Tuesday Night Worlds - Another 2nd Place

Tuesday Night Worlds Crit race - 5/27/14

I was a man with a plan this week. I had it in my mind that I was going to try a break this week. Breaks have never been given any freedom in the C race. Sounds like a challenge to me! This is really just training for me, so why not try. It was a little windier than I would have liked which gives the chase pack a little more of an advantage. This just made me decide to make sure to wait a little longer before making my move. There were some early opportunities, but I managed to stay patient.

There was a "new" official for the race and he didn't wait long before switching to 3 laps to go. Time to make a move. Up the hill on the back side of the loop, I put in my surge to try to catch the riders in front of me off guard. Coming over the top of the hill, I took a quick glance to see what the progress was. I had made a decent gap, but one rider had stayed with me. I wasn't going to put out my full effort just to bring someone along for the rider so he can swipe the victory from me at the line. I motioned for him to take his turn in front, but he refused. No sense in pushing on and wasting more effort if he isn't willing to work with me. I sat up and let the group catch back up. With under two laps to go, there wasn't much time to recover for a final sprint. I tucked in the back of the group and tried to conserve as much as I could. A surge early in the last lap caught me a little out of position. I was still near the back trying to recover. I had to spend a decent amount of effort to make my way up the pack catching a draft here and there to slingshot around the riders ahead of me. One by one, I picked them off until I readed the wheel of the guy in 2nd. I looked ahead to the leader and he was too far ahead for the distance we had left. I did the smart thing of staying on 2nd place's wheel for a moment before making my move. If I'd have just gone ahead, he possibly could have drafted enough to get back by me at the line. It worked out well and I easily went by moments before getting to the line.

Another 2nd place finish. Not too bad considering I'd burned some matches early in the race. I'd led a lap or two, tried my luck at a break, and still managed to have enough left to make the push on the final lap sprint. The guy I beat out for 2nd was the one that decided not to work with me on the break, so it was a little payback to get him on the line. I talked to him a bit after the race and, in looking back, he wished that he would have worked with me to try to stay away. Maybe next time...
Related links:
Big Shark Tuesday Night Worlds
USA Cycling Results - Vann Knight Tuesday Night Criterium Series
Strava Tuesday Night Crit