TEAM NEWS archive

Molloy Wins CRCA Championships,  Zmolik wins State Road Race

(New York, July 22, 2007) On Saturday morning before most New Yorkers had their first sip of coffee, Kevin Molloy won the CRCA championships.  A consistently clever rider, Kevin got into an early breakaway that was established during the first few kilometers of racing.  The break hovered off the front of the peloton at about 25-40 seconds at times and never had a commanding lead. Ken Harris, the only other Empire rider in the race quietly shut down the chasing field all day by marking bridge attempts and keeping the bunch at bay. In the finale, Kevin came flying by the group that attacked the breakaway to regain the title for the first time since 2003.  "I started my sprint way earlier than I usually would since there were two guys that got away during all of the final race attacks", said Molloy of his victory.  Despite the deep effort Kevin still had a few moments to celebrate his win as he rolled over the line.

Later in the day on Saturday another squad went up against a high caliber field at the Mount Holly - Smithville Invitational.  With a slightly different format this year the race was bound to have a unique feel.  The 2007 edition was shorter and faster than in years past. It started out aggressively and never let up.  About 15 laps into the race Navigators and Colavita pro squads established a break which Empire's John Loehner made his way up to.  The break swelled to 9 riders.  However, in the closing kilometers it shrunk to 6 riders after a brutal flurry of attacks. John ended in the sixth spot after working hard and never giving up the win even while chasing down attackers.  In the bunch sprint behind, Lisban started to show some form finishing 2nd in the group for an 8th place finish overall.

Lastly, on Sunday Dan Zmolik won the State Road Race title at an unforgiving Union Vale Road Race.  The race hit 50 kilometers per hour from gun and an early flurry of attacks formed a early break of 10 riders.  Most of the big teams were represented so the gap grew pretty quickly.  Empire had both John Loehner and Dan Zmolik in the move. They both battled the break riders and the challenging terrain. John worked hard to set Dan up for his well deserved state champ title.

Euri Madera wins solo at Iron Hill

(New York, July 8, 2007) In what would appear to be his last race in the category 3 field, 19 year-old talent Euri Madera stumped the bunch on Saturday evening in West Chester, PA by going on the attack 17 kilometers before the finish. "I attacked thinking I could start a break and maybe win out of a sprint like at Harlem but nobody came across. Once I had a gap I knew I had to just keep going”, said Madera of his race winning move. Along with the solo victory Euri, took home a handful of intermediate sprint prizes.

Look for Euri in the Empire colors in the team's upcoming pro12 races. He's proven to be a dynamic rider who can bunch sprint and ride the long breakaways.

The Empire squad was also well represented in the pro field with "old faithful" John Loehner getting in a mid-race break that nearly lapped the field. Unfortunately the gamble didn't work and the move was eventually reeled in by the Aerospace Engineering pro cycling team.

Empire Cycling boasts three new State Criterium Champs! 

(New York, June 16-17, 2007)  The Empire Team comes off the weekend with three new State Criterium champions!  Lisban Quintero’s second place finish at the Harlem Criterium makes him the current state champ as the winner was not from this country.  Ken Harris won the Master's state and our young Euri Madera is the Category 3 champion. 

The weekend started off with an Empire blitz at a Central Park points race where an Empire rider won every single intermediate sprint on the course. Daniel Zmolik became the leader on the road after his fellow teammates saw how well he was riding.  The team kept the race strung out single file for the most part, preventing other teams from getting good positioning for the sprints.  The team lead outs were so brilliantly executed that most even riders in the lead out train were picking up sprint points. Ultimately Zmolik took the overall win with Karl Rahn finishing 4th, Euri Madera 5th, and Alejandro Guzman in 6th.  A really nice result for the guys who made the race one of the fastest in club history.

Sunday's main event was the Pro/am race in Harlem.  The Empire boys took control from the gun making the race difficult by always putting riders up the road.  Many teams played defense against such aggressive racing. The elastic never quite snapped, although it could have on any of the 43 laps.  In the end the game was bunch sprint.  Nerac pro cycling took over the pace with 2 laps to go.  Lisban Quintero  and John Loehner lined up with them and battled for the good positions in the lead up to the sprint. The sprint opened curb to curb in a race for the line and Lisban took second overall, taking the state champion title.

Kissena Series and Tour of Highbridge

(New York-June 9, 2007)  The team stayed local on Saturday racing the Kissena Series in Prospect Park, Brooklyn.  The race was aggressive and fast with average speed of 28mph.  Empire was represented in all of the important breakaways, but with such a fast pace it was inevitable that it would come down to a bunch sprint.  The newly crowned time trial champion, Daniel Zmolik, stood in for Lisban Quintero, who is still nursing some injuries from a crash the previous week.  Daniel  was able to round out the podium with a third place after some great team work by the boys.

(New Jersey-June 10, 2007) On Sunday, Empire’s cyclists went to the tour of Highbridge in Highbridge, NJ for a grueling circuit race.  This race is either going uphill up a brutal grade or downhill at light speed.  It's not a course for team tactics-  more for attrition, bike handling skill, and a little luck.  Michael Margarite was able to land a 6th place finish in the pro race and Chris Shaw finished 4th in the category 3 event.

Zmolik Shows Early Promise in CRCA Time Trial

(New York, June 2-3, 2007) This weekend Empire stayed local for training in order to recover from the spring season and prepare for the upcoming summer stage races.  On Sunday Daniel Zmolik and Ken Harris went out to the Floyd Bennett Individual Time Trial to test out their Cervélo P2C bicycles in a race scenario. The two both landed on the podium with Daniel taking the 2007 CRCA time trial championship title.  This was Daniel's first TT since the Tour of Virginia stage 1 prologue. When asked about his outing, Zmolik said, "I felt pretty good today and the bike felt even better since I've been training on it more than usual.  I felt strong from the start and I'm encouraged by my condition. I feel ready for the future stage races which are big goals for me."  Daniel's upcoming races include the Harlem Criterium, the Rochester Twilight Criterium, and then the Fitchburg Stage Race.