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California Giant Berry Cycling continues to WIN!

posted by id* at 08:03 PM on September 02, 2008

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The Strawberries continued their winning ways this weekend, With Jesse Moore taking the win at the Challenge Road Race and then finishing 2nd Sunday at the Dunnigan Hills RR. His teammate Andy Jacques-Maynes finished up a successful Labor Day weekend winning the Metromint Giro di San Francisco today.

Check it out here: http://calgiantcycling.blogspot.com/

Not only did the Berries win this weekend, they've been racking up the wins over the past two months. Here's a sample of some of their recent wins:

Elite Criterium - Aug 16th
Ken Hanson delivered an encore performance to teammate James Mattis's Elite road race national championship today by winning the US Elite Criterium Championships in Downers Grove, IL. "The heat is not my best weather for racing. But my team-mates Patrick Briggs and Steve Reaney were just phenomenal on the last two laps." said Hanson. Teammate Andy Jacques-Maynes, who got in a early break with Adam Bergman-Texas Road House, failed when Bergman quit working with AJM. "Andy Jacques-Maynes did a great job staying out there and putting everyone on the defensive while we just kicked back and followed wheels." stated Hanson. "We wanted to make sure not to get caught out on the front early, take our time and get to the other side of the figure-eight before we went. Steven Reaney took me from there to the last corner and made it easy for me to pick my own line."

Elite Men's Road Race - Aug 10th
In the elite men’s race, another large field – this time consisting of 131 men – also made six circuits of the same course and also engaged in a string of attacks, counter-attacks, and chases. This time there was a sprint finish, and it was James Mattis (Mountain View, Calif./California Giant Berry Farms) who soloed across the line eight seconds ahead of breakaway companions Andy Jacques-Maynes (Capitola, Calif./California Giant Berry Farms) and Thurlow Rogers (Simi Valley, Calif./Amgen Giant Masters). During the fifth lap, at roughly 85 miles into the race, Mattis, Jacques-Maynes, and Rogers were all part of a large break that held a slim 12-second lead over the nearest chase group. Mattis and Rogers attacked the break, quickly gaining a gap, and Jacques-Maynes jumped across. Mattis said that when Andy joined them, he was ready to dig in. “We just kind of got out there for about a minute, and after that, just kind of stuck it,” he said. Both Mattis and Jacques-Maynes expressed great respect for 48-year-old 1984 Olympian, Rogers. “We were pretty smooth together because, you know, Rogers’s been doing this forever,” Mattis said. “He’s so crafty you can’t give him an inch because he’ll figure out how to win.” Jacques-Maynes concurred. “I knew he was going to be really strong. He’s really cagey, so he knew when to go and when to hold back, so he rode the race really smart,” he said. As the three neared the turn to the final climb to the finish, Mattis attacked. “Thurlow chased me down,” he said. “Then Andy went. Thurlow got him at the bottom, the corner of the final climb, and that’s where I went. And that was that.” Mattis stayed away, gaining eight seconds by the finish, while Jacques-Maynes outsprinted Rogers for the silver.