Aaron drills the front on 1-to-go

A View From The Top

The course is technical four-corner criterium run clockwise through Market Square.  A full field of 86 riders lined up for the elite men’s event.  The first few laps of the race saw little action, but it didn’t take long to heat up.  Many attacks ensued as MetLife was present in practically everything attempting to roll off the front.  The last 2 years have seen a break sneak away for the win, so nothing was given much room.  The MetLife boys took turns attacking and covering moves for much of the race, but nothing seemed to stick.  A blistering counter-attack, laid down by Nick “The Lion” Bennette with 10 laps to go, came very close to snapping the elastic in the field, but ultimately didn’t last more than a few laps.  With 5 laps to go, the team moved to the front to execute the field sprint plan laid out prior to the race.  Aaron, Corey and Ryan kept the pace high for the next three laps while Brad and Nick positioned themselves for the sprint.  Coming into the last lap, Ryan, Brad and Nick seemed to be perfect position, with Ryan ready to sacrifice himself for the leadout.  With one last look back to make sure they were still in position, Ryan drilled it down the back straight and into final tight and technical two turns, rounding onto the finishing straight at 3o mph.  Unfortunetly, some chaos had ensued behind and Nick and Brad were pushed off Ryan’s wheel.  The team still put 4 riders into the top fifteen though with Ryan in seventh, Nick in ninth, Brad in thirteenth and Alain in fourteenth.  Look for team at many of the local ‘cross races this fall.

Ryan and Nick Near the Front of the Field