Author: ND Cycling

On the weekend of March 15-16, the Cycling Irish travelled to St. Charles, MO after a heavy week of training in Longmont, CO for spring break. The Lindenwood Race Weekend featured two days of hard racing. Saturday featured a 13 mile team time trial and a road race with 3 major climbs and 1,700ft of elevation gain per 21-mile lap. Sunday’s criterium was held in downtown historic St. Charles.

Men’s A:

With the help of Freshman B rider James Pratt, A riders John Pratt and Jim Snitzer led the team time trial to 6th place despite missing key A rider Luke Tilmans and not having any aero equipment because of spring break travel. Later in the day, Pratt and Snitzer took the line in the 4-lap, 84 miles road race, the longest of the season. In a crosswind section late in the second lap, Pratt drove a successful attack that saw 14 riders get away from the main field. After several more climbs and riders being dropped from both the breakaway and peloton, it was apparent the break was going to stick. One Marian and one Lindenwood rider managed to get away from the break during the last lap and Pratt took 9th. Meanwhile, back in the second group on the road, Snitzer attacked on the last major climb of the race with a Lindenwood rider. They stayed away until the finish and Snitzer took 11th.

For the second race weekend in a row, the criterium came down to a field sprint, a rarity in collegiate A races. The strong wind made it difficult for attacks to stick. In order to place high in the sprint, you needed to be very close to the front going into the last turn because it was sharp and required riders to slow down and accelerate sharply before the finish line. Pratt entered the turn around 15th place, not a very good position if you are looking for a win. Nevertheless, he showcased his signature sprint to overtake numerous riders in the final meters and move all the way up to 6th. Snitzer finished mid-pack, 32nd.

After his 4th consecutive top-10 finish, Pratt remains in 4th place overall in the MWCCC individual omnium and 1st place in DII. Snitzer moved into 3rd in DII.

Men’s B:

After stepping up to give a tremendous effort in the A team time trial, Freshman James Pratt began the 63-mile, 3 lap road race as a top contender for a podium spot. Although the hills of Missouri allowed the peloton to gain large time gaps on the 6’3” rider from Notre Dame, Pratt powered his way back into contention after each of the first 6 climbs, compensating for his losses by gaining time on the flat sections and the descents. During the final lap, Pratt began to test the rest of the B field by setting the pace on the 7^th big climb of the day. However, the big freshman could not overcome the force of gravity as quickly as some of the competition and settled for a still-impressive top ten finish at the end of the grueling race.

Early in the criterium, a breakaway consisting of 2 riders both from Marian, formed. They ended up staying away until the finish, leaving the field to sprint for 3rd. Pratt prepared to foil the hopes of a Marian sweep of the podium. With 2 laps to go he advanced to 5^th place in the peloton and followed a strong pace set by Minnesota. After accelerating to the front of the peloton during the last lap, Pratt zipped around the final corner and hammered his sprint to a 3^rd place finish several bike lengths ahead of his closest competitors, celebrating a personal best finish in a thrilling field sprint.

Men’s D:

Graduate student’s Tom Frederick and Mike Lorenzen kicked off the weekend with a first place in the team time trial, despite only having 2 of the normally 4-person sized team. Just a few hours later, they both started near the front of the 21-mile, 1 lap road race, with Frederick setting the pace prior to the first of the large hills. Lorenzen suffered a set back during the first climb as two other riders were taken out of contention due to a thrown chain and blown tire. He was able to rejoin the group on the following climb. During the last major climb, a 2-man breakaway formed and Frederick led the chase group. Despite not being able to catch the 2nd place rider, Frederick dropped the other chasers in the final mile to take an impressive 3rd place in his second collegiate road race. Lorenzen hung on to take 23rd.

In the criterium, Lorenzen was sidelined with bike mechanical difficulties while Tom managed to work with a main group of 8 riders. After taking an impressive pull into a 25 mph headwind that pulled the 2nd place rider back into the group with one lap to go, he took 8th.

In Brief:

TTT- Men’s A 6th, Men’s D 1st

RR- John Pratt 9th (A), Jim Snitzer 11th (A), James Pratt 10th (B), Tom Frederick 3rd (D), Mike Lorenzen 23rd (D)

Crit- John Pratt 6th (A), Jim Snitzer 32nd (A), James Pratt 3rd (B), Tom Frederick 8th (D)

The team sits in 4th place in the overall team standings and 1st in DII after two weekends of racing. Next, ND travels to Cleveland, OH for Case Western’s criterium this weekend on Sunday, March 23.

Men’s A:

Notre Dame’s A team began their first weekend of racing in 2014 with a resounding performance all-around. Saturday morning’s team time trial was the first event, where Luke Tilmans (Sr) Jim Snitzer (Jr) John Pratt (Jr) and James Pratt (Fr) drove the Irish to a solid 5th place finish, beating all other non-varsity squads. The 75 mile A road race on Saturday afternoon, contested by over 50 riders, was fast-paced and aggressive throughout. Snitzer and Pratt proved their strength by making the day’s breakaway of 12 riders. In the finale, Pratt fought to an impressive 5th place finish. Tilmans rode strong in the second group on the road, pushing the pace over Kentucky’s countless climbs and finishing a career best 18th. Snitzer posted 29th after his strong start. Sunday’s criterium saw countless attacks off the front, but each one was reeled in by the charging peloton. Pratt once again fought his way off the front, but was reeled back in by the main field. In the final sprint, Pratt took 7th and Tilmans was 28th out of the highly competitive 60 rider field.

Men’s B:

James Pratt was the lone B rider for the Irish. After stepping up to assist the A’s in the morning’s team time trial, the talented freshman stayed with the lead group going into the final climb of the 50-mile B road race and took 8th over the top. He also had a strong performance in his first collegiate criterium.

Men’s D:

Graduate student Tom Frederick completed his first-ever mass start race in a very large D field. After avoiding several wrecks in the early miles of the road race and consequently missing the winning break, he fought his way back through the field. Out-climbing his group on the final climb, he took an impressive 28th out of a 70+ rider field. He also had a very successful first criterium, managing to stay near the front of a D field that was scattered by the cross winds down the backstretch of the course.

Women’s B/C:

Freshmen Sarah Cullen and Emma-Kate Conlin also made their collegiate racing debuts over the Lindsey Wilson weekend. Despite only having the 2 riders for the normally 4-person team time trial, they managed to bring in 3rd place. They each had a very strong showing in their first collegiate road race, with Cullen taking 6th and Conlin 22nd. In Sunday’s criterium, Cullen was 8th and Conlin 17th.

The cycling Irish sit in 5th overall, 1st in DII, in the Midwest Collegiate Cycling Conference after the first weekend of racing. Next up, much of the team will be attending spring break training camp in Longmont, CO. Afterwards, they will return to racing at Lindenwood on March 15-16.

On the weekend of October 11-13, the Notre Dame Cycling Team held its annual Blue-Gold-Green Race. Splitting the team into three squads and racing against ourselves, it makes for some good competition during our offseason from road racing. Festivities got underway with Friday’s (no aero equipment) 6 mile individual time trial. On the women’s side, grad student Lillie Romeiser narrowly took the win with a time of 17:08, just five seconds faster than sophomore Paige Handy and freshman Sarah Cullen. The best time of the day was set by junior Jim Snitzer, at 13:54, with grad student Andrew O’Donnell and junior John Pratt taking 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

Saturday’s 21 mile road race made for some very exciting racing with large time gaps. Despite missing the winning break, freshman James Pratt (5th) and sophomore Joe Mueller (6th) put in very strong performances and showed good promise for the future of Notre Dame Cycling.

After a successful attack with about 2 miles to go, John Pratt managed to stay away from chasers Snitzer and O’Donnell to take the win. Handy was the first woman to cross the line.

Sunday, the final day of racing, saw John Pratt take his third consecutive Blue-Gold-Green criterium title ahead of O’Donnell and Mueller, who finished 3rd in his first ever criterium. Sophomore Sam Melgar K (4th) and grad student Tom Frederick (5th) also performed well. Romeiser won the women’s crit, while freshman Emma-Kate Conlin took 2nd. Congratulations to David Berno, Joe Mueller, Martin Duchoissis, John Clifford, Jon Leslie, Tom Frederick, Lillie Romeiser, Sarah Cullen, and Emma-Kate Conlin, all of whom made their Notre Dame bike racing debuts during the Blue-Gold-Green weekend.