Fusion Sport sent a solid team of riders to the hotly contested Burlingame Crit on Sunday but it was Dana Williams who had his “A” game on as he contended in both Masters 1-2-3 and Pro 1-2 races.  The masters race saw Williams riding effortlessly near the front the entire race before unleashing his blazing speed in what looked to spectators like a convincing win as the last rider in front of him was seemingly going backwards.  However, the finish line camera would show he had simply run out of real estate.  In the Pro 1-2 it was looking good for an encore performance until a hard luck crash took him out with 3 laps to go.

Bad luck also struck earlier in the Cat 3′s as up and coming star of Fusion, Mike Mulvihill, future MD, suffered a broken clavicle in a nasty final lap crash.   We wish him well in a full and speedy recovery.

Former Fusion rider Keven Bricknell (Mike’s Bikes) took 4th in the Cat 3′s topping his former teammates but showed some class and love as a Fusion sponsor by hanging out and sharing his spoils at the Fusion team tent!

It was a successful day at the Ronde van Brisbeen for Fusion taking two wins and a second.

Racing his first crit since his days as a junior, Mat Gordon set the tone by winning the first race of the day in the Cat 5′s.  Aussie teammate Tyron Hooper carried that momentum into the E3′s with a powerful sprint victory (above photo – also see Tom Dillon’s video).  Mike Mulvihill capped the day off with a hard fought 2nd after a  solo artist slipped away in the 4′s to steal the top prize.

[Photo credit: Thanks to David Cheung for risking life and limb to capture the above shot!  Visit his blog for more photos.]

“Helping members reach new heights in their careers, both athletically and professionally, has always been an objective of ours,” said Steve Woo, Fusion Sport Co-Founder.  ”Launching two riders into the pro ranks is something we’re quite proud of.  We will obviously miss them, but we’ll always consider them a part of the Fusion Sport family.”

Fusion Sport wishes the best for Tanja and Hendrik!  Do us proud!

Notable Performances:

2nd – Dana Williams – Burlingame Criterium – Masters 35+ 1/2/3

2nd – Chris Crichton – Central Coast Circuit – Elite 5 (2nd race!)

4th – Amber Herrera – Central Coast Circuit – Women’s 4 (1st Race!)

3rd – Dana Williams – Pittsburg Criterium – Masters 1/2/3

1st – Dana Williams – Menlo Park Grand Prix – Masters 1/2/3

1st – Mike Mulvihill – Copperopolis Road Race – Elite 3

2nd – Dana Williams – Sea Otter Classic Criterium – Master 1/2/3

3rd – Dana Williams – Apple Pie Criterium – Elite 2

1st – MikeMulvihill - Merco Cycling Classic Downtown Criterium – Elite 4

1st – Greg Rodrigues - Merco Cycling Classic Foothills Road Race – Masters 4

2nd  - Mike Mulvihill –  Merco Cycling Classic Foothills Road Race – Elite 4

3rd – Mat Gordon - Merco Cycling Classic Foothills Road Race – Elite 5

4th – Tyron Hooper – Snelling Road Race – Elite 3

3rd – Nate Shaw - Bicycles Plus Folsom Early Bird Criterium – Masters 3/4

2nd – Mike Mulvihill – Ronde van Brisbeen – Elite 4

1st – Tyron Hooper – Ronde van Brisbeen – Elite 3

1st – Mat Gordon – Ronde van Brisbeen – Elite 5

2nd – Greg Rodrigues – Central Coast Circuit #2 – Masters 4/5

3rd – Mike Mulvihill - Fremont Early Bird Criterium – Elite 4

1st – Greg Rodrigues – Central Coast Circuit #1 – Masters 4/5 (1st race!)

Nice Presentation!

We all know her as a pediatric doctor, volunteering her time to travel the far reaches of the world to help children (“Heidi Goes To Peru” coming soon?).  And of course her accomplishments on the bike and mentoring our nascent women’s team.  But now Top Chef?  We’ve heard the rumors and now Velocurean has the story on Fusion Sport’s own Heidi Witherell to confirm it!   Check out their site and their story “In The Kitchen With – Heidi Witherell” and her Pan Seared Halibut with Asian Herb and Vegetable Recipe!

Photos credits: Kevin Eisele (top), Sherry Heck (right)

Meanwhile, in the Masters 35+ 4/5′s James Whitney had strong performances in his first weekend of racing back after taking a paternity leave of absence from the sport.  After a respectable 23rd in the crit, he turned it on in the circuit to get 5th.   Sure doesn’t take long for him to get back into shape.