Gateway Criterium Finals. USA Crits Individual and Team Win!

 

Standing on the podium felt great!

I had nothing but excitement and high ambitions to bring to Gateway Cup. Less then a week prior, I landed back home in Texas after a month of racing in Europe and I was eager to put my legs to the test against familiar faces. The Gateway Cup included 3 NCC days, the third NCC event being the final for the USA Criterium Series, and it concluded with a non-NCC event rounding out that weekend on Monday

Because of my class schedule (school just started, and it was already getting in the way of bike racing) I could only race Friday through Sunday. These were, however, the biggest and most important days of the week with the fastest competition to race agaisnt.



Arnhem-Veenendaal Classic 1.1

The course map

My final race in Europe would be the most prestigious of all the events on my calendar.  Arnhem-Veenendaal is a UCI 1.1 event that consists of nearly 130 miles of racing. The race starts in the city of Arnhem where we would do circuits in a major park before heading west to Veenendaal to finish the race. Unlike my other races during this Euro trip, the race organizers only allowed 6 riders per team. This cut down the number of overall race starters from the normal 200 racers to just 105. Also present would be three World Tours teams: Cannondale, Belkin, and Movistar. I had no idea what to expect for a race of this length with riders of such caliber.

Zottegem UCI 1.1 My first UCI race with some World Tour Talent

Since I have no pictures of Zottegem. Here's a photo in
Amsterdam!

Going into my first ever UCI 1.1, I had no idea what to expect. There was rain and cobbles on the horizon.  Many teams were eager to get their bit of glory, and with 205 starters, the talent rode deep into the peloton.  There was no telling how things were going to shake out.

Format of the race: a neutral rollout through town to showcase the peloton to the host city, a large 75 km loop which would include many long stretched out crosswind sections, a 4km cobbled road, and one cobbled climb that was part of the tour of Flanders this past year. This was then followed by several smaller laps closer to town which included a very narrow technical section at the end and start of each lap.