Race report: Cal Aggie Criterium 1/2/3

Race: Cal Aggie Criterium, Men’s 1-2-3

Date: 1/27/2024

AVRT racers: Andrea Cloarec, Jon Wells

Top result: Andrea Cloarec 17th/60

Course: 60 minutes, 1.09mi loop (Strava). Two corners at the top of the course including a sharp left, one corner on the right, and a bit of a drag to the finish.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/10643510423/overview

Nutrition: One Bottle with electrolytes and Maple syrup in (around 60-80g per bottle). One Maurten gel just before the start.

Event recap: The full race was quite easy, as the 3 main teams (Terun, TMB, Voler), had all decided to control the race. Meaning every time a solo rider or 2 riders were attacking, they would let them a few seconds ahead, just keeping them in check. But none of the 3 big teams tried to go in a break and attack.
With Jon we mostly stayed in the pack. I think nothing was possible.
Trying to attack would have been a joke for the 3 main teams, as they could easily play with us. (except if you have a power very very high that could threaten them)

At some point a -strong- solo guy managed to get a good gap (20+ seconds), with one lap to go I really thought he would get it. But the peloton really went fast on the last lap and got him on the last 300m.

The idea to get a good result was to fight for position on the last lap. However the last lap was definitely fast, and as the race was pretty easy, the full field was still here, with everyone fresh. So fighting for position was even harder. I was certainly too “scared” to try fighting for position and take risks. So I got at the chicane not in a position to fight for a top10. I still kept pushing through the line, but couldn’t actually compete to the sprint.

A good race, very tactic, where everything happen in the last lap. So there is no room for mistake, and you need to not be scared pushing early to get into position.

AC