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!
