Nearly three minutes ahead of a confusion-laden finale, and after some 160 kilometers in the breakaway, Will Frischkorn (Slipstream-Chipotle) soloed to victory in the Univest Grand Prix in Souderton, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.

Frischkorn launched a perfect counter following teammate Tim Duggan’s probing attack with eight laps of the race’s 5-kilometer finishing circuit remaining. Duggan and Frischkorn accounted for half of a four-man break that entered the finishing loops together following a challenging 109-kilometer loop through the Montgomery County countryside. Together with Columbian John Freddy Parra (Alderfer Auction-Mexico-Tecos) and 21-year-old American Robbie Gaimon (CRCA-Sakonnet), the pair were the sole survivors of the early break – a 12-man move that went clear just minutes into the 172 kilometer race.

Duggan’s initial attack put Gaimon on the rivet, and while Parra was able to pull the group back together on that occasion, Frischkorn’s subsequent attack proved to be the groups undoing. Gaimon fell back, and Parra was unable to regain Frischkorn. The Boulder-based 26-year-old stretched his lead to a maximum of 3:19, surrendering only a handful of those seconds while savoring his trip to the line.

Short-Circuit
While Frischkorn’s win was clear cut, the action behind was a bit hazier. All eyes were on Duggan and Parra, who seemed set to duel for the second and third steps on the podium. Duggan appeared to have the advantage, as Parra shouldered much of the work before realizing that regaining Frischkorn was a lost cause. The Jumbotron at the finish line showed Duggan trying to rid himself of Parra several times in the closing laps, and the gritty Colombian fighting his way back and besting Duggan at the line.

But what the TV motos and helicopters missed was a surprising ride by Ryan Roth (Kelly Benefit Strategies) and Mark Walters (Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada). In the confusion caused by fractured groups of lapped riders and errant team cars on the circuit, the pair had managed to gain back a lap – and then some – on Parra and Duggan. Roth rode away from Walters on the circuit’s steep backside hill, and slipped into the gap between Frischkorn and Parra/ Duggan.

When Roth passed Parra and Duggan, officials signaled that the groups were not to work together – leading Parra and Duggan to believe that Roth remained a lap down. Thus, Roth crossed the line to little fanfare, but with a strong second place to his name. Walters crossed the line in fifth.

Slamming the Door Early
For Frischkorn, the win capped a long day in front of the peloton. Together with Duggan, Parra, and Gaimon, he was part of the early headbanger break that went away with just 10 kilometers on the odometer.

Joining the foursome were Christian Lademann (Canon Capital-Germany), John Minturn (Meredith Group-GPOA), Alex Hagman (AEG-Toshiba-JetNetwork), Kyle Wamsley (Navigators), Stefano Barberi (Toyota-United), Todd Yezefski (Nerac), Pete Lopinto (Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada), and Jonny Sundt (Kelly Benefits Strategies), who would go on to take the sprint competition. Behind, the teams seemed satisfied with the break’s composition, and the group cooperatively forged a nine-minute lead on the field.

Three sprint points and two short-but-steep KOM climbs on the long loop trimmed the group rider-by-rider, until the Slipstream duo turned the screws on the final, 4 percent climb of hill road, finally getting rid of Wamsley, Sundt, Lademann, and Barberi and culling the lead group to the final four. As the leaders entered the finishing circuits in downtown Souderon, the recently dropped mingled with fragments of a chase group that had hovered some six minutes behind the break and a few late escapees from the peloton.

Although they didn’t know it yet, those late attackers were the last riders to escape a sinking ship, as officials pulled the field at the entrance to the finishing circuits amid fears that confusion would reign if the peloton, now more than 10 minutes behind, were to enter the finishing circuit a lap down.

The decision would prove to be the correct one, as the 17 riders that made it to the circuit to contest the finish caused enough confusion on their own.

Univest Grand Prix
Souderton, PA. September 8
1. Will Frischkorn, Slipstream-Chipotle, 172 kilometers in 4:18:56
2. Ryan Roth (Can), Kelly Benefit Strategies, at 2:45
3. John Fredy Parra, Alderfer Auction-Mexico-Tecos, at 3:26
4. Tim Duggan, Slipstream-Chipotle, at 3:27
5. Mark Walters, Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada, at 3:28
6. Devis Miorin, Doylestown Hospital-Italy, at 3:29
7. Phil Gaimon, CRCA-Sakonnet Technology, at 3:59
8. Bernardo Colex, Alderfer Auction-Mexico-Tecos, at 9:37
9. Scottie Weiss, AEG-Toshiba-JetNetwork, at 11:22
10. Bernard Van Ulden, Navigators, at 13:28