Race Report: Tucson Bicycle Classic 2023 - Men’s Cat 2/3

Race: Tucson Bicycle Classic - Men’s Cat 2/3

Date: 3/3/23 - 3/5/23

AVRT Racers: Cameron O’Reilly, Nathan Martin, Jon Wells, Grant Miller, Austin King, Andrea Cloarec, Jack Liu, Shane McGuire

Top Results: GC: Cameron (1/110), TT: Nathan (7/110), RR: Cameron (2/110), CR: Andrea (22/110)

Course: Rolling uphill TT. Rolling road race with a gradual climb/descent and plenty of wind. Narrow four-corner circuit race with a downhill into T4.

Nutrition: Scratch and maltodextrin, about 500ml water and 60g carbs per hour

Summary: This was the first time since at least 2019 that AVRT has sent both men’s and women’s teams out of state to compete in a national level race. I’m extremely happy with both the team results we achieved (1st in GC for Women 3 and Men 2/3 and 15th for Women P12) as well as how well everyone worked together off the bike. Thanks to everyone pitching in, the whole operation ran very smoothly and we arrived at every stage well fed, rested, and prepared to race. A huge thank you also to our financial sponsors Dave Keefe Real Estate/Action Properties, B5 Capital, Summit Bicycles, and Palo Alto Concrete and Construction whose support helps us cover some of the costs of attending races like this.

(Most of) the squad after our first ride in Tucson

Stage 1 Time Trial: Strava

The time trial was pretty straightforward: a 3.5 mile effort on a rolling uphill similar to Cull Canyon but shorter. We had a tailwind so I estimated it would be about a 9 minute effort. My pacing strategy was to stay a little over my FTP on any flat/uphill sections and let off the gas a little on the downhill portions since there wasn’t much to gain by spinning out. Overall I averaged about 355W for 8:51, right behind Nathan at 8:50 putting us 8th and 7th respectively on GC, about 15 seconds behind the leader. Andrea, Jon, and Grant all also put down very fast times at 9:09, 9:13, and 9:14, meaning we had 5 people within about 30 seconds off the leader! This was a great team result and gave us many cards to play in the RR on day 2.

Stage 2 Road Race: Strava, YouTube

The Road Race was AV’s best shot at establishing a GC lead. Our strategy was to have Andrea, Jon, and Grant initiating and covering earlier moves since they would all be GC threats if they got up the road, while Austin, Shane, and Jack would keep the pace fast and ensure earlier moves without AV didn’t go far, as well as help position Nathan and I for later moves that were more likely to stick. The ideal scenario was getting Nathan or I into a late race move with the minimum number of people ahead of us on GC.

This race was a really cool experience for me as one of the protected riders. With the rolling terrain I was consistently able to see the front of the pack, and at every opportunity noticed an AV jersey up near the front. I was able to relax and focus on conserving energy as well as staying safe amidst all the sketchy wheels and crashes. I fully trusted my teammates to cover anything threatening, and they delivered. 

On the second lap, Andrea and another rider who was not a GC threat went off the front. This was a great scenario for AV, since Andrea was high enough on GC to force Fort Lewis College and Fount Cycling, who had GC1 and G2, to chase. The wind and limited gradients meant the pack didn’t have a huge advantage over two strong riders rolling turns, and Andrea stayed away for about 40 minutes while other teams burned out all their domestiques chasing, which turned out to be critical for the later part of the race. I moved up toward the front of the pack as the gap began to close at the start of lap 3, anticipating a counter attack. When I got near the front I was ecstatic to see Jack “setting pace” on the front while other riders shouted “GO AROUND HIM, HIS TEAMMATE IS UP THE ROAD”. 

As the chase deteriorated into bridge attempts, I was fresh enough to cover these and neutralize many of them as riders realized they were not only bringing another AV rider up to the break, but also a higher placed GC rider. We caught Andrea’s break around the start of the downhill, at which point I drifted back in the pack since nobody would be able to create separation on the gradual downhill. Once we made the turn at the bottom with about 7 miles left, the pack predictably sprinted out of it then slowed due to the headwind (exactly like the SJBC practice crits for those of you that have raced these), allowing me to move up and find Austin. 

As Austin navigated me up closer to the front, an attack went with Grant covering (about 4:10 in Jon’s video). The break dangled a few seconds ahead, causing the pace to surge as the field narrowed from 10 wide to 5 wide. Austin kept me sheltered and moving forward; with less than 7 miles left and a tired field now was the chance for something to stick. As Grant’s break began to come back, Andrea pulled up alongside me and shouted to get on his wheel, which I did. He brought me steadily up to the front then when we were sitting about 15th wheel I told him to punch it, slingshotting me off the front left of the peloton just as two other riders countered from the right. Jack was on my wheel and he just let my wheel go; the rest of the AV riders gathered at the front blocking the whole field (very effective when we had 6 riders and the road was narrow) and watched as I broke away. The other two riders, Ben (solo) and Max (Project 74), were both behind me on GC and I still had Nathan in the field, so I knew immediately I had to fully commit to the break. We rolled smooth turns and communicated positioning to stay sheltered from the crosswind. When I looked back I could see the field of ~100 riders only a few seconds back. It was sort of like a scene from a movie where characters are fleeing a literal army behind them. Meanwhile in the pack, it was very clear the break would go away when the GC1 rider went to the front desperately trying to close the gap as no one was helping. 

As we approached the finish I could tell all three of us were exhausted. Had this been a one day race our 20 second gap would have incentivized more gamesmanship, but given we all had at least some GC ambition it wasn’t until the final 100m that anyone opened a sprint. Ben launched and I couldn’t follow, but still came 2nd to collect some bonus seconds and, more importantly, a 21 second gap on the rest of the field. This gave me the GC lead by 3 seconds over Ben, who moved up significantly with his bonus seconds, with a solid gap to the rest of the GC contenders. 

Happy team after a successful effort

Into the Leader’s Jersey!

Stage 3 Circuit Race: Strava, YouTube

The circuit race was very chaotic. The course itself was relatively flat, meaning there were few opportunities to drop riders or create separation for a breakaway. Since I had only a 3 second lead on GC, the goal was to position me well for the intermediate bonus seconds so I could try and secure my position before the field sprint that I was extremely unlikely to place in. Despite starting at the front of the pack, however, I was quickly shuffled back as riders began surging and attacking. In the first 10 minutes or so there were two large crashes, which took out both Shane and Grant as well as really spooked me for the rest of the race. While I have the fitness to tailgun a 2/3 field and chase back on around dropped riders, this isn’t a great strategy and I need to get more comfortable fighting for front positions in P12 races.

I spent most of the race latching onto teammates’ wheels so they could help me navigate up through the field. Since the course didn’t do much to tire people out, riders were always driving the pace at the front (whether because they wanted a result on the stage, for GC, or just wanted to ride hard for no reason) and we had only one lane for a 100+ person field, there weren’t the same opportunities to burn a match and move up 50 spots that there are on some local crit courses like San Rafael or Santa Cruz. Thankfully my teammates did a great job of keeping the field stitched up all race and preventing any splits or breaks that would have threatened my GC standing; Jon and Jack stayed glued to the wheels of GC2 and GC3 for the whole race, making sure they didn't take any bonus seconds. No breakaways stuck and we finished as a pack after a crash within 3k of the line (which unfortunately involved Nathan). None of the other top GC riders had taken any bonus seconds, so my slim lead from the road race held and I held onto the jersey for the overall GC win!

GC Podium

Successful defense of the GC lead!