Jordan won his 3rd Cat 4 road race in as many weeks Saturday, this time at the historic Sibley County Road Race. In the final miles, 5 were left to make the bid for victory including Jordan, Benn Hulbert, Nick Vetter, Ben Schinke, and Brian Kozicki.
The course has a mile long gradual climb, with the race finish at the top. There is a similar downhill on the other side of the course. They did 3 laps for a total of 54 miles. Jordan attacked the hill each time, and would string out the field, and open gaps, but every time, there was a general regrouping at the top, due to the wind. Jordan was a marked man, so he remained patient.
On the final lap, Jordan again got a gap on the hill, but then suffered chain "suck" and was delayed. He got it fixed, and chased solo after the front group, only to have it all come back together again. In the tailwind, the group splintered again, the afore mentioned group of 5 formed.
After the downhill, the front 5 were not cooperating very well, seemingly keeping an eye on Jordan. They were at risk of getting caught by few chasers, so Jordan seized the opportunity to attack with about 4 miles to go. Hulbert was the first to react, but couldn't get Jordan's wheel. Jordan slowly opened the gap to around 10-15 seconds, followed by Hubert, and the other 3 further back.
Jordan maintained a steady rhythm, and stayed away for the victory. Hulbert 2nd, Vetter 3rd. Nice race guys.
So the obvious question is when will Jordan upgrade to Cat 3's. The short answer is in July, after he gets some Crit experience. The long answer is the Cat 4's have a large field with some strong riders who are also ready for the Cat 3's. The Cat 3's fields have been very small, and not conducive to learning how to race in a pack. Moving up to the Cat 3's would likely make for harder racing, but Jordan needs to learn tactics too. Therefore, he will probably upgrade in July, just in time for Junior Nationals, and race the August MN road races as a Cat 3.
Neutral Rollout from Henderson
The final selection of 5
3 comments:
super fun race today and jordan pulled it off again - the kid is amazing. i've had a ton of fun racing in the same races as him this year (and have learned a ton myself) and glad he'll be in the 4's for a little longer to keep that going. he's helping make all of us 4's stronger!
-chris
Hmm... its interesting that that course will be used again in August RR. The longer hill doesnt do much though selection wise. I'd like to see the (steeper???) backside used as the uphill part. You hit 54 mph down that thing?!
Cheers from Rich!
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