosticator’s pick: Amanda McKay Elite Masters 35+ Calistoga's Mike McShane put up his 4th win in 9 attempts, holding off BikeReg.com's Fred Rose in a mildly contested sprint. Mike has all but sealed the series, barring a disaster in Indianapolis where anything can happen with double points on the line. That would not be the place to have a mechanical, which makes winning every race until then even more important in case that point cushion is needed. Finishing 3rd this week, and still holding that spot behind McShane and Rose in the standings, was Morgan Webb of Barbasol. These three are almost a lock for the series podium. Masked Prognosticator’s pick: Mike McShane Elite Masters 45+ Ho hum, more of the same. It's one-two-three yet again this week for Calistoga. The only question every week is, “what order these guys will finish in today?” This week it was Fagerberg, Bobrow and Mandrola. Fagerberg and Bobrow rode together the entire way, along with Brian Andriot in who was in the 35's and it didn't appear that Bobrow was even willing to put up a fight at then end. I don't know if they had a gentlemans agreement going in, or if Bobrow just didn't have a sprint in him, but Fagerberg took the win with Bobrow 2nd and Mandrola 3rd. That was Fagerbergs 2nd consecutive win and pulled him to within 13 points of Bobrow for the series, adding to the possibility that these two may have to race for the series title in Indy. Masked Prognosticator’s pick: Bob Bobrow Cat 3 Men This is the only category in the series in which every non UCI race has been won by the same person. Guess who? That's right, CKW's Keith Lucas. Keith was yet again dominating, and stuck around to race with the Elite Men and finish a solid 9th behind BioWheels' Mitch Graham. After finishing the Elite race Keith claimed he'd give Mitch a race on fresh legs some day. Earth to Keith, it's time… Leave the Cat 3's for the next two races and race with the Elite men. If you need to protect your series title in Indy you can come back and race the 3's again, until then Cat-up baby! The Barbasol boys need some company, they get lonely riding by themselves every week. As for the rest of the field, there was a great battle for 2nd between Chris Nevitt of BikeClicks / Team Louisville and Tom Brockman of Louisville Firefighters. They came into the last run-up together and Nevitt took off. I guess it pays to weigh 110 lbs. soaking wet with long legs when running up a good size hill on the last lap of a race. Nevitt was able to open a 20-30 yard gap and Brockman wasn't able to close it. Brockman now looms in 5th in the series behind Lucas, Nevitt, Steven Gers of BioWheels and Joe Hall of BikeSource, but Brockman is one race short of his seven and is a lock to move into the top three and make it a real battle for 2nd. Masked Prognosticator’s pick: Tom Brockman -- unless Keith Lucas sandbags again Men 3/4 35+ This one is a total free-for-all. My pick last week finished 8th this week, and had 4 of his BikeClicks / Team Louisville teammates beat him to the line. I guess there aren't any team tactics being played there. Michael Seiler of Bike Clicks took the win, followed by Jeff Schoeny and Pedal the Planet's Marty Smith. The 3rd place finish vaulted Smith to the series lead, followed by Webster and Gregory Charkoudian who finished 4th this week. This category has all kinds of possibilities with only 11 points separating the top 4 riders. However, the man on the move that can take advantage of the fact that only 5 races are needed here is this weeks winner Michael Seiler. Seiler only has three races in, but they are a win and two 2nd's. So this week I have to flip flop and change my pick, but it stick with the same team. Masked Prognosticator’s pick: Michael Seiler Men 3/4 45+ Kenny Sipes continues to hold a comfortable lead here, but he's coming off an injury and clearly didn’t look the same this week. Not only that, but Scott Bond continues to race well and word has it that Dan Lach may come back for the series finale in Indy to race for the title. Scott Bond, Rick Toler and David Hart were your podium finishers in Lexington this week, and this race looks to be a 5 man sprint to Indy between Sipes, Lach, Bond, Hart and Toler. And just so the top 5 don’t get too comfortable, Darell Edwards now has two 3rd's and a 4th and could make a little noise with a string finish too. Masked Prognosticator’s pick: Too close to call (but I'll take Lach if he does race Indy) Cat 3/4 Women Teri Meek won her 4th race of the season in Lexington, completely overpowering the field. Hannah Mossman was able to put in a stong race and finish 2nd which allowed her to leapfrog Jeni Roosen for 3rd in the series standings, only 30 points beinh Olivia Jaras, but with a 9 point effort still to dispose of. Barring any unforeseen (which is completely possible given my vision) circumstances this looks to be a Meek, Mossman, Jaras podium. The only question is where is Jaras, and will she show up in Indy to claim keep her spot on the podium. She hasn't been to the last two races and appears to be MIA. Masked Prognosticator’s pick: Teri Meek Women 3/4 35+ This still looks like its coming down to the end. Christina Halioris currently holds a slim 7 point lead over Shellie Heggenberger, but Heggenberger got around her at the last run-up on the final lap this week to win the race and close the series gap. National Engineering's Jamie Clifton finished 3rd 6th time this year, the model of consistency. Gerry Schulze who had been a potential wildcard did not show this week making it impossible for her to get 7 races in now, and very difficult to challenge for the title. This one is definitely headed to Indy for a decision. Masked Prognosticator’s pick: Christina Halioris vs. Shellie Heggenberger (now there's a mouthful) in Indy for the title Cat 4 Men While the young Cory St. Clair occupies the top spot in the series, the even younger Brian Lark took advantage of Cory's absence and posted victory in the Cat 4 race. Lark was followed by Dave Mundy and Bicycle Sport's Rick Smith, pushing Mundy into 2nd for the series. Nathan Roberson still sits in 3rd for the series with only 5 races in and could pose a real threat if he races two of the final three races. My guess is he'll race Louisville, then it's a question of whether he goes to Indy or not. If he does we could have a great three way battle on the podium. Masked Prognosticator’s pick: Nathan Roberson (if he does the races) Junior's Same story different week! Red Zone was all over the place, with many of their racers doubling up. Gavin Haley grabbed a victory in the 10-12 allowing him to close to within 10 points of an ailing Ian McShane. Will Mandrola and James Francicso look set to battle it out for 3rd. Kate Dietrich took advantage of the small field this week to post victory over Abigail Roof . However, Eden Webb, Rachel Dobrozsi and Frances Haley still have a lock on the top three spots. One of the more impressive performances this week was turned in by John Francisco of Red Zone. John not only won the 13-14 race, but finished 4th in the Cat 4 race. I'll tell you what, when the 13 and 14 year olds start flying by you in a race, you start to feel old. He finished in front of 28 of the 32 Cat 4's, and probably would have passed most of the 3/4 Masters racers had they not started after the 4's. With the likes of Dillman, Lark and Francisco coming up, I think we'll be hearing from Red Zone for a long time to come. Brian Lark capped his impressive double win day with a win in the Junior 15-16 as well as the Cat 4. His partner in crime Drew Dillman was up in New Jersey racing the USGP so we didn’t get to see him, although I hear his doubling up days may be over and he may try to stick to the Cat 3's now. Until next week… have fun, race well and be safe. Yours truly, The Masked Prognosticator
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