Race Report: 2022 Giro di San Francisco - Men’s 3
Race: Giro di San Francisco - E3
Date: 9/5/22
AVRT Racers: Conor Austin, Nico Sandi, Flo Costa, John Janetzko, Daniel Fonyo, Matt Carvell
Top Results: Conor (6th / 40), Nico (9th / 40)
Course: Link to Strava file. The course was a 6-turn clockwise lap in the Levi’s Plaza area of downtown San Francisco. It made for a great atmosphere and it was great to have some of my friends in SF be able to make it out to see what I’ve been doing every weekend all summer. The first three turns came in quick succession, crossing over trolley rails and a few loose manhole covers. This was followed by a short kick up in the road to turn 4 and then a long back straight leading into the final two turns before the start/finish.
Nutrition: I had a Gu salted lime gel about 20 mins before the start and used one small half-full bottle of water during the race.
Race Recep: We knew coming into this race that this was going to be a tough course to move up on. We also knew it was going to be tough for a break to get away and stay away. I had volunteered as a marshal for the morning races and confirmed that was going to be the case. Road Captain Nico emphasized our strength would lie in our numbers as long as we all remained active and in the front half of the field. Our goal was to set up a lead out for either Flo or me to take the win, whichever of us two was feeling the best after 40 minutes.
Right from the gun, this Cat 3 crit classicly descended into disorganized chaos for most riders and their teams, but not for AV! Our guys did a great job of staying at the pointy end and covering early moves. There ended up being a lot of frustration generally throughout the field about the lines being taken into and out of the first two corners. Unfortunately, there were a few things shouted out between riders that should not be repeated here or anywhere. AV heads stayed cool and focused on the task at hand.
At one point about halfway through the race, Nico found himself riding at the front. This is where a string of bad luck started. While Nico was goofing off on the front, he got into a fight with the sidewalk and a parking meter. In the video, you can see my double take and general confusion at seeing him down on the sidewalk. Nico was able to dust off and get himself back into the race with a free lap. Just before that, Flo had dropped his chain going through the technical three-turn section. About a lap or two later, in the same spot, I also dropped my chain. We were both able to keep moving on our bikes and get our chains back on our rings to keep racing.
As the race wound down to the final few laps, Matt was at the front keeping the pace high and fending off flyer attempts. Flo, JJ, and Dan were doing their share of the work throughout the race and in the final few laps as well. I was able to locate Nico with about 3 to go and glued myself to his wheel. Looking around and not seeing many AV bodies, I realized our likelihood of pulling together a lead out was slim, so I tried to communicate as best I could with Nico to set us both up for success. With a little over 1 to go on the long backstretch, the flyers really started to go. We did a great job letting others bring back moves quickly and hold our positioning. Through the last few turns, we both found ourselves pushed off our lines where I should have fought harder to protect our positioning from those behind us. The winning flyer went from the back straight and because I hadn’t fought harder to protect my and Nico’s positioning, we found ourselves pretty boxed in towards the outside edge of the road. As we rounded the final turns onto the finishing straight, Nico and I found ourselves sprinting to pass as many riders as we could to make up positioning. A couple of riders ahead of us collided and crashed, creating a spectacular display of flying bikes.
Overall, this was as chaotic a crit as I have done as a 3. I hope to do this race again sometime in the future. It’s a great way to wrap up Labor Day Weekend!