Thriller in men’s race highlights big night

WEST CHESTER » For the 13th straight year, downtown West Chester played host to a competitive cycling extravaganza. And even though the annual event has a new name, not much else changed for 2017.

Saturday evening’s Benchmark Twilight Cycling Classic drew a crowd well within the previous estimates of 15,000-20,000, and many urged the competitors on with what has become a race tradition: the ringing of cowbells. Iron Hill was the title sponsor through the first dozen years of the event.

“We want to piggy-back off of what Iron Hill started. We just wanted to make sure a long standing tradition in Chester County continued,” said Rebecca Worthington, Vice President of Marketing for Benchmark Credit Union.

“The transition has been ab-

solutely seamless,” added Mark Yoder, the president of the Greater West Chester Chamber of Commerce. “People know this is the big race and it is going to continue, and we just happen to have a new title sponsor.”

In the marquee race of the day — the 75-lap Iron Hill Pro Men’s Classic — North Carolinian Philip Short nipped two other riders to capture what he later said was the biggest victory of his career. In the undercard races, Marlies Mejias Garcia of Cuba prevailed on the last lap of the women’s event, and a local rider — buoyed by a bunch of family and friends — grabbed a runner-up finish in the amateur race.

“It’s a great course and it’s amazing with all of the people who came out,” said Short, who hails from Greensboro. “This is one of the best races we’ve been to this season.

“I’m really glad I came up here. It took us many hours to get here but it was well worth it.”

Racing for Nine Lives Carbon Repair, Short covered the four-turn, sixthtenths of a mile course in one hour, 43.31 seconds, to nip runner-up Matthew Salpietro and thirdplace finisher Winston David. The trio successfully broke away from the peloton with about a dozen laps to go, upped the gap to as much as 31 seconds, and finished well ahead of the pack.

“Luckily, at a good point of the race, we got some space,” Short explained. “It all worked out great.

“I wanted it so bad, you could probably see that.”

In all, the men’s pro event took an hour and 45 minutes to complete. And due to a furious pace, the 75-man field was pared down to 25 at the conclusion.

The Brumbaugh Wealth Management Pro Women’s Criterium was delayed following a crash on the fifth lap near the start-finish line involving several riders, but only one was knocked out of the race. On the 40th and final lap, Garcia made her move and beat all comers to the finish in 1:05.45.

Garcia, who grabbed a silver medal at the 2015 Pam American Games, topped runner-up Kyrstin Bluhm of Newburgh, Indiana, by six-tenths of a second. Former five-time winner in West Chester, Laura Van Gilder, finished in third place. Garcia, 24, is a member of the Weber Shimano Ladies Power team.

Matthew Randolph of Lancaster won the 35-lap Rothman Institute Amateur Men’s Criterium, just edging out Downingtown native Marcello Cesario by 5.7 seconds in a time of 34:43.4. The duo established a two-man a breakaway with about 10 laps to go, and even though Cesario led heading into the final lap, he was outsprinted to the line by Randolph, who is with Shirks Racing.

“I rolled up before the race and saw an old schoolmate of mine,” said Cesario, who races for CS Velo and attends the University of Arizona. “I also had about 10 people ask me (on social media) if I was going to race (Saturday), so I’m sure I’ll see them. Plus I have lots of family and friends here.”

Age 19, Cesario attended Downingtown Summer Academy and has been racing since he was 12. He previously competed several times in the junior race in West Chester, but the last time was back in 2014. He had to qualify for Saturday’s race earlier in the day at the trials at West Chester Rustin.

“I remember coming to this race as a kid,” he said. “Twilight races always make an impression, especially on a kid like me who loves to ride.

“When people ask me where I’m from, they may not know Downingtown. But when I tell them West Chester, they all know because of this race.”

For Benchmark, Saturday’s festivities were a culmination of seventh months of preparation. The only credit union that exclusively serves Chester County, Benchmark signed a five-year deal to be the title sponsor in December.

“It’s been non-stop with emails, meetings, events, and P.R., for over seven months,” Worthington said.

“There are a ton of people here. We have no complaints. We just love being the title sponsor. (Iron Hill) already ironed out the kinks, so it’s nice to come in when we did. They know how to run this, and it’s been so successful for 12 years.”

And even though the skies looked threatening for much of the evening, the only precipitation was a light drizzle during the women’s race.

“I keep hearing that people can’t believe how many people are here,” Yoder reported. “That tells me it’s bigger than it’s been the last few years. This date in early August is working in our favor as opposed to later when it’s nearer to when school starts.

“As some other cycling races in the region have folded, we are continuing to grow. We are very proud of that.”