GMSR Stage 2 and 3

Stage 2

Having the leader’s jersey meant that there was an expectation that the team would defend my lead; with only four riders we faced a serious shortage of manpower to control the race. The Mad River Race was the toughest of the weekend with three serious climbs, the last of which we finished at the top of.

In our pre-race meeting we agreed on a straightforward strategy. Simply none of us would try to infiltrate the break that was sure to form, I didn’t see much point in having a guy up the road when it came time to lead the chase, and nor would we start the chase until we had ridden over the first KOM. In this way the idea was that the team would be able to stay together, rather than some guys getting dropped on the first KOM, and lead the chase to the base, and hopefully over, the second KOM.
A little disappointing was the lack of racing that happened in the first part of the race. It wasn’t long before a 12man break had formed and started taking lots of time as the field dawdled along at 30km/h sometimes. Still, with all kinds of guys asking us what we were doing and why we weren’t riding on the front, we stuck to our plan.
Over the first KOM the pace was steady, perfect to keep the four Jet Fuel Coffee riders together in order to start the chase. It was here that we got the first time split: six minutes! Coming off the descent the boys, Buck and Matt, along with two riders from Gears who contributed hugely to the chase, Mark Pozniak and Nathan Chown, got organized and proceeded to line the field out in single file. Stig held back from helping the chase at this point in order to lend a hand on the run in to the final climb.
For an hour the guys had everyone single file in the gutter at 45-50km/h. At first I was worried that they wouldn’t be able to hold the pace; often people set too high a tempo to start with and can’t hold it for the length of time necessary, sometimes all day, but the guys kept the rotation going for over 40km.
On the second KOM Stig set a good tempo as Matt and Buck, they’re job done, fell of the pace. At the summit we got our second time check, 5minutes 50seconds! The chase hadn’t taken any time out of the break. Stig and I still bombed the decent off the climb, keeping the chase going.
Now, the other part of the plan for the day came into play. As we were so short on manpower we had no choice but to hope that another team would also take up the task of chasing. The Louis Garneau Team now sent three riders to keep the pace wound up, setting a blistering pace on what seemed like a very long decent.
Running into the last climb the course took a sharp turn up a little hill before hitting a dirt section that lasted somewhere around a kilometer or more and here Stig came to the fore. He stayed there until we came to the base of the very final 2km pitch up to the finish.
With me sitting on his wheel Stig lined the field out again along the dirt section and on the bottom of the last climb. He single handedly controlled the field, setting a hard enough tempo that no even tried to attack us.
Finally, we saw the fruit of our plan blossom as the break of the day was caught with 4km or so to go. Jet Fuel Coffee had pulled off a masterful day tactically, working the chase to perfection and maximizing the use of the manpower that we had.
Unfortunately, after the guys had ridden such a great race I let them down on the climb to the finish line. I blew chunks, bonking and struggling to no end just to finish 16th on the day. That left me in 7th overall, but with the crypt on Monday I still had a chance to make up the points and finish on the overall podium.

1 Mark McCormack (Colavita Olive Oil Pro Cycling Team) 4.29.40
2 Charles Dionne (Webcor Builder) 0.05
3 Peter Baker (Team Snow Valley) 0.12


Stage 3

Burlington was the site of the final stage, a 50km crit held on a tight 6 corner course with a small uphill to the finish. On such a tight course it was necessary to start at the front as there was going to be a huge slinky effect going through all the corners.
From the gun the racing was on and I made sure to stay in the top ten riders where the pace was smooth and easier to follow. After the first points sprint at lap 10 McCormack and Dionne got away from the field, quickly gaining a ten second lead. One after another teams were coming to the front and trying bring the two of them back, to no avail.
I missed an attack of three riders, which included Aaron Olson, that bridged across to McCormack and Dionne. With Olson, a team mate of McCromack’s, up front I knew that the break would push the pace and with no one able to bring them back knew that I would have to bridge up in order to stay in contention for the overall podium.
With the chase continuing I waited for the perfect moment to attack and it presented itself as Buck led the field onto the small climb to the finish. Swinging wide I punched it for all I was worth. Buck saw me coming under his arm and as soon as I was by swung in behind me, effectively shutting down anyone from trying to attack with me.
Trying to get away from the field I had attacked with all my strength but soon realized that I had put too much into the initial surge. Sitting just 20meters off the back of the break I struggled to hold them and inch my way across the gap. All I could think was that if I didn’t make it my race was over so I struggled for all I was worth. My back was hurting, my bars felt all strange and I was clipping my pedal in the corners as I flailed to make contact. I was in dire straights for a few laps but finally made it across. Having spent myself I could do nothing but sit on the back and hope to recover.
Everyone in the break was surprised to find another three riders bridging up to us a few laps later. Mark Pozniak, who had been so impressive in helping with the chase the day before, had made the split and was working well to keep the break clear.
We had a good 15 to 20 seconds on the field, enough to be out of sight in any of the straight-aways and stay away for the finish. Scott Zwizanski of Ofoto launched a bunch of good attacks in the last few laps, but in the end it came down to a sprint with Dionne coming out the winner.
I had made the break of the day and garnered enough points to make it back up into the 3rd on GC. Jet Fuel Coffee had had an outstanding weekend. Not only in terms of the actual results garnered but also in the way that we were able to ride so well as a team. Everything was coming together for San Francisco.


Stage 3

1 Charles Dionne (Webcor Builder) 1.08.18
2 Mark Mccormack (Colavita Olive Oil Pro Cycling Team)
3 Scott Zwizanski (Ofoto Cycling Team)
5 Andrew Randell (Jet Fuel Coffee)


Final Overall

1 Mark Mccormack (Colavita Olive Oil Pro Cycling Team) 391 pts
2 Charles Dionne (Webcor Builder) 369
3 Andrew Randell (Jet Fuel Coffee) 309
4 Peter Hult (Fiordifrutta) 298
5 Aaron Olson (Colavita Olive Oil Pro Cycling Team) 297
6 Dominique Perras (Ofoto-Lombardi Sports) 292
7 Peter Baker (Team Snow Valley) 288
8 Dan Cassidy (Fiordifrutta) 286
9 Joshua Dillon (Louis Garneau Racing) 261
10 Chris Brennan (JDR/Trek/VW) 256