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Cycling

Area riders dodge rain to win in Florida Series

DADE CITY -- At Sunday's Dade Battle Of Brilliance, some raced around the technical, 0.6-mile course during sudden rainstorms, leaving them as muddy as mountain bikers.

Riders in other categories said they felt relieved and lucky, as they sped through Dade City's historic district, racing as the pavement dried between unpredictable squalls.

Tampa's Mark Stein (Team American Classic) won the masters 40-plus event, which ran 30 minutes plus five laps, for his third victory of the Florida Series season for USA Cycling licensed racers. Palm Harbor's Bill Cosgray (Team Gearlink.Com), 36, won a close field sprint in the Category 5 race, after positioning himself in the leading pack.

"I'm very happy to have won the sprint, because I'm just a weekend hacker," Cosgray said. "I have learned from (former professional) Tony Prioli, and I ride with his Clearwater group when I can. I'm a contractor, so I don't have a lot of time to train. I was just determined to stay in the top few guys."

Cosgray nipped St. Petersburg's John Johnson (Revolution Bicycles) at the line in one of the closest races of the day.

St. Petersburg wheelchair athletes Scott McNeice (Team American Classic) and Michel Bond (Indigo Coffee Racing Team), racing around the wet course on handcrank cycles, were one-two in their 15-mile event.

Jacqueline Crowell, 15, of Orlando won the Category 4 women's race lasting 30 minutes plus five laps, and Stefano Barberi 18, of Boca Raton, who listed his credentials as "professional mountain bike racer," looked comfortable on skinny road tires in winning the one-hour Category 3 race.

"I was just trying to get my (team) Mapei guys in a break at first," Barberi said. "Then, I just felt good, so I decided to go for it."

Other area racers in the top three were John Weber (Team American Classic) of Tarpon Springs; Dave Stedje (Team BBC) of Lutz; Benton Mobley (Neptune Cyclery) of Tarpon Springs; Sherri Stedje (BBC) of Lutz and Carrie Fritz (BBC) of Palm Harbor.

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