RACE REPORT: Purdue RR, TTT / Notre Dame Crit
Standout results
- Michelle Hance: 1st, Women's B Road Race; 1st, Women's B Crit
- Jason Sohn: 1st, Men's C Road Race; 1st, Men's C Crit
- Chris Anthony, Jason Sohn, Mark Zhao: 2nd, TTT Men's B
Write-Up
by Jason Sohn
Teamwork makes the team work
The Men's A TTT squad
photo by Vishrut Garg
Cycling is a team sport, and we felt that especially this weekend, teamwork was the main theme. In the weeks leading up to the races, Eliot Toumey devoted a tremendous amount of his time and effort to planning the home race for the club and the rest of the club pitched in to help in their own ways. The race itself could not have been possible without the selfless volunteers from the Purdue community and beyond. We thank you all.
Men's B TTT finishing with two riders, Chris Anthony and Jason Sohn.
photo by Vishrut Garg
The racing kicked off with the team time trials (TTT). Justin says, "It was awesome that for the first time in several years, we have been able to field a whole men's A team for the TTT". The men's B team fared well, too, placing 2nd.
Kerber
The Purdue home race was a primarily flat/rolling affair punctuated by the infamous Kerber hill. For some, like our Colombian featherweight climber-in-residence Andres Urrego, climbing it five times was his "favorite part of the race weekend". For the Men's C peloton, it was where the race was lost as a four-man breakaway, including Jason Sohn, got away on the first lap and stayed away until the finish. This was atypical; Andres Urrego remarked, "A breakaway in C's happened. It never occurs".
Interestingly, Kerber was not the decisive segment in the Men's A road race. Unlike the morning races, the winds had picked up. Justin Miller, who finished in the leading pack commented: "cross winds on the road race made the course extremely challenging to draft. This was actually what broke up the race rather than attacks up the climbs".
Notre Dame Crit
Justin Miller in Men's A crit
photo by AA Photography https://www.facebook.com/AustinAndersonPhotography/?hc_ref=SEARCH
The short, technical course at Notre Dame was the backdrop for dramatic racing in every category. Justin Miller in the Men's A crit played his cards just right. He says: "In the crit, within about 10 minutes of the start, I saw a move with a couple Marian riders, a couple Lindenwood riders, and a Wisconsin rider. I knew that had the potential to stick and I was in the perfect position to launch a chase. I knew that breaks went early on this course and especially large ones would be able to stick. I was able to bridge the gap and managed to hold on until the final sprint". Unfortunately, Trevor Jahn, making a debut in the A category, suffered a bad start and learned the hard way that "there is no room for making mistakes in positioning in the cat A". This sentiment was echoed by Mitch Huffman in the Men's C crit who started too far back and got caught behind a crash mid-race.
Women's B racer Michelle Hance formed a breakaway with three Marian riders and despite their team tactics, out-sprinted them all to a truly remarkable win.
Random bits
"That was a strong chase you did to bring back the breakaway, Chris"
Chris: "Oh, there was a breakaway?"
Nathan Gross, when asked "What did you learn from this race weekend?":
"Justin eats a lot of carrots"
Men's C crit squad
photo by Vishrut Garg