Dan Wolfson (Hot Tubes) crosses the finish line in 5th place in the Senior Men Cat 3 field at Sterling.
He is being overtaken by the Pro/1/2 field, that his break had passed earlier in the race.
photo credit: Jonathan McElvery
Dan Wolfson
(Hot Tubes) crosses the finish line in 5th
place in the Senior Men Cat 3 field at Sterling.
He is being overtaken by the
Pro/1/2 field, that his break had passed earlier in the race.
photo credit: Jonathan McElvery
Dan Wolfson initiated the break in the 2nd lap of the Sr Men Cat 3 - 56 mile race, and was able to maintain a 30-40 second gap over the field while working with another rider who went with him. Back in the field, Dan's Hot Tubes teammates Ian Stuart and Bill Skinner protected his break by controlling the field. With about 3 laps remaining in the 7 lap event, Ian bridged across with 2 other riders, while Bill remained in the pack to block. Now with fresh legs and 5 men in the break, Ian and Dan were able to stretch their lead to over 1:30. In the 6th lap, their break passed the main field of the Pro/1/2 race that had started 10 minutes before the Cat 3's. On the final assault of the Sterling finishing climb, Ian sprinted in for 2nd place. Meanwhile Dan had sat up at the bottom of the hill, completely drained after laying it all out on the road for over 50 miles. The P/1/2 field caught up to Dan half way up the hill, and rode with him as he crossed the line. The main pack of the 3's charged the hill less than a minute later and Bill was able to take 3rd in the field sprint for 8th place overall - a fantastic finish after a long day at the office of sacrifice for his teammates. Hot Tubes coach Toby Stanton was thrilled with his "boys" performance that day, as he stood on the hill orchestrating their play like a true maestro.