| < Stage 1 |
Stage 2
Saturday, March 28
Downtown Criterium
|
|
Kirk O’Bee’s Monstrous Attack with 3 Laps to go Nearly Lasts; Zirbel Holds onto 2nd
Saturday’s Downtown Crit was a high-speed 90 minutes where the tight peloton constantly fought for positioning on the nine-corner course. BMC continued to control the race which saw multiple significant breaks. BISSELL was focused on keeping the mid race time bonus away from Ben Day to protect Tom’s position in the GC. Ben Jacques-Maynes jumped across to a move and took the time bonus which also moved him into 6th place in the overall. Ben’s lead group was eventually caught as Garmin helped BMC at the front and brought everything back. Andy Jacques-Maynes was in the next significant break of 7 riders which got 15 seconds on the peloton. This lead group of 7 included Jacob Erker (Kelly Benefit Strategies) who was too much of a threat to the GC so BMC was forced to bring them back. The move that most excited the crowds in Redlands came with 3 laps to go as BISSELL’s Kirk O’Bee launched a solo attack. As the peloton was in full chase mode in the final lap, Colavita crashed into a corner. Frank Pipp was in a group that was able to get cleanly through the chaos. As Kirk was eventually caught just 1/3 lap short of the finish, Frank came through to cross the line in 4th. The BISSELL team all finished with the same time.
Today’s Sunset Circuit Race will be an agonizing day for the riders with 12mile circuits totaling 106 miles on a course with no flat sections. The final stage of Redlands will be a race of attrition, and BISSELL’s goal is to ride a full team in support of Tom. The team will also be watching out for the intermediate time bonuses which might come into play in this tight race. BISSELL’s higher placed GC riders, Jeremy Vennell, Burke Swindlehurst, and Frank Pipp, will be looking for opportunities to keep BMC under pressure. Conditions look to be favorable with sunny skies, temperatures in the 60’s, and light winds.
|
