Cycling BC Wraps Up its High-Performance Project at the Tucson Bicycle Classic
Cycling BC’s High Performance two-week training and racing project in Arizona wrapped up at the Tucson Bicycle Classic on February 21-23, and the athletes are now back home with new memories, friendships, and racing experiences.
After spending the first week preparing and participating in the Valley of the Sun (VOS) stage race in Phoenix, week 2 started with a “zone 2” adventure up Mt. Lemmon on Tuesday where we were treated to many beautiful vistas of the Arizona desert landscape and some tasty baked treats post-ride. The team set off on a mid-week adventure over Gates Pass in Tucson Mountain Park on Wednesday before meeting up with the other Canadian riders who had traveled to Tucson to race, comprising over 35 athletes from 8 different teams, at a local cafe.
In addition to a well-deserved rest day on Thursday, the athletes were 100% focused on homework, followed by a short ‘openers’ ride to practice for Sunday’s circuit course. The arrival of our volunteer mechanic, Andrew Flowers, from Victoria’s Broad Street Cycles Racing program, was greatly welcomed by the team, and we were ready to go on Friday with a double stage of racing.
Since the Tucson Bicycle Classic is an omnium race, there are fewer incentives for our athletes to “catch the breakaway,” and this provided an opportunity to use slightly different tactics throughout the races.
“This week was different because we were heading into the race weekend with some fatigue in the legs. This was a good opportunity to practice consistent recovery between training and race days,” said Kimberly Chen.
This race also featured different categories and after some recent upgrades amongst our athletes, the composition of the riders from our group was different, with Mateus and Maddox racing the Cat 4 Men and Carson, Julian, Andrew, and Xavier racing the Cat 2-3 Men. Ellie competed in the Cat 4 Women, and Kimberly raced in the Pro-1-2 Women.
Some notable highlights from Week 2:
Cat 2 Women:
In the presence of the Twenty 28 Pro Cycling Team, Kimberly worked with her Red Truck Racing teammates with brilliant positioning in the criterium and excellent performances on Saturday’s road race and Sunday’s circuit race to achieve some new power bests.
Cat 4 Women:
Ellie Winchell continued excelling in the road racing environment and found herself in several breakaways and attacks, culminating in a 3rd place finish in Saturday’s road race from a small break and 3rd place in Sunday’s circuit race, earning her enough points to upgrade to Road Category 3.
Cat 2-3 Men:
Julian narrowly missed the podium in a very selective criterium. He partitioned his effort throughout the week to animate the final stage excitingly, featuring a key breakaway in the final lap.
Carson executed a brilliant performance in his first Cat 2-3 criterium with a 12th place and followed that up with a 5th place finish in Saturday’s “sprinter’s paradise” road race.
Andrew Lawson had a transformational experience in the criterium, earning the holeshot on lap one, rolling away with a break of 12 in the first 10 minutes of the race while the whole pack splintered along the U-turn course, and then winning his group sprint in the latter half. He also placed 12th in the following day’s road race and finished with the lead group on Sunday.
Xavier Fell also partitioned his efforts brilliantly throughout the week. Despite fatigue early Sunday, he executed a committed ride on the final hot and hilly circuit stage. He made significant contributions to his teammates while staying in the lead group until the final lap animations.
Cat 4 Men:
Maddox Johnston and Mateus Dodd worked brilliantly together to animate and dictate the competition, culminating in Maddox’s victory in the Omnium. Mateus achieved numerous power bests and further consolidated his confidence as an up-and-coming climber.
“This weekend of racing was so much fun! I was able to bring everything that I learned from the week prior into my racing and I saw some really good results because of that!” – Ellie Winchell
Stay tuned for more information about Cycling BC’s performance programs throughout the season.
To learn more about Cycling BC’s High Performance Program, visit: cyclingbc.net/high-performance or contact Tara Mowat (tara@cyclingbc.net).
