NVGP St. Paul Crit

Jordan, Carla, and I braved the wet weather, and watched the St. Paul Crit last night. The heavy rain subsided for most of both the women's and men's races, but the roads were very wet and slick. They ran counter-clockwise this year, and the finishing straight was greatly narrowed compared to last year.

In the women's race, it was all Kristin Armstrong, lapping the field solo, and then pulling them home. Big props to Theresa Moriarty, Linda Sone, and Shana Sturla for staying in the field, while many riders were getting dropped and pulled. Sone was particularly impressive, with a terrible starting position all the way at the back. She managed to move all the way to the front of the main field. Cam and Paula B rode tough too.

Both fields had particular trouble with turn number 3. A few riders slid out in that corner during the women's race. During the men's race, riders slid out almost every lap. At first, it looked like a manhole in the corner was the problem, but they were sliding out before it. There looked like there was a buildup of oil from the lead and follow motorcycles. Luckily, the pace in that corner was slowed by the uphill grade, and everyone was able to remount and continue.

Later in the men's race, a motorcycle crashed in one of the corners, forcing them to stop the race. When they asked the field if they wanted to continue or cancel the stage, most declined, and they called it a night.

When they called the race, Eric Marcotte was the only local left in the front chase group (2 riders were off the front). Eric had started almost dead last, and picked his way through the field, similar to Sone. A second chase group did contain several of the local elites. Nice work guys, and good luck at the rest of the stages.