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| Superweek - Racine Criterium |
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| By Daniel Carruthers |
| Date: 7/27/2009 |
| Superweek - Racine Criterium |
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Huff wins dramatic sprint at Racine
Jelly Belly’s Brad Huff won the dramatic sprint at the end of the 100km Racine.org Criterium held in Downtown Racine. Riccardo Van der Velde (Garmin Slipstream) and Ronnie Strange (Team Hotel San Jose) trailed him home; they were part of a six man group who lapped the field after breaking clear. Huff described how tired he felt having recently competed in Lake Front Road Race, also in Milwaukee, but continued: “Lucky for me I was able to hang on for dear life.”
From the gun, a blistering pace was set by the major teams and the average speed was a staggering 33mph for the first thirty minutes. This had a number of riders dropping out the rear of the peloton very early on and also caused a major split of 20 plus riders after several riders could not hold their own in the pace-line. A breakaway consisting of Jonathan Cantwell (Fly V Australia), Carlos Vargas (Team Hotel San Jose), Daniel Bowman (Kelly Benefit Strategies) and Brandon Gritters (Kahala La Grange) established themselves on the front and looked to have the race sewn up; time splits showed they were gaining seconds on the every lap. Somehow, a supreme effort by both Team MTN and Team Geargrinder brought them back in stunning fashion. The former worked hard to allow Jay Thompson, the APC Nutrition red jersey holder, the chance to take maximum points, which he duly did.
Three laps later, a counter-attack consisting of Dutchman Van Der Velde, Argentine Juan Pablo Dotti (Aero Cat Cycling) and four Americans – Huff, Strange, Michael Friedman (Garmin Chipotle) and Andrew Bajadali (Kelly Benefit Strategies) rode away from the field, creating the decisive move of the day. This strong group rolled away from the field and really fired on all cylinders to lap the field with 34 laps remaining.
In the peloton, it was Thomspon again, who had the unstoppable sprint over nearest rival, Rob White (Team Geargrinder) at the APC sprint. A lap later, another breakaway containing Bradley Potgieter (Team MTN), Jacob Erker (Kelly Benefit Strategies) and Carlos Calcerrada (Aero Cat Cycling) formed, attempting to join our six leaders. When Calcerrada dropped back, their job was made harder but with a dozen laps remaining, four riders, including Heathgrove (Team Hotel San Jose) and Cantwell attempted to bridge across to the duo up the road. The peloton did not allow this, and the four man group was reeled in. A counter-move was launched by Robert White (Team Geargrinder) and this was followed by Ryan Fruend (ABD Cycling) and Jorge Alvarado (Kahala La Grange). The three worked well together to bridge across the gap to Potgieter and Erker. This group of five riders established a good 45 second lead with Potgieter sprinting for the late race primes on offer.
It was a chaotic dash on the last lap with Garmin, Aero Cat Cycling, Kelly Benefit Strategies and Team Hotel San Jose all trying to set up lead-out trains for their breakaway team-mates. But it was Huff, who accelerated from 12th position coming out of the final corner, who took the victory. What is remarkable is that he did it without his Jelly Belly Team around him.
Regarding his experience in the break, Huff commented: “I was suffering badly in the break, especially when the Friedman and Van der Velde were killing it on the front. I got gapped off every time we went through the start finish, it was very painful. I actually yelled at Friedman several times for driving the pace so much that he was dropping me and gapping off other riders in the break.” He also revealed he had a huge amount of help from a “secret” team-mate in the form of Karl Menzies: “Menzies helped me to get into a better position in the final laps, without his help I would not have been able to make it up there. He was for sure one of the strong riders in the race, but he just missed the opportunity to get into the break. In the final lap it was quite sketchy and I had to quite patiently for the right opportunity to make my move.”
Texan Ronnie Strange achieved his best result in his cycling career so far with his third place. In describing how it un-folded for him, he said: “It was my turn to cover an attack when Van der Velde and Friedman both went up the road, so I was on their wheel. It was Friedman and Van der Velde who drove the break so hard and nearly dropped everyone, because of this I was initially unsure if the break would stick.” He continued: “I felt great in the break, I took the day before off, so my legs were well rested”. Re-hashing the final lap, “My team-mates Sullivan and Vargas tried to help me out and keep me at the front, but we kept getting swarmed, so it made things difficult. I found a gap and just made sure I was in the top three of the six that lapped the field” Strange also paid tribute to his Team Hotel San Jose, thanking them for their support: “Without them I would not have made that break if I didn’t learn to follow moves, so it has been a great learning curve for me”.
It was Robert White (Team Geargrinder) who outsprinted Potgieter to the line for 7th position, while Matthias Schmger (Gourmetfein) took a last lap flyer to finish ahead of the charging peloton for 12th place.
RESULTS - Racine Criterium
1 . 168 Brad Huff Jelly Belly Cycling Team Springfield, MO
2 . 40 RICARDO VAN DER VELDE GARMIN SLIPSTREAM PRO-TOUR Netherlands
3 . 20 Ronnie Strange Hotel San Jose/RGM Advisors Houston, TX
4 . 70 Juan Pablo Dotti AeroCat Cycling Team Argentina
5 . 42 Michael Friedman Garmin Chipotle Colorado Springs, CO
6 . 65 Andrew Bajadali Kelly Benefit Strategies Boulder, CO
7 . 51 Robert White Team Geargrinder Brown Deer, WI
8 . 8 Bradley Potgieter Team MTN
9 . 64 Jacob Erker Kelly Benefit Strategies Portland, OR
10 . 32 Jorge Alvarado Kahala La-Grange Mexico
11 . 157 Ryan Freund ABD Cycling Team Johnsburg, IL
12 . 17 Matthias Schroger Gourmetfein
13 . 1 Jonathan Cantwell Fly V/Australia Australia
14 . 6 Jay Thomson Team MTN
15 . 2 Bernard Sulzberger Fly V Australia Australia
16 . 41 HANS DEKKERS GARMIN SLIPSTREAM PRO-TOUR Netherlands
17 . 52 James Stemper Team Geargrinder Wauwatosa, WI
18 . 147 JONATHAN ATKINS TEAM LATINO PEACHTREE CITY, GA
19 . 143 Michael van Eerd Team YRC Now MS
20 . 315 Chad Cagle Mercy Cycling Team Tulsa, OK
21 . 23 Carlos Vargas Hotel San Jose/RGM Advisors Austin, TX
22 . 26 CHUN-KAI FENG TEAM EXUSTAR TAIWAN Taiwan
23 . 15 Andreas Muller No Radunion
24 . 198 DEREK DIXON HDR P/B LOMBARDIS SPORTS SALT LAKE CITY, UT
25 . 142 John Bergmann TEAM CLIF BAR Cycling Albany, CA
26 . 73 Emile Abraham AeroCat Cycling Team Trinidad & Tobago
27 . 94 Jason Allen Subway-Avanti New Zealand
28 . 72 Carlos Calcerrada AeroCat Cycling Team Uruguay
29 . 50 Chad Hartley Team Geargrinder Milwaukee, WI
30 . 63 Neil Shirley Kelly Benefit Strategies La Mesa, CA
31 . 107 JOSHUA CARTER ABD CYCLING TEAM FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, IL
32 . 297 Dan Lionberg Team Rio Grande Fort Collins, CO
33 . 25 WEI-CHENG LEE TEAM EXUSTAR TAIWAN Taiwan
34 . 284 Stephen Kincaid Empire Gilbertsville, PA
35 . 210 Culyar Conly Team Seaskatchewan
36 . 18 Andreas Graf Gourmetfein
37 . 229 Alex Wieseler Nova Cycle Sports Foundation Inc. Oconomowoc, WI
38 . 117 MIKE TETTLETON TEAM BEARCLAW LA VERNE, CA
39 . 34 Brandon Gritters Kahala La-Grange Mission Viejo, CA
40 . 256 Chris Winn Mob Cyclery Racing / RMCEF Lakewood, CO
41 . 253 Steve Scholzen Nova Cycle Sports Foundation Inc. Madison, WI
42 . 27 Christopher Wherry Hotel San Jose/RGM Advisors Durango, CO
43 . 61 Daniel Bowman Kelly Benefit Strategies Durango, CO
44 . 175 Sean Sullivan Hotel San Jose/RGM Advisors Santa Cruz, CA
45 . 183 Derek Laan Panther/RGF Cycling p/b Felt Bicycles West Lafayette, IN
46 . 99 Karl Menzies Team Ouch Presented by Maxxis Grand Rapids, MI
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