Our First Team Win of Toad at Beloit

Winning Feels Good

Beloit (Day 5. Roster: Cory, Justin, Brandon, Andy, Hogan, and myself)

The two NCC races of the week concluded with UHC taking their bounty and leaving, creating this massive power vacuum that many teams wanted to fill.  After a strong aggressive ride yesterday, Astellas was eager to flex our legs in today’s stage of ToAD.

Beloit was a flat, fast three-corner 0.7-mile loop. After a few recon laps on the course, we made a plan for the best result. Our roster included myself, Justin, Cory, Brandon, Hogan, and Andy. Our plan of action was to keep things together with Justin as our designated sprinter and getting Brandon a top result as he sits in great position for the overall standings.

Going into the race, we hoped to control of the race with about 5 laps to go. From there, we would raise the speed and drop off Justin at the final corner to take it to the line. 

The race started off swiftly as many riders were riding very aggressive from the gun. I was able to get to the front and cover several moves. It was obvious that many riders were feeling fatigued from five straight days of racing for gaps were forming throughout the race, something that does not normally happen with fresh legs. Hogan, Andy, Cory, and I worked very well with each other making sure we had a guy covering every move. If we did not have anyone in the move, our guys went to the front and brought things together.

I was pretty shocked to see just how much the field was splitting up as many large groups separated, but nothing was getting too far up the road. We were all surprised to see the high level of intensity from the other teams as it looked like we were the only team that was really racing for field sprint as we tried to keep things together. As the race started to get closer to the finish, the aggression of the other racers was increasing as more riders were looking to slip away. I found Justin with about 20 laps to go who gave me a few words of encouragement.  Soon after, I was on the front with Cory, bringing back another large split that went off the front.

Mid-race, we modified our original plan to take control with 5 laps to go.  Instead, we decided to give it everything we got to keep things together for as long as possible. I would give my last push for the team with about 7 laps to go before I lost connection with the group with 2 to go.

I watched the group come through the start-finish line going into the final lap and saw Justin and Brandon in perfect position. I could tell by the concentration on Justin’s face that he was in for the WIN. Justin took off at the last corner and sprinted to the front in the last 100 meters, taking home the FIRST WIN for Astellas at ToAD 2014.

This team win was long overdue.  A steady rotation of fresh legs into the races allowed us to follow through with our plans.  In addition, our ability to modify our race plans and adapt to race situation contributed to the win. Cycling is a sport where anything can happen at any time -  having a group of guys who are versatile and can work well under pressure is key.