Avondale Criterium #1

A handful of members from the Trisports.com/Eclipse Racing team decided to double-up on the racing action this weekend and headed up to the Phoenix area for the Avondale Criterium #1.  These early season races are a good test of fitness and for the opportunistic, a chance to snag some crucial upgrade points.  The Avondale course is fairly simple with 3 turns and a wide sweeping bend before coming back to the start/finish. The smooth pavement and non-technical aspect of the course typically makes for some fast racing.

Up first was the Men’s Cat 2/3 which involved Andre McNulty, Justin Orkney, Christian Maldonado and Brian Ellis. There was a lot of strategy discussion prior to the race but the main focus was to keep Christian out of trouble and get him a good finish (and hopefully some of those sweet upgrade points). The pace was fast from the start and despite hard efforts from TriSports, Bike Haus, and Carlos O’Brien’s, no break was able to stick. With the group all together the finish would come down to a field sprint. On the final lap Andre was sitting in 6th position with Justin on his wheel and Christian close behind. Through the final sweep, Andre gave his last kick with Justin soon to follow. Thanks to their efforts, Christian was able to sprint his way to 5th place and Justin took 7th!

Next on the agenda was Andre racing in the Men’s 40+ division. Andre rode smart and stayed near the front for the entire 40 minutes of the race. As such, he managed to keep the rubber-side down and finish strong.

Unfortunately, Andre had to head back to Tucson early for work which left Justin and Brian to contend with the Pro/1/2 field. Based on the UA Crit the day before, the large field size and the fast course, there was one thought going into this race…

Despite being 75 minutes long, most of this race was a blur. There were plenty of attacks and Justin and Brian tried to cover most of them (or at least the ones that seemed like they were worthwhile). After about 45 minutes, a break of about 8 riders got up the road containing a few notables such as Eric Marcotte (ELBOWZ racing), Jon Parrish (Bike Haus Elite), Tanner Putt (BMC Hincapie Sportswear) and a handful of other riders from Bike Haus, Carlos O’Brien’s, Landis-Trek, etc. With just about every team represented and content with their riders up ahead, the field sat up and rode tempo the rest of the race before getting pulled a few laps early to let the lead group finish unimpeded. The final podium was Eric Marcotte (1^st), Tanner Putt (2^nd) and Jon Parrish (3^rd).

Wrapping things up for the day was Christian in the Cat 3/4 race. The field size was enormous so Christian wisely stayed near the front and marked the wheels of a few select riders. As with the previous races, the pace was fast for the entire 45 minutes and a handful of futile attacks never went anywhere. The race came down to a field sprint at the end and Christian was able to finish in 3^rd place!

-Brian Ellis