The team competed at a prestigious one-day classic in Richmond, Virginia on Sunday. The Bryan Park Criterium is deemed as the prologue to the Tour of Newport News, one of the highlights of our season and the most widely contested racing event in Virginia.
Aidan Goldberg and
Gus Lynott kicked off the day racing in the cat 3/4 men's race.
Ruby Telepak backed up a solid performance by her teammates, delivering a win in the women's novice race. She and one other rider separated themselves from their field, caught the riders that started one-minute ahead of them and eventually lapped the field they started with. In the final sprint, Ruby easily bested her competition and took the win. She has become a force to be reckoned with in her field and will quickly upgrade through the ranks so she can race with her professional teammates soon.
Next up was the women's professional race. Ragan and
Lauren Weigel had a plan and executed it perfectly. With two other well-known teams and elite riders, they knew to be attentive to the attacks and follow any moves.
Ragan Weigel was ready and able to cover the inevitable attack that came early from the strongest Automatic rider. She and one other rider followed, and the trio went on to ride away from the chasing field. After lapping the field, Ragan sprinted to the line with her breakaway companions and finished third on the day.
Aidan Snow competed in the novice men's field and had another impressive and telling performance about his future. He held great position at the front of the race and finished in fourth in a field of eager riders. With this performance, it won't be long until he is racing with his teammates in the cat 3/4 race.
The elite men were up next, and the plan was clear. We want it to come to field sprint, and we want
Jensen Cervati to win. We put all our eggs in one basket, and we were all in on our plan. But cycling always has its own plan… that is the beauty of our sport. Can you adapt? What if you can't execute "the plan"? How will you handle adversity? That's life, right?
I could not be more proud of our team. They stuck to the plan, they sacrificed for their teammates, they gave everything they had. What more can you ask?
Nathaniel Gervez was superhuman at the start of the race, making a statement and stamping Roanoke College Cycling's impact on the race early and often.
Michael Gallik,
Jensen Cervati, and
Alastair Amos backed up his efforts, always representing the team with their positioning at the front.
An unfortunate crash took Gervez out of the race and Gallik was sidelined momentarily. After Gallik rejoined the group, it was five laps to go and we were ready with
William Dodds and
Jensen Cervati behind their stoic teammate, Gallik. But cycling always brings surprises, and just as we were ready to execute our "plan' to sprint for Cervati a group of three riders attacked and gained a quick and significant gap on the field. Gallik and
William Dodds did not hesitate and made two huge efforts to negate the attack. With no help from other teams, we were lucky to have
Alastair Amos come to the front to take a "death pull" that eventually brought back the break with two to go.
Everyone gave their all, finished their race, and suffered the consequence of selling out to the plan. And we were left with only Jensen to fight for the win alone. He accepted that challenge and battled alone with one lap to go against teams that still had two guys to support their sprinters. He refused to lose position and held it to the line to cross in fourth in front of 65 other riders. At the end of the day, we proved we have what it takes to win, we are a force to be reckoned with, and we will adapt to any and all adversity that cycling has to offer.
Up next, racing this weekend at Wake Forest University.
