A pair of riders from New Hampshire make charges down the stretch take the top spots.

YARMOUTH — In the final stretch of a tight race, Ben Zawacki saw the opening and took charge. Surrounded by a group of riders from Maine in the last lap of the 27th Yarmouth Clam Festival Bike Race, the Weare, N.H., resident made the most of the final quarter-mile of the 36-mile race. Isaac Howe, Zawacki's teammate on the Revolution Cycles Under-23 Development squad, set the pace for Zawacki as the breakaway pack approached the finish line. Zawacki then took advantage of an opening on the final turn of a technical course with gradual hills to win the 10-lap, 52-rider men's race in a time of 1 hour, 24 minutes, 6.2 seconds. "I could kind of sit and relax while (Isaac) did all the work for me," Zawacki said, laughing. Finishing just behind Zawacki were Sam Silver (1:24:07), Breez Keller (1:24:07.1), Mike Barton (1:24:07.2) and Brendan Cornett (1:24:07.3). Keller and Cornett were the top finishers from Maine. "I got kind of lucky," said Zawacki, who competed in his first Clam Festival race. "I was with Mike Barton and was moving up on the side. ... Then I spotted him, and then I gave it all I had. And it worked out. "At the bottom of the hill (before the finish line) I attacked it coming around the corner, put my head down and went all out." Fred Thomas led the race in the eighth and ninth laps, and two other Maine riders took the lead on the final lap before Zawacki emerged just before the finish line. "Knowing there were 50 very motivated and aggressive riders behind us kind of made us dig deep," said Thomas, a Cape Elizabeth resident who rode for Portland Velo Club. "But it's hard to hold off that many people, no matter how strong you are and how much time you have on them. All you can do is take the glory you can get and be happy with it." In the women's race, Samantha Newman of Raymond, N.H., led the fourth and fifth laps at the sprint line but had to outsprint three other riders at the finish line. Newman pushed herself to the front of the 31-woman field, and the NorEast Cycling rider completed the six-lap, 21.6-mile course in 58:27.7, one-tenth of a second ahead of Debony Diehl of Sunapee (N.H.)/S&W. Newman led a four-person breakaway pack in which the top four finishers were separated by two-tenths of a second. "It was just about being in the right position at the right time," Newman said. "I knew that Rebecca Wellons from NEBC was going to be, probably, of anyone, was going to be the leadout person. My plan was just to try to get to the front of her and to make sure I was in front of her and to get a good position." Teammate Melody Chase aided Newman in her pursuit of the finish line, spotting cyclists in order to find an opening in tight racing quarters. "The plan was just to try to keep close to the front and watch for the women that were going to try to push to the front," Newman said. "We had to mark them and make sure we followed them closely." Staff Writer Rachel Lenzi can be reached at 791-6415 or at: rlenzi@pressherald.com

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