Race Report: 2024 Valley of the Sun Stage Race - Men's Pro/1
Race: 2024 Valley of the Sun Stage Race - Men's Pro/1
Date: February 16-18, 2024
AVRT racers: David Domonoske, Pierre-Amaury Laforcade, Nathan Martin, Greg McCullough, Cam O’Reilly
Overall GC Top Result: David Domonoske (18th)
Stage 1 (Time Trial)
Top Result: Nathan Martin (25th)
Course: A 10 mile, pancake-flat out-and-back in the middle of the Arizona desert. There was a slight cross-tailwind on the way out and a slight cross-headwind on the way back. There was one corner in the course, meaning there were 4 times when you had to sprint up to speed— the start, the corner each direction, and the turnaround.
Strava: strava.com/activities/10775561386 (David)
Recap: There isn’t much to report as this event is simple — race as hard as you can until you cross the finish. While it is simple, it is far from easy. Not only do you have push as much power as possible, you have to do it while holding as aerodynamic a position as possible. Nathan and I (David) were on time trial bikes, while Cam, Greg, and Pierre were on their road bikes. Nathan put down a smoking time of 20:11, averaging a ripping 29.5 mph for the 10 mile course.
Stage 2 (Road Race)
Top Result: David Domonoske (19th)
Road Race Course: 6 laps of a 16.5 mile triangle, also in the middle of the Arizona desert, for a total of 95 miles. The roads are long and straight, so you can see riders that are miles away. The first two corners are on the flats and aren’t consequential, but the third corner is right before the base of the finish “climb”. The finish is about half a mile after the false summit of a modest 1.6 mile climb at 3.5%.
Road Race Strava: strava.com/activities/10783124718 (David)
Recap: Our plan for the road race was to sit in and watch the race unfold for at least the first half. It’s a long race, so the probability of an early breakaway making it to the finish is low. We also didn’t have anybody very high up on GC, so we had no responsibility to chase. This was smart, but it meant for a very boring start to the race for us. A few lazy attacks went that formed the breakaway, and then we were sitting in the group doing absolutely no work. At times, my heartrate dropped below 100 bpm. For one section, I averaged 100 watts for 15 minutes. This really demonstrates the power of riding in a peloton, because we were still averaging 27 mph.
More attacks started to go at the top of the climb at the end of the second lap. There was some chaos as riders got brought back while the next ones attacked. As riders flew by at different speeds there was a touch of wheels, and a large part of the peloton went down. Unfortunately, Nathan was caught up in the crash, hitting his head and snapping his fork. Greg stayed back with Nathan while Cam and I sprinted to catch up to the peloton and join Pierre, who hadn’t been affected by the crash.
The gap to the breakaway grew to 5:30 as teams slowed down to wait for teammates that were chasing back on. Once most riders had rejoined the group, the pace picked up as the large gap to the break had to be addressed. Fortunately, the next few laps were fast and uneventful.
The fatiguing reality of riding an entire day in a breakaway started to take its toll on its constituents, and the peloton started collecting dropped breakaway riders during the last lap. With half a lap to the finish, the remnants of the breakaway had been caught and everybody was focused on the field sprint.
The hill makes the finish slower and more difficult than a traditional field sprint, but it still comes down to a bunch sprint. Pierre moved me up through the group on the backside of the course as we approached the final corner. By the time we reached the corner we were positioned around 10th wheel. There was a strong headwind, so the group wasn’t going particularly fast, making it difficult to hold position. The front of the group went slow as they battled the wind, while the riders behind sat comfortably in the draft and used the extra power to try to move up. 30 riders were trying to sit 5th to 10th wheel, and we were crammed in like sardines, often bumping shoulders and hips with riders to either side.
As we crested over the false summit, Eddy Huntsman, an excellent road and track racer, launched his sprint. I jumped onto his wheel, but unfortunately for both of us it was far too early with the headwind and false flat uphill. He began to fade and I wanted to keep the pace up, but I also knew that it was far too early. I came around Eddy and then faded myself. Then Cory Williams came around me and faded too. Only then did Aevolo get the timing right and come around us with a perfectly timed jump. The rest of the sprint bunch soon passed me as I just tried to keep my legs turning over to the finish line.
I ended up 19th on the stage—a disappointing result, but there were still some positives. We worked well as a team during the last lap to get into position when it mattered, and my legs were good enough to stay with the front group up the final climb.
Stage 3 (Criterium)
Top Result: David Domonoske (1st)
Course: A 1 mile, pancake-flat course with 8 corners. After the start finish there are 6 corners in quick succession. The first and third corner can pinch a little, but for the most part these are wide open corners. The first riders into them don’t have to brake at all. Then there’s a long back straight, 2 final corners, and about 300 meters to the finish.
Strava: strava.com/activities/10790606711 (Pierre)
Recap: Crits are interesting because the race isn’t necessarily easier when you’re at the back of the peloton. This is because the corners force the group to slow down, and the back of the group must brake earlier, slow down more, and sprint harder out of the corner. This crit was no different. I lined up at the start early to have a good position, and straight from the start I sprinted to hold that position. For the entire race my goal was to float around in the top 20 wheels.
The group would remain fairly organized through the corners, but in the long finish straight and back straight people would sprint up the side of the group to gain position. This caused the peloton to be very chaotic in these straights, and you didn’t want to get stuck in the middle and get forced to the back of the group. In these straights you had to constantly be aware of what was going behind you and try to match the people that were sprinting by instead of having them go around you and swarm you.
PA and I were sitting near the front for the entire race, spending as little energy as possible (still quite a bit) to float between attacks and use our momentum to stay near the front without getting swarmed. As the race neared the end it became more difficult to stay near the front because everybody wanted to be ready for the sprint. Normally, a large team(s) will start controlling the front with a leadout, and the pace will increase, however nobody took on this role. Instead, everybody was fighting for positions, and the long straights allowed the organized group to turn into a washing machine where riders were sprinting down the wide road, trying to move into a good position before the turn. I think I did about 15 mini sprints in the last few laps to hold my position between 5th and 10th wheel and avoid being swarmed. We were bumping shoulders and hips, and I’d say those last 3 laps was some of the scariest riding I’ve ever done.
With 1 lap to go I was still in a good position, but I had to keep that position down the back straight. After exiting the corners, I made sure to stay on the right side of the group so that I wouldn’t get stuck in the middle of the group. Sure enough, a team with a single leadout rider started to sprint by on the right side. I jumped from the draft I was in to the riders that were moving by on the right and kept sprinting to keep others from coming around me. Going into the last 2 corners I was 5th or 6th wheel, and I was excited—the swarming and fighting for position was over, and it was time to sprint. We came out of the last corner and I opened up my sprint in the full draft of the riders in front of me. I was able to get fully up to speed before having to come around the rider in front of me and hit the wind. By this point I was going 1 or 2 mph faster than the other sprinters, and I was slowly able to come around them as we neared the line. Ecstatic, I crossed the line in first.