Race Report: Sanofi Adventis Crit

Roan Crit (Johnson City TN) race report -by Jacob McGahey

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Chris Larsen, Chris Emory, Andrew, and I all headed over to do the Johnson city pro 1,2 crit on Sunday. While both Chris's had solid rides in the RR and TT the day before, with the omnium only paying three deep we determined our goal for the day was to take a shot at the win and not worry about protecting omnium placings. I got one lap in preriding the course before the Cat 3 race, which preceded ours. That was enough to know that this was going to be a hard and technical race and staying at the front was going to be paramount to getting a good result. The course took the form of a giant U outline with three wide outer streets and three inner streets in the down town district that were probably fifteen feet wide at most and had brick pavers in the middle of each corner.

With the course being so technical we all assumed that there would very likely be an early break that got away, and decided we would do everything we could to stay at the front and cover every moves. To that end, Chris L. and I made it a point to line up on the front row eschewing some extra laps. The race didn't disappoint our expectations as the attacks pretty much started from the gun and never let up. Between Chris E., Chris L. and myself, we covered pretty much every move that went up the road and launched regular attacks of our own. Each time I came back from a move and a counter went I would see a blue I-9 jersey come flying by in full cry. With Myogenisis holding the two top spots in the Omnium, we assumed they would be complicit in letting us roll up the road to protect the omnium, and we would have a good shot at making something stick. However, while this seemed to be largely the case, a motivated Hincapie contingent with a bunch of riders in the field, was intent on not letting anything go up the road that didn't have John Delong in it, who was third in the omnium going into the race. They also had some apparent collaboration from the Hincapie development bunch who were chasing us all day as well. So while our constant attacks netted both Chris's and myself a prime appiece and a bunch of exposure, we couldn't come up with a mix that had the legs, the willingness, or the complicity from the field to make it stick.

With five or six laps to go Chris Larsen went after a prime and looked back to see a such a big gap he figured even though he was pretty cooked he'd just keep going. He stayed away until less than three to go, giving Chris and I an armchair ride in the top ten. Once he was caught He stayed on the front to keep the speed up for the sprint. I felt the best I have all year and I felt pretty good about my chances in the sprint. As we entered the last lap I found myself about where I wanted to be sitting fourth wheel. After burying himself for most of the last six laps, I'd hoped that someone from one of the other teams would take over the lead out from Chris the last lap especially with the GC still up for grabs, but no such luck. As we came out of the "alleyway" section of the course I sensed the speed wasn't quite high enough, but before I could react Jon Delong came shooting up the right side from six guys back or so with two guys on his wheel. I punched it and shot after them trying to close the gap. Unfortunately with two turns and two very short straights to go it was already to late. With 500 meters left in the race I saw my chances slipping away even as my rear tire attempted the same as I stood up out of the second to last corner. I finally hit the back wheel of the third rider with 75 meters to go but it was too late to even come around him for third, so I had to settle for fourth on the day. Chris Emory notched in a couple places behind me in sixth. Chris L. rolled in after his monumental efforts and Andrew stuck it out valiantly to finish what was a hard and very technical race that he admitted didn't suit his riding style.

Overall this was one of the strongest races we have had has as a team this year. And while I was admittedly disappointed to let a great shot at a win slip through our fingers, this was one of those races that made me feel lucky to be racing a bike. Thanks goes out to my great teammates and to all of our sponsors:

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