We sent our elite men's team to Lebanon, New Jersey this past weekend for the Garden State Stage Race, an event with three stages in two-days that is part of the ECC Collegiate Conference's racing calendar. We are in the final preparation phase of training for our season goal, Collegiate Road National Championships and this was the perfect race to get us ready.
The event started with a six-mile Individual Time Trial, where every rider competes alone on the same short course and the fastest rider to finish becomes the race leader going into the afternoon's 75-mile Road Race.
Nathaniel Gervez had a smoking hot time of 12:43, putting him in sixth place overall out of the 45 riders that started.
Jensen Cervati and
Michael Gallik, riding in support of their leader, used the race as an opener for the afternoon's race, a challenging course that was well-suited for Gervez if he had support from his teammates.
The race was contested on a 15-mile circuit with a long climb towards the end of every lap. It was a race of attrition where only the strong survive and many riders did not even finish. The guys fought hard to keep Gervez in contention, but the fire power of the competitive Jamison Racing Team with six riders in the field proved to be too much for our team to battle. Gervez had an impressive ride, finishing 11th on the day, while Gallik finished 18th not far behind. Cervati did his job and sold out just before the last climb to give his leader a chance to move up by attacking at the base of the final climb. He was able to ride away from the rest of the group and held on to his 6th place overall in the General Classification standings.
The last stage was a circuit race on Sunday, with four laps of a five-mile course. Although short, the course was tough with another long climb, this time early in the lap. Riders took the start with cold and wet conditions, but the rain subsided when the race began and we were locked in. We had high hopes for a stage win, either by Gervez in a small selection or Cervati if the race came to a bunch sprint. The Jamison Racing Team once again took control and made the race hard from the start. This time Gervez was able to follow the attacks and made the front group. Gallik and Cervati controlled the group behind and stayed ready if the group were to come back together. One rider attacked out of the front group and there was nothing Gervez could do as an isolated rider, so the race was open for second place. He came to the line with a small group and finished seventh on the day, taking away a lot of lessons about how to finish a race. Cervati's group was next to come to the line, and he won the sprint easily for 10th.
The experience we gained in New Jersey with such a high-level of competition on tough courses and racing against guys we will see at Nationals in a few weeks was priceless.
Meanwhile, one of our newest road racers,
Gus Lynott raced in a conference criterium at UMD and won the category four men's race! He is well on his way to joining the elite men's squad and contributing to our inevitable success.
Next up, Conference Road Race and Criterium Championships at UVA.
