Race Report: Stapleton Crit SM 3/4

Race report sm3-4 palmares stapleton crit.

Gathering around the Primal tent pre-race, the general atmosphere was light and the prevailing attitude was that everyone wanted to have a fun race and avoid crashing.  With a squad of about 10 guys, we had no cohesive plan and no dedicated leader, but did throw out the possibility of attempting a couple breaks.  

On lap 2, a break got away, but we weren't in it.  We were patient to let it come back and I sat near the front without ever having to do any time in the wind.  Just as I was about to take a turn, Phil Kealy, making his triumphant return to racing after a two year hiatus, came flying past and did strong work to help bring the break back.  At some point during this, the peloton got split in half, but I don’t know why or when.  

with 9 laps or so to go. I went on a pretty weak attack that got brought back within a lap.  Colin Zimmerman went on his own attack shortly after.  It was a good move, but also got pulled back.  When he got caught he just stayed on the front and drove the tempo for most of the last 5 laps.  Trevor got on the front to drive the pace near the end.  

At the last lap I was positioned perfectly, but someone moved left and hit my handlebars, sending  me into a bit of a wobble. I lost places and was about 15th wheel through the series of turns.  Coming out of turn 6, I made a quick hard move on the left and was able to move up to 5th, where I stayed through the final stretch until the finish.  

Meanwhile, Corey, making his own triumphant return to racing, outsprinted the rest to become champion of the grupetto!Overall, everything went exactly according to our plan to have fun.