Chris Winn puts the Rio Grande Cycling Team on an NRC podium, taking out the Nature Valley Grand Prix Best Amateur Jersey last week in Minnesota! This was his season objective and with full support from the team he was able to achieve his goal taking the jersey on the very last stage at the famous Stillwater Criterium. Dubbed one of America’s toughest circuits, it features the brutal Chilkoot Hill, an 18% average grade monster that always shatters the field over the 20 lap race.
Coming into the stage 19sec behind, Chris was able to finish the stage in 4th place, only 7sec behind stage and overall winner Rory Sutherland. It was a great end to an awesome week for the team which included some crazy weather with the Cannon Falls road race being canceled due to tornado warnings! The whole week the team rode brilliantly to keep Chris well fueled and out of any trouble.
To add icing to the cake, the Rio Grande lads finished 6th in the Team GC competition, ahead of big names such as Bissell Pro Cycling and Fly V Australia and were the first amateur team.
The guys warming up before the Minneapolis critierum
Krughoff at Stillwater
Brad cools off pre stage
Ian takes a different cooling strategy.
Next major stop for the guys will be the Cascade Classic July 20th-25th. Stay tuned for more adventures and thanks for reading!
It’s was a long way but we made it. A tickle under 20hrs in the team van spread over two days we arrived to a wet and drizzly Mt Hood Oregon. A favorite for many of the riders on the team we were hoping to really shine a race that suits our riders perfectly.
Kicking off with a Tuesday night prologue at the Portland Raceway was a unique way to start the race. I say unique due to the fact the first rider went off at 7pm and the last handful close to 9pm! With a overcast conditions and pouring rain it was always going to be a delicate affair on such a slick race track surface. With with dark conditions making life tough we didn’t perhaps get the start we were looking for, but everyone kept their skin and were motivated to perhaps make amends in Stage One at Mt Tabor.
With no end to the rain insight this was always going to be a tricky one. A short circuit around a park awaited the guys, featuring a short steep climb straight out of the start line that finished with a tight tricky 180deg turn. Needless to say with the slippery and moss covered roads the first couple of laps were carnage. Riders were flying everywhere and even falling off on climbs and at times putting too much power through the pedals only to have them spin out underneath them! Very tricky folks! With breaks going but nothing sticking, it wasn’t until 10 laps to go when Chris Winn ignited a small break that would stay away for the next 8 laps. With just tw0 laps to go United Healthcare decided enough was enough, reeling it back on the crest of the climb, leaving it up to a bunch sprint. With the rest of the Rio guys blocking and sitting in, we were well set up and Krughoff led the charge for 6th and Holt in 10th.
Chris leading the late race charge.
Stage two featured 170km and around 10,000ft of climbing with two solid climbs of mostly highway grade stuff. So nothing too steep but not that it matters sometimes, you can suffer up anything if you want to! Second lap around United Healthcare rode tempo until the final climb where they drilled it causing a split of 25 guys. Both Gray and Winn made it in that group and were able to have a crack at the flat finish sprint. Winn took 8th and Gray was not far behind in 14th.
Stage three’s TT and the following Wy’East road race were fairly quiet affairs on the results sheet for the team, until the final stage in a very wet and soggy downtown Portland criterium. A four man break slipped away mid race featuring Team Rio’s Ian Gray amongst some strong competition. Coming into the final climb before the finishing straight Gray was able to use his climbing power to lead it out only to be just caught on the line taking second place. So close! Nonetheless it put Rio on the podium and a great way to end the week. Great job guys.
Jonathan Garcia took out the Hugo Road Race notching up Team Rio Grande first win of 2010! With crazy gale force winds (seems to be a theme this season!) Jon was able to win out of a small breakaway group that rolled off the front in the first 2km. The break also featured Chris Winn until a mechanical forced him to drop out and spend the rest of the day in a car chasing the race. Facing such tough conditions in the wind, Jon was able to put his head down and power to the line after all his break away companions blew apart in the cross wind sections. Also representing Rio out there was Brad Bingham who unfortunately was involved in a mid race crash which saw him head to hospital to clean up some road rash. Way to go Jon! Next stop for the guys is the Mt Hood Cycling Classic from June 1st – 6th.
Motivation was high after the first team campaign at the Vuelta de Bisbee. With a short transfer from Arizona to New Mexico soon enough it was time to line up against what would be perhaps the strongest field we would face this season. Yes folks, Lance was back again, alongside Dave Zabriskie and Chris Horner there was some serious ProTour firepower that would surely ignite the race.
The first day in a nervous peloton Jon Garcia was able to sneak away in a tidy group of 11 that rolled off the front early and quite easily. Not represent were United Healthcare so sure enough they began the chase after 2hrs on the road. Things began to shatter hard with myslef (Chris) and Gray able to make the split just 20kms out from the final climb up the super tough Mogollon. In similar fashion to last year the break was caught on the flat sections before the climb, and from then on out it was every man for himself until trickling over the line completely spent. Over all it was a good start to the race with Garcia taking 2nd in the sprint competition and leaving us hungry for more.
Stage two we faced just incredible winds. Just crazy gusts all day that just demolished the peloton thanks to an early cross wind section and the efforts of Tom Danielson of DZ Nuts. At one point it was so difficult I remember getting out of the saddle only to have my arms cramp and collapse underneath me. Madness.
Stage three was the tough Tyrone Time Trial. Set over highway rollers once again the wind played a factor, especially in wheel choice and what was going to hold a steady line at 60kph. Not a great day for us overall but we all gave it the best we could with top finisher Ian Gray in 46th place.
The Stage four crit was a bunch of fun. For the climbers on the team it was a chance to rest a little before the final Gila monster day, but for the sprinters in the team it was a chance to shine, and Krughoff rode strong for a 20th place finish behind Mini Phinney who took the W.
The Gila Monster. What can you say! A massive day out on two wheels for sure and the weather sure threw us a curve ball. Making the lead group of only 30 after the second major climb of the day, it was myself and Gray who were soon faced with the onslaught of the of the Gila Monster climb out of the turn around point. This is where every year it blows up hard, and Gray with some super legs was able to hold onto the front group mostly all the way to the top of the brutal ascent. At the end of the day we all trickled in battle weary and bleary eye with myself (28th), Gray (33rd) and Holt (53rd) amongst the top finishers for the Burrito Express train.
First time down there for this cat, but many of the Rio gang have been regulars over the last few years. Cool town super close to the Mexico border and an ever cooler bike race. 3 days, four stages with two TT’s and two road races. Decent sized field with 81 and Fly V and United Health Care sending full squads as a Gila warm up.
After a solid 15hr drive (including one flying bike and running out of gas 3miles before the station) we arrived in one piece and ready to shake up the 1.5mile uphill prologue on Friday night. And represent we did, with Gray taking 9th, Winn 14th and Garcia 23rd and all in the hunt for the GC. Little did we know that the next day’s 90mile RR would throw us a rather large curve ball.
With the word that most of the time a bunch finish occurs, our plan was to protect Gray and stick Holt in the break as a safety net. Needless to say when the break of 7 stayed away and gained 11min we were pretty shocked. I guess Fly V and United were happy to play their cards with Lill and Killun respectively rather than keep Rory in the jersey after he smashed the prologue. So Holt took fourth on the stage outta the break and over night shot into 4th GC! Cycling is pretty crazy sometimes and all of a sudden the rest of us were defending at top 5 GC spot….sweet! That afternoon there was no rest for the wicked with a 7.2mile TT to suffer in.
TT was pretty straight forward, out and back and little to no wind. Holt held his own and didn’t lose any time and we were all pumped for the final 84mile stage the next day.
The team plan was to patrol the breaks with Krughoff, Bingham and Winn early on and then spend the rest of the time looking after Holt. After stage one’s surprise pretty much every move was being brought back and quickly to the point where it looked like things would stay together until the final major climb. This is where once again this sport threw a curve ball. After rolling back through the caravan from a stopped nature break (yellow jersey included in the group) almost instantly a group of 11 rolled off the front and stuck. Luckily Garcia made the move and represented the red and black. The peloton fluffed along and pretty soon the break had 3minutes and were away. The stage finished with a solid steady highway climb in which Fly V rode a hard tempo to shell as many guys as possible. Holt was able to defend his GC position without too much trouble despite having 3rd and 5th GC breathing down his neck.
Overall it was a very successful race for Team Rio and we are now in Silver City for the Tour of the Gila starting tomorrow. Wish us luck!
Locally it’s been a great start for Team Rio Grande, with consistent top 10 results in many of the local P/1/2 events in Colorado. So far a win has eluded us but we’re not too far away!
4th- Lookout Mtn Hill Climb (Winn)
2nd- AST Criterium (Holt)
6th- Koppenburg (Garcia)
6th- Boulder-Roubaix (Garcia)
5th - Haystack TT (Garcia)
8th- Air Force RR (Gray)
Next stop is the La Vuelta de Bisbee and Tour of the Gila road trip!
Ian Gray has taken our first Team Rio win last weekend in Iowa at the Climbing Hills Classic RR. The young whippet out climbed his breakaway companions on the final climb for a solo win. Great work shags….way to go!
The guys warming up before the Minneapolis critierum
Brad cools off pre stage
Ian takes a different cooling strategy.
