Date: 3-12-2005
 

The much anticipated showdown between the two, self-proclaimed, top master’s squads in Atlanta took place this past weekend in the Brooks Omnium. Smith Barney and The Forum cycling teams finally got their chances to meet head to head in the first round of the Georgia Cup. Not to be excluded, RBM, GTC, Free-Flite and River City all fielded good contingencies as well. At first glance, it appeared as though The Forum would be in complete control as they had twice the number of riders as any other team and dwarfed the 3-man Smith Barney squad.

Sporadic attacks and counter attacks were the order of the day on the first lap with nothing serious happening until the feed-zone climb. The Forum attempted to establish their dominance, but the field was having none of it. Big Jon was throttling a small group away from the field on the feed-zone climb when Tony bridged up later followed by Clay Parks and Andy Lougher from the Forum. This was a large break of ten or so, that soon whittled down to 7. Roy “Per-Simmons” and Phil “The Godfather” Bonfiglio, from RBM, Clay, “The Pettifogger”, Steve “Middleman” Middleton and Andy “Speedtalker” Lougher from the Forum along with Big Jon and Tony “The Blade” from Smith Barney comprised this who’s who of local riders. It seemed The Forum were in a perfect position with 3 riders in the break.

It become apparent they hoped it would come down to a sprint, but this is a breakaway and Smith Barney was having none of that. The group worked together for another lap until Jon pulled away on the feed-zone climb with less than 8 miles to go. No one flinched and Jon was out of site in no time at all. For intents and purposes, the race was over, at least the win. With the Forum guys not quite sure what to do, Per-Simmons launched his own attack and got clear. The Pettifogger soon took up the chase followed by The Blade, who caught and passed The Pettifogger linking up with Per-Simmons. The duo pulled clear of the chasing trio of Forum riders and hooked up with the waiting Big Jon, staying clear to the line. Smith Barney accomplished the seemingly impossible by finishing 1-2. A great ride by The Godfather who came in for 7th. Steve “Christmas” Carrel cleaned up what was left by placing 9th for Smith Barney. Along the way, Big Jon also secured the KOM jersey.

The criterium was a more balanced field in terms of number of riders per team. Big Jon hit it from the gun and formed a gap on the 2nd lap of race with The Pettifogger on his wheel. One more lap and The Blade bridged to the pair of riders. Within 3 laps, they were out of site. 2 laps later, Smith Barney decided it was time to shed the non-matching uniform from the group and went on the attack. The Blade went up the road later followed by Big Jon. The Smith Barney train had left the station and was in pursuit of the field. By the halfway point, the duo had lapped the field and finished in reverse order from the previous day, thus sharing the lead in the overall. Christmas Carrel improved on his road race result by coming in 6th on the day.

The time trial was simply a Smith Barney affair with a clean sweep of the podium with Jon beating out Tony by 1 second with Steve coming in third. Smith Barney is sitting nicely in 1st, 2nd and 5th overall in the Georgia Cup as well as holding all three jerseys.

Smith Barney: 1 The Forum: 0