News

2008

March 30th: Salvatore Abbruzzese kept the early season form going by taking 2nd at Branchboork in the 3/4 race. After several attempts a break with the three series leaders opened up, plus two others. The gap quickly grew from 20 secs, to a minute and finally the five man move was able to nearly lap the field. To top it off, Sal felt so good after the race that we went on to take 9th in the P/1/2/3 race immediately afterwards.

March 22nd: First win of 2008!
Salvatore Abbruzzese and Eddie Espita compted in Branchbrook Park in Newark NJ this past Saturday. The race was fast from the gun with constant attacks that never gained more than a few seconds. With 1.5 laps to go (7mi.) Sal took advantage of a tired peleton and attacked hard gaining about 20 sec. For the next 7 miles his narrow lead fluctuated, the pack figuring that he'd shortly get reeled in. But our man Sal who is a powerful TT rider motored on and soloed to a classy win.
Read more on the Fuji Athlete Blog.

March 7: David Taylor kept the podium streak going this weekend in the first CRCA race of the year. After 2.5 laps of non-stop attacks by the field, Taylor made sure he was one of the select that made, what would turn out to be the move of the day, finishing third on the day. On Sunday, Aleks Betko made a good showing in Spring Series Race, taking 6th what came down to a field sprint in the 3/4 race.

March 3: Starting with a BANG!
Two races, two podiums and a top 5. That's how the team started 2008 off. Salvatore Abbruzzese got it going on Sat. at the Bethel Spring Series taking 2nd in the 3/4 race. And then on Sunday David Taylor and Mark Alden made and drove a 10 man break in the 35+ race, with Alden taking 2nd place after essentially leading out the group for a good 1k. In the 3/4 race Joe Azze picked up where he left of taking 4th in what came down to a field sprint. With a fresh new kit and even better new bikes, look for much more from the Blue Ribbon boys in the months to come.

Jan 16: The team's title sponsor, Blue Ribbon Restaurants was reviewed by The New York Times today about their newest venture, Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill in the Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle. The establishment received a review of "Very Good" by the Times critic Frank Bruni in which Bruni praised "the food has been consistently first-rate." Read the full review here and maybe even swing by to check it out for yourself the next time you're in the area.

2007

Sep 22: This weekend kicked off the cyclocross season and Jason Parkin grabbed his first result of the year taking 9th in the B Race of the Van Dessel Hole Shot CX Race in Augusta NJ. Next up will be the Whitmore's Landscape CX Race and the Grand Prix of Gloucester, as well as a number of other races that are part of the Mid-Atlantic, New England and US Grand Prix of Cyclocross Series'.

Sep 10: The past weekend proved to be a time to put some late season form to good use and extend the team's unprecedented run of success.

In Saturday's Kissena race in New York's Prospect Park David Taylor initiated an attack on the final lap that sprang five riders clear of a fast chasing peloton intent on a mass sprint. Taylor took 4th place as the breakaway group finished just a couple of seconds ahead of the charging pack.

On Sunday David Taylor again forced his way into a two rider escape at the Blueberry race held in the NJ pine barrens. With 10K to go Taylor launched another attack and rode away solo from his breakaway companion to score another victory for the BR team.

Sep 4: As we predicted team Blue Ribbon had an amazing Labor Day Weekend at the Green Mountain Stage Race in VT.

In the cat 4 field newcomer Joe Azze put in solid rides in the first three stages to lie 11th on classification. In final stage, the Burlington Criterium, Azze attacked the field with 3 laps to go and rode away solo to score an emphatic victory (his first as a road racer) The win propelled Azze to 5th place in final classification.

In the masters 30+ field Mark Alden & David Taylor combined perfectly in the Mad River Road Race enabling Taylor to bridge into the winning breakaway with 20K to go. In the finale Taylor broke the resistance of his last breakaway companion on the gruelling 22% slopes leading to the finish at the top of Appalachian Gap to take the stage win and secure the leaders yellow jersey. Meanwhile, Alden rode away from the rest of the field on the same 5K climb and caught all but 3 of the breakaway riders to take 4th place on the stage. In the final day criterium Taylor successfully defended the race lead while Alden secured 4th place in the final classification.

This remarkable weekend caps an unbelievable string of podium finishes in major events for the team stretching back seven weeks to mid July.

Aug 25: For the 6th consecutive week Team Blue Ribbon has scored a podium place in a major regional race. This time it was the turn of Salvatore Abbruzzese in the highly competitive Mengoni GP in New York's Central Park. Watch a video synopsis of the race here.

Sal was part of a four man break that formed with 2 laps to go, in spite of holding a tenuous 5 second lead for much of the final 10K the quartet showed great determination to hold off the charging pack and Sal took an excellent 3rd place.

Next up is the Green Mountain Stage Race in Vermont over Labor Day weekend, the team will be well represented and we're hopeful for a strong showing.

Aug 18: David Taylor once again unleashed on the 35+ field on Saturday, this time at the Tour of the Hilltowns in Windsor, MA. After numerous bridge attempts Taylor and and 3 others made a move for the lead group that was up the road. Just as the lead group of 4 were within touching distance toward the last big climb on rte 9 started David bridged up the leaders, took a deep breath then attacked again; this time with only one other ride with him. As they neared the finish line it was down to a two man sprint which Taylor just took to make it his second win in as many weeks.

Aug 12: The team made a strong showing in the Tour of Christiana in Lancaster PA. The two day, 3 race stage race saw David Taylor start things off right by winning the 40+ Road Race soloing in and enjoying the victory. In the ITT on the next day Taylor again put in a good ride taking 4th on the day while Salvatore Abbruzzese took 3rd in the Cat 3 race. The team kept the action going when Taylor took 10th in the 40+ crit to earn 2d place overall in the GC, while in the Cat 3 race Eddie Espitia made the near race long break taking 3rd on the day. The team also passes it's congratulations onto Joe Azze and Aleksander Betko for finishing their first stage race.

July 29: David Taylor threw down on the 35+ race on the grueling course of the Tokeneke Classic Road Race in East Hartland, CT on Sunday. Aside from a lone rider who the field let get away, David shot out of the remnants of the race on the final 2.2 mile climb to handily take 2nd on the day.

July 22: The second to last weekend in July turned out to be a great one for the team, one that saw four different riders grab two podium placings and three other top tens.

On Saturday the CRCA Club Championships saw a nice display of teamwork that resulted in two of the six team-members in the race make the final breakaway. The newest member of the team, Salvatore Abbruzzese, countered a move that had just been caught to get the 6 lap 30+ mile breakaway going. With three laps to go David Taylor bridged up with another rider adding a bit more horse-power to the break and eventually taking second on the day.

On Sunday, the team made the trip up to Poughkeepsie for the Union Vale Road Race. The 35+ Masters race in the morning saw a fireworks filled second half of the race and when the smoke had cleared Mark Alden and David Taylor finishing 5th and 7th respectively, with Taylor becoming the New York State 40-44 Road Champion, his second time taking the State Master's Championship. In the afternoon the Cat 3 race saw Jason Parkin and Pascal Sauvayre take the line for what turned out to be an action packed race from the gun. After a series of attempted breakaways the winning move went on the 3rd of four laps. Recognizing what was going on Sauvayre and Parkin bridged together to get to the selection and in the end saw Sauvayre take second in what came down to a near track sprint for the line, something uncommon on an uphill finish.

July 15: The annual suffer-fest known as Park Ridge happened today and saw Jason Parkin and Pascal Sauvayre take the line in the Cat 3 Race. The 12 lap 1 mile course with a 17% grade in the middle of it saw both teammates finishing (something most of the field doesn't do in any of the races) and Pascal taking 8th at the end of the day. In the Pro/1/2 Race, Mark Alden made a strong showing as well in the 25 lap race with a field that was littered with domestic pro talent and elite-amateurs from some of the country's top teams.

July 7: Mark Alden and Pascal Sauvayre made it into the winning break in the Lou Maltese Invitational on Saturday. Finishing 9th and 14th respectively, put the team in 8th place overall for the 20 places deep race.

Meanwhile in the Cat. 4 race Christophe Wilkes made it into the longest break of the day staying away for several laps before being caught near the finish. Thankfully teammate Aleks Betko was sitting in the field and was able to come in 9th as the race came down to a field sprint.

June 2007: June has been a busy month for the team and has seen results coming in at what seems like every race both regionally and in the local races as well. Below is a rough summary of the racing for the month and look for much more racing as the Summer goes on.

June 9th - Balloon Festival Race: David Taylor takes 6th in the 35+ race after being in a race long break for close to 60 miles.

June 10th - Tour of Highbridge: Joe Azze made a strong finish narrowly getting pipped for the field sprint taking 5th place. David Taylor took 4th place in the 35+ making the last lap break over the grueling course. Some video of the 35+ race may also be viewed here

June 17th - Housatonic Hills: The squad made a strong appearance at the New England classic and David Taylor continued to shine taking 3rd place in the 35+ race.

June 23rd - CRCA Race: An 8 lap early start saw the team come out in force after a flurry of attacks Marc Alden and David Taylor made the final break with one lap to go taking 6th and 3rd respectively.

June 23rd - Kissenna Prospect Park Race: Aleks Betko took 7th in the 4 race that came down to a field sprint.

June 28th-July 1st - Fitchburg Longsjo Stage Race: Jason Parkin and David Taylor represented the team at the biggest stage race in the region and one of the larger ones in the country. Mr. Taylor showed once again that he has a thing for stage races taking 8th in the Day 1 Time Trial, 3rd in the Wachussett Road Race on Day 3 and finishing 5th overall on GC.

The team would also like to wish the best to David Taylor and Pascal Sauvayre as they head to the USCG Master's Nationals next week as well as congratulate team rookie Joe Azze on earning his Cat. 4 upgrade.

May 20: Xavier Melendez took it to the field today along with two other breakaway companions in the 35+ race at the Great Neck Criterium in Long Island. With Xavier driving the break the trio managed to lap a very strong field and on the last lap Xavier gave one more dig to try and lose them all. Despite the strong effort though, the two still had some juice left for the finish leaving Xavier to take a very solid 3rd place; a sign sure of more good things to come.

May 5: Mark Alden proved yet again for this year, if there's a Master's race and he's in it, he's on the podium. For the third straight time this year Mark took second place, this time at the Jiminy Peak Road Race in the 35+ field. The team raced well all day and saw David Taylor in a long solo move near the end, only to be caught close to the finish. But with strong teammates in the field, the team still wasn't done as Alden led the sprint up the finishing climb only to just be beaten to the line.

"I have to say that the way we raced at Jiminy made me proud to be a part of the Blue Ribbon team. It was awesome seeing Eddie, Thomas and David all over the front of the field for the entire race."
- Mark Alden

April 22: The Harlem Hill Points Race on Saturday saw a field that didn't want to let anything stay away in both the A and B races, but team veteren Pascal Sauvayre took 5th in the final field sprint to place 7th in the race. New addition Aleks Betko, won the field sprint to place 2nd in the B race.

On Sunday, the other new addition to the team, Joe Azze tapped into his mountain bike prowess to work his way through a hetic Cat 5 field to take 3rd in the NYC Spring Series race in Prospect Park. Congratulations to everyone for racing hard and especially to the two new guys for getting on the podium each day.

April 14: In a day that saw the field split apart Xavier Melendez made the front chase group to grab 2nd from the group and 7th place overall in the CRCA Club Race on Saturday.

April 8: Two races and two great days of racing in the NYC Spring Series this weekend. In the 35+ race on Saturday David Taylor finished 4th after forcing the winning break and also earned "Most Aggressive Rider" for the race. On Sunday David and Mark Alden decided to give it to the field early with Mark breaking away from the start to what would eventually give way to the winning move which contained the both of them. On the last lap David made a strong counter to an attack by Mark setting him up for the solo victory with Mark winning the sprint out of the break to make it a one-two day for the team in the 35+ race. Also, the other team newcomer Joe Azze placed 5th in the Cat. 5 race which makes him two for two in top 10 finishes in his first road races.

March 4: The official start to the race season began this weekend and the Blue Ribbon-Translations.com team made a nice showing in the inaugural Spring Series which took place in Central Park. David Taylor decided to start the season right where he left off and worked himself into a 4 man breakaway in the 35+ race eventually finishing on the podium for 3rd with Thomas Pennell and Christophe Wilkes patrolling the field behind. In the 3/4 race team newcomer Aleks Betko made a strong showing for his first race finishing 7th in what came down to a field sprint.

March 3: The team would like to welcome and announce two new additions to the squad this year. In an attempt to recruit some fresh blood we are pleased to announce that Aleks Betko and Joe Azze have joined the roster for the 2007 season.

Both rookies to the discipline of Road Racing Aleks joins as a Cat 4. making his entrance to the sport last year while Joe signs on as a Cat 5 finishing 7th in his first and only road race in 2006. Don't let either of them fool you though, Aleks has been showing his gusto on the off-season training rides and Joe comes to the team as a semi-pro categorized Mountain Bike racer who fell one flat short of winning the New Jersey Cup series in 2006. Look for both of their bios to appear on the site soon and if you don't know who they are now, we have a feeling that you will soon.

July 9: Back in Central Park for the second day in a row, Jeff King again demonstrated his sprinting prowess with a 2nd-place finish in the CRCA club race, a points race with sprints up Harlem Hill. King and CRCA/Axis's Kevin Molloy battled for the points in the early laps, with Molloy taking a slim lead after the first two sprints. In the final sprint, Ricky Lowe of CRCA/VisitBritain nipped them both at the line; Molloy's 16 points were enough to secure him the win over King, who had 14. Two more Blue Ribbon riders rounded out the top five, with Eddie Espitia finishing 4th and Matthew Howard 5th.

July 8: Six members of the team lined up for the first annual New York City Invitational Team Championship, sponsored by Century Road Club Association as part of the Lou Maltese Memorial. The event brought 97 of the region's top amateur riders to Central Park for a very fast 42-mile race. The pace was too high for any breakaways to pry themselves loose, but in the field sprint Matthew Howard and Jeff King took 7th and 11th, giving the team 4th place on the day. The race was won by Lisban Quintero of GS Mengoni, with Alejandro Guzman of CRCA/Foundation 2nd, and Nikola Smutny of Anthem Blue Cross in 3rd.

July 2: The team brought a strong masters squad to this year's Fitchburg Longsjo Classic stage race, and came away from the competitive four-day event with a slew of results: 2nd, 5th, and 6th on GC; and 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 6th, 7th, 9th, and 10th in stages. Highlights included David Taylor and Mark Alden flying up the Wachusett Mountain climb to take 3rd and 5th in the road race, and Xavier Melendez and Matthew Howard finishing 1st and 2nd in the downtown criterium the following day. Taylor's brilliant ride landed him on the podium for the general classification, in 2nd place overall.

Congratulations also to Eddie Espitia, who finished 22nd in the masters despite injuries from a recent car accident; to Pascal Sauvayre, who was 33rd against a tough cat 3 field; and to Jason Parkin, who hung in and finished his first cat 3 stage race after upgrading in May.

June 24: Victory! Justin Lubeley escaped with two others in the first lap of this morning's rain-soaked CRCA race. He attacked his breakaway companions with two miles to go and held on for a convincing solo win. Meanwhile Jeff King headed home to Rochester, NY for the Saturn Rochester Twilight Criterium, a two-hour, $20,000 pro event on the National Racing Calendar.

June 18: The Housatonic Hills road race is traditionally one of the hardest one-day events of our season, combining high temperatures, strong fields, and a relentless course with a tough uphill finish. This year was no exception. In the masters race David Taylor and Matthew Howard were not able to follow an early breakaway driven by race winner Roger Aspholm, but battled up the final climb for 7th and 9th places respectively.

Jeff King represented the team at home in New York, contesting a viciously fast Harlem Skyscraper criterium -- 73 minutes of suffering at an average speed of nearly 30 mph. King rode aggressively all day, and after initiating a promising early move that was chased down, he sprung out of the field with a small group late in the race to finish 16th.

Meanwhile team manager Marc Mauceri was out of action this weekend, spending Father's Day preparing for a new addition to his family. Congratulations to Marc and Carol, and welcome Margot!

June 11: Matthew Howard and David Taylor took on the Pro/1/2 field at the Tour of High Bridge, finishing 10th and 13th respectively.

June 10: Xavier Melendez stormed back from a broken arm in April to take 7th place in the CRCA Individual Time Trial. Justin Lubeley finished 11th, coming up just 1/10th of a second shy of 10th place.

June 4: David Taylor was on a roll this weekend. In Saturday's Corner House Grand Prix in Princeton, NJ, Taylor escaped from the peloton in the first mile of a 43-mile race with only CRCA/Foundation's Will Riffelmacher for company. The two riders worked together through torrential rain to open a four-minute advantage on the pack by the end of the race. Riffelmacher won it in a sprint finish, with Taylor taking 2nd. Then on Sunday's CRCA Team Cup race, Taylor was again on the podium, this time 3rd place, as he came home first out of a group of five chasers who had set out in pursuit of John Loehner and Ken Harris with 12 miles to go. Jeff King finished 9th to score more points for the squad.

May 14: Another spring weekend, another hard, hilly course -- another great result for Armand Della Monica, who convincingly won a chaotic field sprint at the Cat 3 Bear Mountain Spring Classic to finish 4th. Less than half the field even completed the grueling 70-mile race. Della Monica has clearly put his injury-plagued 2005 season behind him, taking top-10 results in nearly every race he has entered so far this year, and establishing himself as a rider who rises to the challenge in big regional races.

May 6: David Taylor won the 35+ road race at Jiminy Peak in a brilliant display of strength and perseverance. Taylor was in an early two-man breakaway that lasted for a lap, then when they were caught he neatly bridged up to the next group of attackers, stayed away for most of another lap and outsprinted the others up the finishing climb for the victory. Bravo David! Mark Alden also raced well, continuing his streak of 7th places in New England: Battenkill-Roubaix, Palmer, and now Jiminy.

In the Cat 3 race, Armand Della Monica patiently bided his time for most of the race before uncorking an explosive sprint up the hill to finish 4th, his third top-10 result of the season.

April 30: Mark Alden and Armand Della Monica sprinted to 7th and 9th place respectively in the 35+ Palmer Library Road Race in Warren, MA on Sunday. A day of aggressive racing from the Blue Ribbon squad also saw David Taylor and Eddie Espitia drive a breakaway for 15 miles as the team made its first foray of the 2006 season into New England. The team will be back in Massachusetts again next weekend for the Jiminy Peak Road Race.

April 30: The Spring Series came down to the wire this year, and Pascal Sauvayre's strong and consistent riding was rewarded with the trophy for 2nd place overall in the 3/4 field. Sauvayre won two races in the series, along with a 2nd, 4th, and 5th, and was narrowly edged out for the overall win by a late surge from CRCA/Foundation's Luis Guzman. Congratulations Pascal!

April 23: Thomas Pennell took some time out from a west coast business trip to compete in the Willamette Valley Classic stage race, three days of epic racing in the mountains and lush forests of Oregon. Riding solo against a very strong field, Pennell took 9th in the Cat 3 Wolf Creek Road Race along with 9th place on GC, bringing home the team's first top-10 stage race result of 2006.

April 16: It was a weekend of highs and lows for the Blue Ribbon squad. On a high were Justin Lubeley, Armand Della Monica, and Mark Alden, who took 4th and 8th (Cat 3) and 7th (35+) respectively at the Battenkill-Roubaix Road Race in upstate New York, a hilly course with nearly 15 miles of dirt road that attracted many of the best riders in the northeast. Meanwhile in Brooklyn Jeff King proved that he is more than a fast sprinter, escaping with a small group on a 45-mile breakaway at the Kings County Circuit Race, finishing in 3rd place. But bad luck struck two members of the team racing in Sunday's Spring Series race, as Pascal Sauvayre and Xavier Melendez both crashed. Sauvayre got away with bruises and road rash, but Melendez broke his arm and will be out of action for several weeks. We wish him a speedy recovery.

April 9: 5th for Pascal Sauvayre in the 3/4 race, and 9th for Jeff King in the 1/2/3 race in the second part of this weekend's Spring Series double feature.

April 8: Another win for Pascal Sauvayre in Saturday's Spring Series 3/4 race! In the CRCA Team Cup, Blue Ribbon had some bad luck as three riders got flat tires in the rainy conditions. Jeff King took 8th place.

April 2: Pascal Sauvayre left nothing to chance in Sunday's Spring Series 3/4 race, escaping on the very first lap of ten with CRCA/Metro-Sanchez's Scot Willingham. The two riders stayed away to the end, with Willingham taking the win in a photo-finish sprint. Meanwhile, Jason Parkin and Justin Lubeley aided their teammate's cause, and Lubeley eventually took 4th after getting away with two CRCA/Foundation riders with four laps to go.

March 25: Matthew Howard took 3rd place out of an 8-rider breakaway in the CRCA A race. Jeff King rode away from the field on the last lap to finish 9th.

March 19: In past years the Blue Ribbon squad was not exactly known for its springtime prowess. In 2003, the team's inaugural season, it went winless until June. In 2004, its first victory came in May. In 2005, the team's increasingly desperate fans had to wait until July for a win. But in 2006, Pascal Sauvayre decided to put an end to this tradition of slow starts by blasting away from his breakaway companions for a victory in Sunday's Spring Series 3/4 race. With three races down and seven to go, the win puts him in the hunt for the overall series honors. Congratulations to Pascal!

March 18: On a cold, windy day at the Grant's Tomb criterium, Matthew Howard took 6th and Jeff King took 9th in the P/1/2 race. Race reports and photos at nyvelocity.com.

March 12: Pascal Sauvayre continued his fine Spring Series campaign with a 6th place finish.

March 11: Jeff King sprinted to 3rd place in the first CRCA race of the season, after teammates Thomas Pennell, Justin Lubeley and Eddie Espitia drove an early escape group for most of the race.

March 5: The first Spring Series race of the season proved a good test for a select group of Blue Ribbon riders willing to brave the wintry pre-dawn in Central Park. Jeff King won the field sprint for 8th place after a fine leadout from Marc Mauceri and Thomas Pennell. Pascal Sauvayre, picking up right where he left off in the 2005 Spring Series, took an excellent 5th place in the 3/4 field.

March 1: Oddsmaker Justin Reid has picked Blue Ribbon as one of the favorites to win this year's CRCA Team Cup. The canny prognosticator runs down the strengths and weaknesses of the local talent in this preview on nyvelocity.com.

January 25, 2006: Here's our team announcement for 2006.

The New York City-based CRCA/Blue Ribbon-Translations.com cycling team returns for its 2006 season hoping to build on the successes of the past year, during which the team scored ten victories, nearly forty podium placings, and well over one hundred top-10 results. The squad remains intact from 2005 with the sole addition of Xavier Melendez, one of the fastest time trialists in New York and a veteran of many NRC events as well as the Irish Milk Ras. He joins sprinter Jeff King and climbing specialists Mark Alden and David Taylor in a versatile roster that promises to be a threat on all types of courses. In addition to defending its hard-fought victory in the CRCA Team Cup, a season-long series contested in Manhattan's Central Park, the team will be focused on masters road and stage races up and down the East coast, including Fitchburg-Longsjo, Coupe des Ameriques, Green Mountain, and the U.S. masters national championships.

The team is pleased to announce that the Bromberg Brothers' Blue Ribbon Restaurants will continue as title sponsor for a fourth consecutive year. Eric and Bruce Bromberg's passion for cycling is only exceeded by their passion for food, and their five award-winning restaurants remain the destination of choice for discerning diners, after-hours chefs, and even seven-time Tour winners. Returning as presenting sponsor is Translations.com, delivering the world's leading language solutions to e-businesses of all shapes and sizes. The team also enjoys the support of DPM Sports, US distributor of Spiuk and Kuips cycling products; Pennell Venture Partners; the Campmor Bike Shop in Paramus, NJ, one of the finest shops in the New York metropolitan area; and Giro helmets.

CRCA/Blue Ribbon-Translations.com is a registered sub-team of the Century Road Club Association, one of the oldest and largest bicycle racing clubs in the United States.

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