In his first ever conference criteriums, Nathaniel Gervez lit up the weekend with aggressive and relentless attacking to deliver Roanoke College to the line first on both days of competition. His teammate, William Dodds finished in second both days, backing up Nathaniel's style with a similar tenacious and unrelenting approach to racing.  The team swept the podium on Sunday, with Jensen Cervati finishing in third place overall.

Gervez attacked from the gun in Saturday's race, taking a big lead early and ultimately lapping the field before the race was done. Cervati and Dodds were quick to cover the chase of four riders who tried desperately to bring back Gervez over the 60-minute race. Cervati and Dodds collaborated in the final laps and made a plan to secure second place, with Cervati keeping the speed too high for anyone to contest the sprint and Dodds launching a vicious attack with 500m to go. 

Sunday the field was less likely to let Gervez go early, but that didn't discourage him from trying. After some early attacks from teammates Gallik and Dodds, Gervez was able to counter those moves and draw out only teammate Cervati and an Indiana University rider. The three-rider breakaway worked well together to establish the gap to the field. With two spots on the podium secured already, we were still hungry for more. Dodds attacked out of the main field and bridged the gap to his teammates in the breakaway, a herculean effort that paid off only after teammate Gervez dropped back to help make sure he made the connection. Once there, we had three riders in a breakaway and only one rider to "crack" to sweep the podium. Alex Hamilton was strong and made us work incredibly hard to finally snap the rubber band. He only succumbed to our attacks in the closing meters of the race, finishing in fouth just behind Cervati in the sprint to the line. It was a truly impressive ride by the Indiana rider and we hope to see him again soon.  

Roanoke College is now the front-runner and the team to beat in this year's conference racing. We are so excited for the opportunities that lie ahead to develop as a team and build on our strengths as a unit. Every member of the team is willing to do their part to secure success on race day and that's a special thing to see so early in the season. 

Michael Gallik continues to be the ultimate teammate, willing to do whatever the team needs from him to make sure we have a chance to win the race. Alastair Amos and Hays Edmunds fought hard early in the races to give us opportunities later in the race. They both continue to find their form and are eager to contribute to the team's growth. 

Aidan Goldberg and Gus Lynott competed in the category 3/4 races, where they are gaining valuable experience and benefiting from the mentorship of veteran riders like Hays, Mike, and Alastair who doubled up on races this weekend for even more training and race experience.
 
Lauren Weigel and Ragan Weigel chose to jump in the men's races for a challenge and the chance to get some great training in preparation for the high level of women's competition we will see at Collegiate National Championships in May. 
 
Next up, road racing in South Carolina at the next round of the Hincapie Spring Series