Race Report: 2024 Copper Valley Circuit Race - Men's Cat 4
Race: Copper Valley Circuit Race - Men's Cat 4
Date: February 22, 2024
AVRT racers: Zack Berger, Will Hakim, & Henry Mallon
Top Result: Henry 3/21
Course: An out-and-back course with about 5.5 miles per lap. Very good pavement and a wide shoulder. The way out is slightly rolling with 1-2% gradients and the finish is on the back straight after a slight downhill. Our race was ~60 minutes and we completed 5 laps.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/10836324732
Nutrition: 1 bottle with 80g of homemade malto/fructose mix and a 100mg caffeine gel on the start line.
Race Recap: Written by Henry. Since none of us are particularly strong sprinters, we planned to roll attacks with the hope of forming a favorable breakaway. If it came together for a field sprint, we would organize a leadout for Zack.
After several attempts, Zack made an early breakaway with two unattached riders, wearing red and green jerseys. The red jersey rider didn’t consistently peel off left or right, which disrupted the rotation. And, the green jersey rider didn’t take equally long pulls on the front, which made Zack hesitant to expend too much energy. Despite this incohesion, the gap held steady at around 30-45 seconds. Meanwhile, Will and I disrupted any chase efforts from the main group. Will was very active in jumping on wheels and patrolling the front during this period (accumulating 90 TSS in the 1-hour race).
With about two laps remaining, the breakaway’s lead narrowed to about 20 seconds and I took the opportunity to jump across without taking any passengers. A Terun rider had a similar idea and also made a solo bridge up to the breakaway. We now had five riders in the break with Zack and me representing the largest team presence.
Once in the breakaway, I showed my commitment by taking hard pulls and encouraging the others to continue working. However, the green and red jersey riders didn’t understand how to ride an efficient paceline. They were peeling off to different sides, opening gaps, and generally taking soft pulls on the front. Zack also needed a moment to recover, so initially it was only the Terun rider and me pulling through consistently.
In hindsight, I think Zack and I had the power to stay away from an unorganized peloton, but we were disrupted and demotivated by the other riders. Had we attacked the breakaway and distanced the red and green jersey riders (who appeared to be struggling the most), then we definitely could have maintained a higher speed. Without the confidence or cohesion to make it stick, the gap began to dwindle, and we were soon brought back by the main group with about 1 lap remaining.
Without any other coordinated teams, we were still hopeful that a late move could stay away. We made a few attempts on the final outbound rollers, but nothing ended up sticking. By the turnaround, we resigned to a sprint finish and discussed our options. Since Zack spent a lot of energy in a 40+ minute breakaway, we decided our best chance was to lead me out for the sprint finish.
After going through the turnaround, a rider attacked and Will closed it down to the top of a small roller. To avoid getting swarmed, Will started the leadout from this point, which was about 1.5-2k from the finish.
In hindsight, this was too early to take the front, especially given the effort we had all put into supporting breakaway attempts throughout the race. Will kept it fast until the 1k marker and then Zack took over, doing about 530W for a minute. At ~250 meters to go, a few riders opened up their sprints and I came around Zack to jump on a Terun rider's wheel. A few seconds later, I stood up and came around him to snag 3rd in the sprint.
Overall, we made some mistakes managing the breakaway and recognizing when to attack disruptive riders. And, we learned about the balance between conserving energy for a leadout and staying near the front to avoid being swarmed. Despite these mistakes, we learned some valuable lessons and still managed to come away with a podium in the sprint.