Green Mountain Stage Race: Stage 2 - Road Race
Warren, VT – The Queen’s stage of the 2008 Green Mountain Stage Race was a modified version of the previous Mad River road race course, because of heavy rains that forced the changes for the Circuit Race the 2008 Champion System Mad River Road Race course was re-routed to traverse the slightly less intense Brandon Gap instead of Middlebury Gap and run 75 miles to the finish atop App Gap. With two mountainous passes, this day was likely to be the greatest determinant of overall GC.
From the start of racing Scott Brooks formed a break with four other riders and they managed to work well together staying away for the first hour of the race soaking up all of sprint points before being caught. John Broussard, Mark Theeman, Justin Howe, and Scott all rode well and made it over Brandon Gap with the pack and played conservatively until Baby Gap. Mark Theeman continued his unlucky streak and suffered another flat tire (his second in just as many days) popping him out the back, while John and Scott rode strong in the top 20 before being popped 2.5k from the summit. Final results were Scott 42nd, John 43, Justin 66th and Mark 70th. This moves Brooks and Broussard into 33rd and 34th respectively on GC!
The biggest goal for the Cat 2s today was survival: get over the top of Brandon Gap with the front group if possible, and then conserve for the hard final climb where the big time gaps would happen. All the team members are pretty good climbers and had hopes of making that front group, but Peter Bradshaw in particular was looking to get back the 30 seconds he lost on the previous day.
After the 3 mile downhill neutral the field set out for the sprint line 12 miles away, downhill through Granville Gulf. The pace was fast down into the Gulf, assisted by a strong tailwind, but the field was generally more relaxed than the previous day; there were a few flats and a couple of crashes caused by bad cracks in the pavement. One of the crashes sent a rider down right in front of Todd Rowell, sending him over his bars and into a ditch; his subsequent chase was fruitless and he eventually abandoned the race, muddy and sore but unbloodied.
Back in the field, things were going well for Peter and Roy Van Cleef, and both made the front group over the climb, although Roy missed his bottle in the high-speed feed zone. Roy was dealt a second blow when he flatted at the bottom of the Brandon descent; although he never reconnected with the field he rode to the finish well within the time cut.
In the end, Peter was the man of the day, finishing just two minutes down from the leader in 30th, which launches him up to 33rd overall. Roy finished 108th on the day, and is now 114th on GC. Tomorrow they face the technical, high-speed downtown Burlington criterium.
Lastly, a shout-out to Clara Kelly, who placed 5th on the day in the Women’s P/1/2/3 field, and is now in 6th on GC. Awesome for anyone, especially someone who started the year as a Cat 4! Clara is also a graduate of the 2008 NEBC Spring Racing Clinic.
Photos courtesy of Geoff Martin