Columbia KY – 45 riders were at the start of the 75 mile Men’s A road race in the hills of Columbia, KY. With 5 major climbs per 25 mile lap, Lindsey Wilson College’s course had been described as, “nothing like the rest of the courses in the conference.” by LWC cycling Coach Dave Grisby and set the stage for the beginning of the 2011 road season. Attacks began almost from the gun as both Marian University and Lindsey Wilson attempted to establish early breakaways before the road began to climb. Magro and Ansel both started towards the rear of the peloton as the field stretched into a long line with speeds touching 35mph. Midway through the first circuit a small break was able to distance itself from the field and the pace settled. With most of the major climbs located towards the rear of the loop, Magro and Ansel began to move forward in anticipation of attacks on the climbs. Maxwell Anderson of Wisconsin-Platteville paced the field up to the start finish line with Magro sitting right on his wheel and Ansel not far behind. Cresting the climb Anderson and Magro were joined by Naveen John of Purdue and Jackie Simes of Marian. The group was able to briefly escape before an effort from Lindsey Wilson college brought the field back together again entering the valley section of the course. Anderson, a DII rival, immediately attacked again and, 20 seconds behind, Magro was forced to lead the main field’s chase. Unable to bridge, and with little cooperation from Marian, the breakaway slowly pulled out of sight and Magro merged back into the peloton. Crosswinds on the plateau at the beginning of the second lap saw Ansel unhitched from the field, but he was able to return to the peloton midway through the circuit. Heading into the climb at the conclusion of lap 2, Magro again rode towards the front as the field shattered on the climb. Joseph Kukolla of Marian crested the hill with a 5 second advantage over Magro, Andrew Otte of Purdue, and Jackie Simes of Marian with the field a further 10 seconds back. Otte and Magro worked to reel in Kukolla and once together the group of 4 would not be seen again by the peloton. Slowly sweeping up the remnants of earlier breakaways, including Anderson, Kukolla, Magro, Otte, and Simes started the final climb of the day racing for 3rd. Magro paced the group up the kilometer ascent and dropped the DII Platteville rival. Content with finishing first in DII, Magro didn’t contest the sprint and came across the line in a career best 7th overall. Ansel finished soon after and also recorded a career best 13th place.
(further reports coming time permitting. midterms are here)
TTT
Men’s C 1st
RR :
Men’s A
- Joe Magro 7th
- Douglas Ansel 13th
Men’s C
- Michael Tonzi 11th
- Andrew O’Donnell 20th
- Josh Corcoran 30th
- Rob Piscatelli 37th
- Kike Gorbea 41st
Criterium
Men’s A
- Joe Magro 19th
- Douglas Ansel 33rd
Men’s C
- Michael Tonzi 12th
- Andrew O’Donnell 14th
- Josh Corcoran 21st
- Rob Piscatelli 37th
- Enrique Gorbea 39th
After Week 1 ND is in second in D2 Conference Rankings
Magro 1 point out of D2 Individual lead, Ansel 3rd in D2 conference standings. Magro and Ansel 10th and 19th respectively in overall Conference rankings.