Friends, family and Team Specialized supporters - I've been fortunate to have witnessed some great racing over the quarter century that I've been bike racing. Strangely this one has happened twice now, to the same rider. Back in 2011 Jack Maddux hit the ground hard at the USA Cycling Road National Championships. He bounced back the very next day to win the time trial and his first national championship. Well, today, less than 24 hours after Jack met the asphalt at 30mph in the stage one time trial, he went LARGE and won the 2013 Valley of the Sun road race. Large, as in two laps solo, or 30+ miles solo against a full 50 rider field! So impressive.
The GC shook up today in our favor thanks to the efforts of our seven 15-16 teammates. Oh wait, Jules and Sean are only 14! Well, with Jack winning solo he moved up to 15th place. Sean McElroy was 2nd today and now sits 7th on GC. Jules (12th place, now 20th GC) and Grant (11th place, now 11th GC) helped the race unfold. Grant was in the break with Jack and helped him press his advantage. Jules attacked which helped draw out the 3rd place rider, which Sean followed into his breakaway. Behind Jack and Sean we had Jason (5th place, now 3rd GC), Gage (8th today, 4th GC) and Nick (6th today, 6th GC) driving the pace after 2nd and 4th GC had been dropped. They picked up valuable time.
15-16s Summary of stage two - Jack 1st, Sean 2nd, Jason 5th, Nick 6th, Gage 8th, Grant 11th, Jules 12th
15-16s Summary of GC after two stages - Jason 3rd, Gage 4th, Nick 6th, Sean 7th, Grant 11th, Jack 15th, Jules 20th
For the 17-18 race, or 63 miles of road racing Owen took out the KOM sprint (3 second bonus) and 5th in the final sprint. Owen slid from 3rd GC to 5th. Matt was in a two up breakaway for 16 miles and finished 20th. He is sitting 21st GC. While this doesn't sound like much of an update I have two reflections on this one - firstly, that Matt and Owen had a plan to work together and that they both tried to win the race. Better to race your bike than to spectate on how a race unfolds!
17-18s Summary of stage two - Owen 5th, Matt 20th
17-18s Summary of GC after two stages - Owen 5th, Matt 21st
Craig finished 24th on the stage in the category two race, yet moved up to 12th GC. Jeromy was 28th on the stage and is at 23rd on GC. I won the 55+ road race and still stay 6th on GC.
Tomorrow is the downtown criterium where GC is unlikely to change.
Larry Nolan, Team Specialized Junior Director
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