Lemond vs. Cannondale

BrewIU

Hi, I'm new to road biking and I have only been riding for a year now and for the past year I've been riding and training for the Little 500 bike race for my fraternity at Indiana University. I have been riding a trek 1000 for the past year and it belongs to my fraternity, our bike team has 3 trek 1000 for rookies to train on, and I feel its time for me to buy my own bike. Although the Little 500 race is 200 laps around a 1/4 mile track and we only use a single gear racing bike, we do a lot of our training on road bikes in the post-season of the race. I have been looking at the Lemond Alpe D' Huez for the past year, but a couple guys on my team ride cannondales (I don't know which type). Price is a factor, so I have been trying to compare the Lemond Alpe D' Huez vs. Cannondale Synapse Alloy 2. I've found both bikes are carbon/aluminum, share pretty much the same shimano components, and are both around $1400-$1500 in retail bike shops. If anyone could give me any advice or personal experience with either of these bikes, or if the name on the bike really matters, I would apperciate it. Thanks!