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March 04, 2010 - A Good Weekend: 3 Wins, 8 Podium Finishes and 1st, 2nd and 3rd Overall
Race Report: Tallahassee Omnium, Tallahassee, Florida
While the Team Type 1 Professional team may have had its day on the podium one week ago in Greenville, South Carolina, members of the Team Type 1 Women's and Developmental Teams made the best of their opportunities at the Tallahassee Omnium as February drew to a close. Team Type 1 riders on both fronts took home a total of three wins, eight podium finishes and grabbed a first, second and third place overall.
On Saturday, the Women's and Developmental teams faced a grueling circuit race that would be a good early season test for Stradford Helms, Justin Morris, Olaf Kerkhof and Simon Bennett of the Developmental squad and Jackie Crowell and Morgan Patton of the Women's team. Coach Tim Henry and professional men's member, Dan Holt, were also in attendance to get some early season racing under their belts.In Saturday's men's race, an early breakaway managed to fend off the best efforts of Henry, Holt, Helms, and Bennett who, according to Morris, "worked like pack horses to try and bring back the move with Justin and Olaf (Kerkhof) waiting in the wings for a fresh finish."
When he saw that the breakaway was not coming back to the field, Morris launched an attack of his own with only one kilometer remaining, drawing out only one other rider. Unfortunately, that rider had two teammates up the road, and would not help Morris' chasing efforts. Morris would notch another fine result in this young season with a fifth place finish, while Team Type 1 again showed they are a fearsome sprinting team, setting Kerkhof up to win the bunch sprint for sixth place. Despite not getting the win, Morris was happy with the team's performance, saying, "it was great to see the guys put themselves through the hurt locker in the effort."
Jackie Crowell used Saturday's circuit race to start of what would be a perfect weekend of racing for Team Type 1's Women's Squad. Crowell managed to wedge a 33 second gap between herself and the day's second placed finisher and take her first win of the season, and the first win in 2010 for the Women's team. Morgan Patton was not far behind, finishing just over two minutes behind her teammate to finish the morning in third place.
"I was going to set Jackie up for a prime sprint, but when I started going, I looked back and there was nobody there," said Patton. "I got the time bonus prime and Jackie bridged up. At that point, I didn't have anything left so I went back to the field." Crowell expanded on the team's tactics, saying, "I countered the field sprint for the time bonus and bridging up to Morgan. Eventually, I broke away from them and soloed in by myself. Morgan motioned for me to go, and I've been working on my time trialing, so it worked out really nicely." "When they called one to go, I attacked for the last lap," said Patton of her final lap. "I managed to finish ten seconds ahead of the group to come in for third."
Next on the team's plate was the day's 2.7-mile individual time trial. Despite having driven the team's chase effort for much of the day's early racing, Tim Henry was able to ride himself to within ten seconds of the stage win, finishing the day's stage in second place with a time of 5:40. Morris followed up his fifth place finish from the morning with an eleventh place finish in the afternoon's time trial, while Kerkhof also had a strong follow up ride to finish the day in thirteenth.
On the women's side, Crowell again proved to be untouchable, covering the course in a mere 6:32, besting second place by four seconds. Patton had her second strong ride of the day, stopping the clock at 6:57, losing only 25 seconds to her teammate. Crowell was very happy with her ride against some stiff competition, saying, "there were some really strong girls there, so I'm really glad that I won!"
Sunday's road race was a "Roubaix style" race through scenic Tallahassee that had riders licking their chops over its three-mile dirt climb. The dirt was the setting for the day's first major attack, which, unsurprisingly, contained Team Type 1's Justin Morris. The dirt continually wreaked havoc on rider's tires, causing multiple flats, including two for Kerkhof. Morris lamented Kerkhof's bad luck, but was again happy with Team Type 1's spirit, saying, "Olaf (Kerkhof) was still poised in the bunch for a possible bunch finish until flat tires struck him too. In an act of a true teammate though, Strad (Helms) surrendered his wheel to the Dutch sprinter. Hats off to Strad!"
With his breakaway mate forced to pull out of the race, Morris elected to return to the bunch rather than face thirty miles on his own. Just one lap later, Team Type 1 was again active in the breakaways, sending three riders up the road into the eventual winning move of seven. Morris again was involved, and was joined by Henry. With two miles to go, the break split in two, with Henry making it into the leading duo, and finishing up the day in second place. Morris' efforts throughout the day netted him a third place finish. Morris' finish was enough to move him into second overall while Henry's finish earned him third overall.
The dirt would again play a major role in the women's event, with equally positive consequences for the team. Activity on the climb allowed Crowell to escape with the day's winning move, making it easy for her to take home her third win of the season. "We were racing with the master men, so I sprinted at the end and got fourth in the masters. I'm working on racing with the guys because that improves my racing in the professional field."
The dirt was not as kind to Patton, however, who was forced out of the pack by the loose riding surface and would spend much of the day chasing the leading group. Despite not being in the front group, Patton soldiered on. "I knew there was only one other girl up with Jackie, so I could have dropped out, but I was racing for third place, so I kept going."
Developmental team director Tim Powell was pleased with his team following the weekend, calling the weekend "a big step in the team's development. The fact that Strad recognized how he could help a teammate who was riding better is huge in my view. I'm looking for great things from the guys this year, with some of it coming through significant sacrifice for the team win." Overall, the team continues to gel as the season progresses, and it won't be long before the team is firing on all cylinders.
