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.
Gray takes a fine 2nd place on the final stage!
Overall GC Results.
Ian Gray- 12th
Chris Winn- 20th
Ian Holt – 37th
Jon Garcia – 44th
Allen Krughoff – 53rd
Brad Bingham – 80th
