Johnson City Crit

This past Sunday we raced the Johnson City Crit. The course was very technical and it was wet for our race. I was sitting in first overall with Oliver in 3rd with Jonathan Freter of Astellas sandwiched between us. The plan was for us to be aggressive and for one of us to take the win and the overall. Oliver attacked from the gun and had a gap. This put Jonathan on the edge. He wasn't able to go through the turns well because I think he had too much pressure in his tires. Others bridged to Oliver, so I passed Jonathan and went with those riders. After bridging up I attacked, but a lot of riders followed me. During this point I crashed in a slick turn but was ok and rejoined in the break. Oliver countered me and that was it really. He had a gap that would last through the end of the race. Chris Uberti of Finish Strong attacked but I couldn't follow him at that point in time. I was too far back, and he got too big of a gap to chase back without brining the whole field. I attacked multiple times just to get up the road and away from the peloton in the closing stages of the race. I finally got away with Sam Kieffer of Think Green-VO2 Multisport with about 15 laps left to race. I worked with him to establish a gap, but as we got closer to Oliver and Chris I told him I couldn't work. The field came close with about 6 laps to go, so I worked to re-establish our gap for a few laps. Then I quit working again. In the front Oliver was sitting on Chris as well. Oliver was able to outspent Chris and take the win, but I was not able to outsprint Sam and took 4th. I was really close, but that was all I had. In winning the race Oliver took the overall win as well. I am super happy for him because he has worked for me during a lot of races in the past. He is a super teammate who is always working for the team, so it really is nice to see him take 3 wins this past weekend. I am also thankful to our teammate Nolan's parents Tracey and David Tankersley for opening up their home to us over the weekend. They cooked for us and were very positive and relaxing to be around. Next weekend we race the Air Force Cycling Classic in Washington D.C.