Race Report: 2023 Merced Criterium - Men’s Cat 4/5

Race: 2023 Merced Criterium - Men’s Cat 4/5

Date: 2023/02/26

AVRT Racers: Fraser Bulbuc

Top Result: Fraser 1/40

Course: The course is a 0.6 mile almost four corner crit on the streets of Merced. Most of it is at least two lanes wide, and the first, second, and fourth corners are 90 degree right-handers. The third corner is where things get interesting. It resembles a three-quarter turn around a roundabout, narrows to one lane, and has bad pavement. There’s only one racing line through it. The pavement on the rest of the course is fair to good. During the race, there was a moderate cross/headwind on the final straight.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8628022357

Nutrition: One bottle with 60g of carbs which I drank through my warm up and the race.

Recap: The field was 40 riders with 33 Cat-4 and 7 Cat-5 combined. There were a few teams with multiple riders, but Velo Kings had the most with 7. I was without teammates and knew position would be important for carrying speed through the third corner, so I planned to sit around fifth position as much as possible. I was ready to join a break, but otherwise, I planned on conserving energy for a late attack or bunch sprint.

There were lots of attacks but nothing stuck for more than a lap. The headwind on the long straight made it difficult for small groups to stay away, and the field was eager to chase. The pace was reasonably high, and the race became strung out with lapped riders getting in the way at times. I was able to stay around fifth position for most of the race and let other riders cover moves. After attacks were consistently brought back within a lap, it was clear things would come down to the final few laps.

On the penultimate lap, an unattached rider attacked into the final corner. They established a gap going into the final lap. This was threatening, but two riders were quick to chase, and I followed in their draft. I was content being third position in the chase as it allowed me to stay out of the wind until the sprint.

On the final lap, a moto and two lapped riders were on the racing line of the third corner right as the field was passing. This forced us to take an outside line, and I ended up losing a position. The solo rider off the front was caught just as the sprint started out of the fourth and final corner, which was about 250m from the line. I had noted the headwind earlier, so I wanted to be patient with my sprint. I stayed in the draft of a rider until about 150m to go at which point I launched my sprint and passed them to take the win.

-Fraser