Topsport Stage Race 03-31-2012 -

Topsport Stage Race 03-31-2012

10Apr2012 Filed under: General Author: delta

Saturday was the miserably cold, wet and WINDY 77mile road race. 60 riders took the line and it looked to be a good weekend with a quality field. There were a lot of attacks and this made for some hard racing. I was in the mix trying to make/follow moves.

I ended up in the move that got reeled in before the final move went. So, I missed it as the front of the field blew by me. I decided to rest up until the turn around and see what happened in the tailwind section. Josh, myself and another rider went to the front and began to bring the break back. They were over a minute away and in a few miles we had them just under 40 seconds and closing. Unfortunately, Josh’s seat broke and he had to abandon.

I decided to cut my losses and sit in rather than blowing myself up to catch the break just for a counter move to go. At this point we were over 1/2 way through the race and the field pretty much shut down with the big teams well represented in the break. This is also when the foul weather hit so the rest of the race was miserable and everyone was just trying to survive. The last lap was full of attacks and again I was at the front racing aggressively…I was not going to let another move go without me.

I used a lot of energy but felt very strong compared to everyone else. Coming toward the final turn around I attacked hard on the big hill and got a good gap. I couldn’t stay away alone and the guy who followed me was suffering. I got caught and got ready for the finish. I was in good position but too far to the left and I got pushed across the yellow line and had to brake to get back in behind someone. I got 7th in the field sprint but 15th overall. Officially I was now 15 in G.C. and tied for 7th in G.C. with about 20 or so other guys.
– Nano Christensen
Race Report
Pro/1,2