The DLP Racing team raced the Cookeville Criterium on Sunday in Tennessee. The team went into the race highly motivated because the winner of the Cookesville race also earns the right to be crowned 2008 Tennessee Criterium Champion. The racing started out with a series of attacks. Soon a small group of 6 riders separated themselves from the field. The group contained Spencer Beamer, Thad Dulin, and Boyd Johnson from DLP racing. Also in the group were Brent Bookwalter (BMC), Eric Murphy, and Dirk Pohlmann. With three riders in the move, DLP Racing quickly took the initiative to drive the pace and build the gap. In the closing laps Thad Dulin took control of the race and kept the pace high to discourage any attacks. Shortly before the finish Brent Bookwalter attacked but Spencer was right on his wheel and easily came around for the win. Since Spencer is a Tennessee native he earned the title of Tenesseee Criterium Champion. This is the second state championship for DLP Racing as Boyd Johnson also won the South Carolina criterium championship in April.

Charlie Pendry took an impressive win at the 1^st ever NC Blueberry Fesitval Criterium. The race took place in downtown Burgaw, NC on Friday Night. The race drew a strong regional field of racers including some local NC standout riders. DLP had three riders in the race Chris Judy, Matthew Howe, and Charlie Pendry The racers were greeted with pouring rain that somehow cleared out right as the riders took to the starting line. From the gun a series of attacks were launched that were all immediately covered, yet somehow on only the third lap, Charlie Pendry covered a move from Jeremy Conn and the two riders immediately had a gap. Riders in the field just looked at each other as the pair rode off. Within a matter of moments the two had a 15 second gap on the field and quickly began working together. Many riders tried to bridge across from the field but Matt and Chris covered every single move. As the race went through the half way point the duo of Pendry and Conn had a 40 second lead on the field. The two worked well along the wet 7/10 of a mile circuit. As the lap board started counting down a few of the stronger riders including Inferno’s Rich Harper and Mercy Cycling’s David Leduc upped the pace to try to bring the pair of riders back. In the end the two stayed away and Charlie found himself taking the final corner in the perfect spot at second wheel. Charlie was able to maintain his speed through the final corner and came around Jeremy Conn for the win.

DLP racing won two stages at the second annual Edgar Soto Memorial Stage Race. The race took place in Nashville, TN and drew an excellent field with a $19,000 pro mens purse. The race drew all of the top teams from the southeast including riders from Toshiba, Jittery Joes, and DLP Racing. Spencer Beamer won the opening prolouge with a blistering time of 1:12 over the course that was slightly over 1 kilometer. Later that evening Tommy Nankervis continued the winning streak by winning the sprint competition and taking home 1^st place in the finals. On Saturday the guys lined up for a $10,000 twilight criterium. Spencer got away early in the race with Bobby Sweeting (Toshiba) and another rider. The three stayed out for almost the entire race. While out on course Spencer grabbed the majority of the sprint points that were available every 5^th lap. Unfortunately the trio of riders were brought back in the closing laps of the race. In the sprint finish Tommy Nakervis placed 7^th in the sprint finish. On Sunday’s Criterium Spencer again went out on the attack and took more sprint points. In the end Spencer won the Points Jersey for the weekend and the team ended up with two stages.

The DLP team sent a full squad to the Bike Jam NRC race last week. The 10^th 10th Annual BikeJam Cycling Festival was held in downtown Baltimore in beautiful Patterson park. The riders were greated with a strong field with racers from Slipstream, Toyota United, Jelly Belly, Rite Aid, Time, Colivita, Bissell, Team Type 1 and of course the home team, Kelly Benefits Strategies. One hundred and thirty riders started the Baltimore Bike Jam/Kelly Cup ready to take on forty laps of a one-mile circuit at full speed. Several attacks lead to breakaways that shuffled and re shuffled over the courses undulating terrain and strong winds. With fifteen laps to go, Johnny Sundt (Kelly Benefit Strategies), Scott Jackson (DLP Racing) and Kyle Wamsley initiated the beginning of what turned into the winning break. Five additional riders soon joined the pair that included Veilleux, Rollin and Fuentes along with Luis Amaran (Colavita/Sutter Home) and Armando Borrajo (Ciudad de Chivilcoy). Team TIME organized a strong chase from the peloton and were later joined by Team’s Type 1 and Bissell all of whom were not represented in the front separation. However, even the collaboration of the three partial teams was not enough to gain back the time lost to the escapees. The group rode well together and ended up staying away. Unfortunately for DLP racing an attack in the closing laps by Rollin (Toyota United) split the break from 8 riders down to four. Scott Jackson rode well but ended up on the wrong side of the split. Altogether the team rode great even though we just missed out on the final podium.

On Sunday DLP Racing contested the Crystal City Cycling Classic presented by the US Air Force (UCI 1.2). The race was the third stop of the US Pro Tour of Cycling. The team sent a strong group of 7 riders to the event held in Arlington, VA. The race started at the new Air Force Memorial and continued past the Pentagon to the finishing area in Crystal City. The riders were faced with 13 laps of the grueling course for a total distance of just over 150 kilometers. The racing started off extremely fast and never slowed down for the entire race. The race was extremely active all day as riders attempted to get in the right breakaway. However it was not a day for a break. The only significant breakaway of the entire race contained 8 riders (including Spencer Beamer of DLP Racing) never established more than a 30 second advantage more »

The team won the Low Country Volkswagen Criterium over the weekend in Charleston, SC. DLP sent a small group of 6 riders down to the race. Present were Torsten Wambold, Thad Dulin, Andrew Olson, Boyd Johnson, Joey Coddington and Chris Judy. The race was a 75 minute Criterium on a flat course in Hampton Park at the Citadel. The racers were greeted with perfect 75 degree sunny weather. The team was really motivated as the race would be a great tune up for the always popular late spring criteriums. The race saw many attacks but none gained much time on the field. DLP was very active with riders in every single move. With 20 minutes of racing left a large move finally rolled away with 12 riders in it. DLP had riders Torsten Wambold and Boyd Johnson in the move. The move was hovering just 15 seconds ahead of the field until attacks started coming with 3 laps to go. more »

Matt Howe won the Tidewater Cycling Classic in Williamsburg, VA over the weekend. The 72 mile road race is a long running road race with a deep history of strong racing. The weather was typical of many early season races with the temp hovering around 52 degrees with rain.  The race was active from the start with many of the stronger local teams trying to get riders into an early break. The lone break of the day was brought back inside of 4 miles to the finish. DLP teammate Charles Pendry immediately went to the front of the field to crank up the pace to keep the race controlled. The quick pace kept any last minute attacks from developing in the closing miles of the race. Charlie Pendry dug deep and dropped matt of 200 meters from the finish with a clean view of the line. Matt easily took the uphill sprint to snag his first win of the season. Charlie was even able to hold out for 3rd place giving the team two of the three podium spots for the day.

Boyd Johnson placed fourth in Sunday’s Food Lion City Park Criterium. The race started out fast from the gun. The course was just under one mile and featured a 350 meter hill that the racers had to climb each lap. Ted King (Bissell), Robbie King (Rite Aid), Richard England (Bissell), Boyd Johnson (DLP Racing), Mark Heckman (Toshiba) and Paul Martin (Texas Road House) all made no hesitation in establishing the decisive move only 15 minutes into the one hour race.  With some of the strongest riders in the move panic set in amongst the peloton. TIME Pro Cycling had managed to miss this key move and they had 12 riders in the race.  About 4 laps after the move got away the TIME team managed to send Daniel Ramsey and Adam Myerson across to the break.  The group worked well together and eventually got a 40 second gap on the main field. In the closing laps the attacks came with fury. Both Boyd and Ted King tried their hand at attacking but it was the duo of Richard England and Daniel Ramsey that snuck away from their break away companions. With ½ of a lap left to go, Daniel Ramsey made the race winning attack to finish 4.5 seconds ahead of the break. Boyd Johnson placed 4th getting outsprinted by Adam Myerson for the last podium spot.

Thad Dulin rode to an immpresive solo victory on Sunday afternoon following his Saturday win in the Fork Shoals Road Race. The weather was warm and it brought a great quality field to the line for the second day of racing in the weekend. The Donaldson Center course is relatively flat and generally lends itself to some high speed racing. Everything stayed together for the first six laps of the race. However, heading into the tough crosswind section on the 7th lap, a group formed with some of the strongest riders and teams in the race: Thad Dulin (DLP), Ted King (Bissell), Adam Myerson (TIME), Vaillancourt (Toshiba), and Mewitt (Hincapie). This group hit the gas quickly and started to speed away even with the pace still hot in the field behind. In the final laps the attacks started to come from within the group. Everyone was attentive and nobody (except Myerson) wanted the group to come to the line together. With 4 miles left in the race Thad put in one final dig down the right side of the road. Thad made his move in the cross wind section of the course. He immediately had a gap and put his head down. Ted King from Bissell took off in hot pursuit, However Thad’s timing turned out to be perfect as he had just enough left in the tank to hold onto his gap till the line. Ted King came across the line in second place for the day. Photo Credit: Mike Wilson - Whirlwind Photography

Thad Dulin won the fork shoals road race on Saturday. The fork shoals race features a rolling course located just outside Greenville, SC. The riders were greeted with some great spring weather for the event. DLP Racing had Torsten Wambold, Thad Dulin and Boyd Johnson present at the event. From the gun Boyd Johnson found himself in the early break that looked as if it might go the distance. Boyd felt confident in his ability to win from the break and helped contribute to the pace making. Unforunately there were some teams that missed the move and it was not to be. Back in the group the pace was kept high by George Hincapie (High Road) and the TIME pro team. The break got caught almost insight of the line with only 5k to go in the race. With the group back together it looked as if it was going to come down to a field sprint. George Hincapie took over the lead out just inside 1000 meters to the finish. His sharp acceleration up the final hill opened up a gap in the field. Only Thad and Ted King (Bissell) were able to follow the acceleration. Thad came around for the win with Ted King just behind for second place. Thad is obviously coming into some good form as this is his second win of the 2008 season. Photo Credit: Mike Wilson - Whirlwind Photography

On Sunday Spencer Beamer of DLP Racing took 2nd in the BMW Performance Center Criterium. The BMW Crit takes place on the road track where they teach high performance driving classes as well as test new BMW Autos. Present from the team were Thad Dulin, Scott Jackson, Spencer Beamer and Boyd Johnson. The team was active in the race all day long with every rider represented in the days various key moves. Although many riders tried to get away none were able to. Even the best moves on paper only got a few seconds advantage on the hard charging field. With a few laps to go it was clear that the outcome of the race would be decided via a field sprint. With 1 lap to go Boyd Johnson took over responsibility at the front of the race with Thad Dulin and Spencer Beamer on his wheels. Boyd cranked the pace up for the entire last lap until Thad took over with 400m to go. With 200m to go, Spencer turned on the gas. At the same time Andy Baker (from the TIME Team) squeezed in on the inside to edge out Spencer for the win at the line. Congrats to Andy on a great move and his 1st Pro win! Photo Credit: Mike Wilson - Whirlwind Photography

For many riders, the season has officially started with the arrival of the long running Greenville Spring Training Series. Riders and teams from all over the country flock to Greenville, SC for one of the first race weekends on the east coast. This year was no exception with over 100 elite riders registered for Saturday’s race. The race started out fast and Boyd Johnson from DLP Racing made an attack in the first 3 miles of the race that established an early 4 man break away. As the race went on the gap for the 4 riders continued to grow and eventaully topped out at around 90 seconds ahead of the main field. All the riders in the break worked well together in attempt to keep the maximum advantage over the main field. However, with 8 miles left in the race Phil Gaimon (Fior di Frutta Team) attacked the four man break. Phil was clearly the strongest rider of the day as he rode off towards the finish line. Boyd gave it everything he had but was unable to catch Gaimon. Boyd did finish in second place and got some great training time logged in the process. Photo Credit: Mike Wilson - Whirlwind Photography

DLP Racing wrapped up its first spring training camp by testing out the legs at the 10th annual NC State Criterium. The course is a short 1k circuit that features a short climb and a quick double chicane on the back side of the course. The guys started out the day with an easy spin before the race to get the legs moving after logging a few hundred miles in the previous few days training. With this being the first race of the season for most of the field attacks came almost immediately. Within about 8 laps a small group of 8 had established about a 20 second lead on the field. That group contained both Thad Dulin and Spencer Beamer from DLP Racing. Within a few laps the group had almost a 1/2 lap on the field. Thad attacked the break on the front side of the course and set off to lap the field. more »

For 2008 DLP Racing will again be using Jack Kane Custom Built Racing Bicycles. The 2008 team bikes feature a striking new paint scheme along with parts from the best companies in the cycling industry. The riders will have two diffrent frames at their disposal for the 2008 season. The K Team Racing SL is the lightest of the bikes with a frame weight of 900grams. Other riders will choose to race on the Full Carbon Nightawk frame. All bikes for 2008 are outfitted with the Reynolds UL Forks, Reynolds Carbon wheels, Speedplay Pedals, Cane Creek IS 110 Headsets, Cane Creek SL Brakes, Fizik Saddles, Speedplay Zero Series Pedals, Thomson Masterpiece Seatposts, Thomson X2 Stems, Bontrager Handle Bars, Bontrager Cages, and SRAM Drivetrains. All bikes also feature the brand new iBike power Meter. More photos after the break. more »

Travis Pape from iBike visited the DLP Racing Spring Training Camp on Friday and Saturday. Travis has a PhD in Physics from Duke University and is one of the key people responsible for the development of the iBike power meter. During his time at camp the team members got a formal presentation about the features and functionality of the computer. On Saturday Travis helped the team calibrate the unit out on the road and answered specific questions from the riders about setup and use of the device. We are very excited about having iBike on board as a sponsor for the 2008 season. Soon you will be able to see power and training files from every one of the DLP riders posted here on this website. Stay tuned for more info…..

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