2009 Green Mountain Stage Race
Victor Riquelme headed out on the road recently, to the the mountains of Vermont for a challenging late season stage race.
His trip did not start out well, as he was involved in spectacular high speed crash the day before the prologue, going off the road at 45mph while pre-riding a descent scheduled to be included in Sunday’s road race. None the less, he was on the start line the next day.
Big World Time Trial
The prologue was 5.5 miles long, and started out with 2.5 miles of about 6% grade. Then came 2 flat miles with a stiff head wind, followed by a short downhill, then a steep power hill, which finally gave way to a gentle 4-5% grind for the last 500m to the finish.
Riquelme finished with a time of 15:42.57
GC after stage 1 – 8th/105 +1:05 to the leader.
The Bridges Circuit Race
The circuit race featured 3.75 20 mile laps on rolling terrain. Starting just past the feed zone was a steep, two tiered, two mile climb, with a KOM point on the top. After that was a downhill section, followed by a few corners and a few short climbs. 5k of gradual downhill led to a screaming fast downhill last kilometer, which flattened out for the finish with 300 meters to go.
In the feed zone on an early lap.
Riquelme survived a treacherous last kilometer, narrowly avoided 3 crashes, and sprinted out of the pack for the stage victory. With the 15 second time bonus that was on offer for the stage win he moved up to 6th in the GC.
A huge pile up mid pack inside the last 200m.
Riquelme wins the circuit race by half a bikelength.
The Cat.3 circuit race podium.
Mad River Road Race
The Cat.3 field cresting the Brandon Gap
The road race course was difficult, 75 miles long, with a few large climbs along the way, and a very steep mountain top finish. A non-threatening break of 6 got away early, and 4 of them sat up after 14 miles, following a green jersey sprint point that was out on the road. A lack of team organization allowed the remaining 2 men in the break to build up a gap of almost 3 minutes. The main field stayed together all the way until the final climb, and the break went down to 1 man, Randall Jacobs, who won the stage by 1:41 and took the yellow jersey. Riquelme finished 15th, +2:44 to the stage winner, and slipped down to a tie for 10th in the GC.
Riquelme finished the road race glued to the wheel of Todd Robertson, who he had gone into the day tied in the GC with.
Burlington Criterium
The final stage was a 32 lap criterium in downtown Burlington. The course had 8 90 degree corners, with a technical downhill section and an uphill finishing stretch. Of 94 men that started this final stage, 20 were dropped before the halfway point, and eliminated completely from GC contention.
In the early laps the peloton snaked across a full 2 city blocks. Those not in front had to move up, or face elimination.
Marshall Ambros, who after winning the prologue had worn the yellow jersey for the previous two stages, attacked the field after an intermediate sprint for GC time bonuses. He could not be reeled back in, and lapped the field. Riquelme hung on, finishing with the leading group, 31st/35. 40 others were dropped, pulled, and give pro-rated times. This performance moved Riquelme up to 7th in the final GC, with a time of 7:43:44, +2:35 to the race leader.
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atta boy Vic. great work out East.