March
1st & 2nd – Georgia Cup Series – Albany Recap
The inaugural race of the 2008 season was a great one. Fast
races and beautiful weather punctuated by a rash of crashes made for an exciting spectacle. Below
are just a few of the highlights. Check out more pictures by clicking here.
Teammate of the week. Evan was injured
and knew he probably wouldn't race but drove the 3 1/2 hours down with his dad anyway to cheer his teammates on. On Sunday,
he and his dad took the tent to the road race early so it would be set up and ready to go when the rest of the team arrived.
Quick thinking mechanic. Kyle, his mechanic's
mind in full motion, recognized by glancing at a drive train that our newest rider Alex did not have Junior gearing.
A quick adjustment just before his TT start averted a DQ. Alex went on to place high in the Competitive 4/5 TT and Crit. He
was within a minute of the GC coming into the road race but a crash 2k from the finish dashed his hopes of a top finish. But
the fact that he was sitting about 15th in the group at the time shows he's going to be a force in the Competitive field to
be reckoned with.
Quick TT. Nick had a blistering
TT good enough for 10th place in the Elite group. He was able to negotiate the very technical course and keep his speed up
there as well... very hard to do on that course.
Performance of the week A. Cameron.
All of the Elite riders were at edge of the course, screaming at the top of their lungs as Cameron accelerated and then dropped
a small group of riders in the Competitive Crit. Three of the "much larger" adults, gasping for air, could only watch as Cameron
rode away from them. On Sunday, although caught up in a crash 2k from the finish, Cameron still managed to finish with the
main group which averaged 25.7 mph!
Performance of the week B. Dylan. What
a difference a year makes. Last year at this time, Dylan struggled to keep up in the Cat 5 races. This weekend he was a factor
in the Competitive Cat 4/5 RR. If he hadn't gone down in a crash in the last 2k he would have had a top 10 placing.
Performance of the week C. Kyle and Will.
After Nick's high placing in the TT, Kyle and Will worked for him the entire crit. Although things didn't quite
work out because of the breakaway that stayed away, these two guys laid it on the line trying to position Nick. That kind
of riding does not go unnoticed.
Crash Zone. Sean (crit), Alex, Cameron and
Dylan (RR). Sean got the worst of it. After sitting in the front of the Crit for the first half of the race, he
was taken down hard in the chicane section of the Competitive crit. A trip to the medical tent revealed road rash on his ankle,
knee, hip, shoulder and back! His hip was bruised pretty badly which kept him out of the RR on Sunday. Miraculously he only
scraped a shifter on his bike. But he's fine and already looking forward to Gainesville.
Fast Crit, Tough Course. The Elite crit
was fast and there was no reeling the breakaway back in. Everyone finished safely in the pack except Brian who crashed with
3 to go. The bad timing meant he wasn't eligible for a free lap.
Blocking and blocking and blocking. After a break got away early in the Elite RR, the Cannondale team just got shoulder
to shoulder and hogged the entire lane. Guess you could call that "tactics" but slowing to a relative crawl made for a frustrating
race for Will, Nick, Kyle and Brian. Brian made the best of it by taking 2nd in the field sprint but by that time the 12 riders
in the breakaway had crossed the line.
