22 riders took the start of the TNW race this week. For the first time, there were two categories, with roughly half the riders opting to race with the A group and the other half with the B group. I spent too much time watching Nathan Guerra’s experimental video coverage (see link below), so this week’s report will be somewhat more brief than usual.
The first race-speed climb was the first sorting-out as usual. This climb stretched the As with about 8 riders making it back to the front group and also gave the Bs the opportunity to establish their own race. There was a little attrition over the next few laps , but eventually the A race sorted out into a lead group of 6 (R. Rodrigues, J. Schoenick , B. Pucsek, F. Garcia, M. Elsdon, and D. Pugh) followed by a group of three chasers (D. Stoj, D. Christenson and C. Wiedmann). In the B group, C. Smith and J. Lemon held a lead with J. Denny and S. Jansen chasing about a minute behind.
Over the race, Rodrigues and Schoenick showed their strength by pushing over the big climb each time. They always seemed to be content to come back to the field after the climb, though. The chase group behind kept up the pressure and stayed within a minute of the lead group. The lead group riders started looking at each other, allowing the chasers to rejoin by the base of the final climb. The chase took its toll, though, and the lead group re-established a small gap by the top of the climb. Over the remainder of the lap, however, Stoj remained tenacious and managed to rejoin the leaders by the sprint climb. He immediately went past the group, triggering a reaction and then a counter attack by Rodrigues and Schoenick. They managed to gap Stoj to sprint for the victory. Schoenick led the sprint out, but Rodrigues poured on the power to come around him at the line. Stoj put in an impressive effort to round out the podium.
In the Bs, Denny and Jansen managed to catch and pass Curtis and Lemon, with Denny winning by a large margin over Jansen and Lemon taking the third podium spot.
Results:
A Group
- R. Rodrigues 1:17:29
- J. Schoenick s.t.
- D. Stoj 0:00:08
- D. Pugh 0:00:10
- M. Elsdon 0:00:18
- F. Garcia 0:00:44
- D. Christenson 0:01:11
- C. Wiedmann 0:01:55
B Group
- J. Denny 1:23:05
- S. Jansen 0:00:44
- J. Lemon 0:01:08
- S. Williams 0:02:24
- C. Smith 0:04:38
- M. Gow 0:06:21
- R. Swanson
DNF A. Willey
DNF J. Rooney
DNF A. Behnke
DNF A. Parker
Note: Time gaps for entertainment purposes only. Corrections to placings and race narrative are welcome.
Event Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/813640835383329/
Strava fly-by: http://labs.strava.com/flyby/viewer/#298916109,XtvQEVzr0BGzBNERxQbRERcH0RHgCNERPQ/REcAS0REqFtERTRbREZoY0RErGtERfBrREQUf0REPIdERIy3REVMx0RE=
Experimental Video Coverage: http://www.twitch.tv/nathanguerra/popout?videoId=a656474830