Polston 5th Overall at Tour of Washington County

An 8 man team and 1 woman (hi Tricia!) went to Maryland for the Tour of Washington County Stage Race. This was the team's first time at this race, encouraged to go by a friend of the team in the area down there. The race consisted of a 43 mile RR, 10 mile TT, and 20 lap crit (around 16 miles). There was also a crit on friday night that some team members and other stage racers took part in.

Stage 1 - Smithsburg Road Race (43 miles)

The road race started with 95 racers in the cat 3/4 field. After a neutral start out to the first corner of the course the pack took off. The race averaged 24.5mph over the 43 miles with climbs and slow risers throughout each of the 7 laps. Craig, Tim, and Tom hovered near the front watching moves and sharing pulls, but mostly trying to stay tucked in a safe position. Craig and Rich both tried taking flyers off the front, they didn't last long as the pack was always fast to catch moves. After the first lap about 1/4 of the field was shed. After that slowly one by one a few riders would drop off.

Adam, Brian, and Ben started moving to the front to support Craig and Rich for the last laps of the race. Tom and Bryan we gone, Tim popped on the last lap. The five remaining stuck in to be there for the pack finish and limit time gaps as much as possible.

Adam was the teams all-star on the day grabbing an impressive 15th place in the large field. Craig also finished in the lead group, Brian just behind, and Ben and Rich slightly after that. Overall the 5 stayed within 16 seconds of the leader.

----------

In the women's race Tricia hung with the OPEN cat 1-4 field the entire race, finishing just off the back of the main field! Pretty impressive considering the strength of the racers in that group.

Stage 2 - Boonsboro Time Trial

The TT was a 10 mile out and back with climbs throughout. The course was on some real clean roads with wide shoulders, made for a stress free ride (outside of the pain).

Craig and Rich were the TT all-stars for the team posting 23:XX each and moving them into the top 15. Adam and Ben put in solid times as well in the 24:XX range moving Adam just outside the top 20.

----------

Tricia put in a solid effort in the TT to hold her position in the women's field.

Stage 3 - Williamsport Criterium

The crit was a .7 mile course with 3 gradual uphill legs and 1 downhill that balanced the elevation difference for the course in one fast leg. There were 70 racers left of the original 95 competing in this crit and the pace picked up right where the RR and TT left off, incredibly fast.

Craig and Rich quickly found there way to the front. Everyone else hung on for dear life mid-pack or at the back trying to claw for positioning. Craig would contest and take places in all 3 primes earning him some time bonuses! Bryan, Tom, and Tim popped early betweent he poor positioning and fast pace. Bryan and Ben hung on and were pulled and placed late. Adam moved up to hang in the pack and keep Rich motivated and safe. Craig continued to cycle within the top 5 or 6 places all race.

In the end Craig sprinted for 4th in the crit and Adam and Rich came in just seconds behind as part of the slightly splintered main field.

Craig gets the all-star of the day for the crit, hands down!

----------

Tricia worked hard in the crit to hold on to the group as long as she could. She was pulled but placed so ensure her finish overall counted for the weekend. A strong effort and something to be proud of.

Overall

Craigs efforts on Sunday moved him from 8th to 5th overall!

Rich barely lost time in the crit moving down from 11th to 12th overall by .07 seconds but still an awesome result.

Adam's perseverance in the crit earned him a jump from 21st to 19th overall!

Comments