Old Pueblo Grand Prix

On Saturday, the TriSports Cycling/Eclipse Racing team lined up in Tucson’s biggest cycling race of the season, the Old Pueblo Grand Prix. Expectations were high as the team was still enjoying their recent successes in Murrieta, Avondale and Tucson Bicycle Classic. With nearly a full squad including Brian Ellis, Andre McNulty, Justin Orkney, Ben Lair, David Welsh, Shawn Daly and, making his first Cat 2 start, Christian Maldonado, the plan was to stay at the front and ride aggressively.



Justin, Ben and Andre represesenting TriSports at the front!

The pace was fast right from the gun and within the first few laps, gaps in the field opened and riders were shelled off the back. Things settled down about 5 laps in and Brian took the opportunity and flew up the right side to launch an attack. A group of 4 slowly but surely pulled away from the field. The group of 4 grew to 6 with riders from the teams of TriSports Cycling/Eclipse Racing, Jetset Racing, Green Team, Tachycardia and Tolero (and one unattached rider).


Brian trying to get some separation from the field!

 Content with their representation in the break, the TriSports team sat up and left the chase efforts to the rest of the field. Meanwhile, up in the break, Brian and his companions drove the pace and increased their gap on the peloton. As the lead grew to 30 seconds, Justin Orkney made a valiant attempt to bridge up to the lead group. Just as he was within ~25 meters of making contact with the leaders, he overcooked a turn and went down. Hard. Not to be deterred, he got up, dusted himself off and continued racing.


The aftermath of Justin's crash!

 The lead group continued to push the pace and further increased their gap to the main field. After nearly 45 minutes of riding off-the-front, the leaders had the tail end of the peloton in sight. The field would be lapped!

With 5 laps to go, the field was lapped and things got messy. A handful of the breakaway riders were content to sit on the back and take their top 6 placing but the rider from Green Team quickly made his way to the front of the pack. Brian was in hot pursuit and the rest of the TriSports team did what they could to position him near the front. Amidst the confusion, the Green Team rider sprinted a lap early and thought he had the win but in reality, there was still one lap to go. The final lap was fast and the field was strung out.

David sitting comfortably at the front!

Andre led Brian out of the last turn but a long day in the break had taken the toll on his legs. Brian gave it his best but the finish line was just a tad too far and he was passed by the rider from Jetset Racing who took the win. No one else from the break was able to come around Brian though and he held on to 2nd place overall.


Christian finishing strong!

Justin Orkney gets the Spirit Award for this race. Despite crashing early on, he continued to race and even made a second attempt to bridge up to the leaders! Unfortunately he never made contact with the lead group, but his efforts would net him 7th place on the day! Andre would finish in 9th overall and Ben, David and Christian rounded out the top 15 with 12th, 14th and 15th respectively. All in all, a great day for the TriSports Cycling/Eclipse Racing team!

-Brian Ellis

TriSports Cycling Crushes the Competition at Tour de Murrieta

The Elite men’s team went to Murrieta, California this weekend to test our legs against the best of Southern California at the Tour of Murrieta and came home with the team victory.

Our team was represented by Brian Ellis, Ben Lair, Andre McNulty, Justin Orkney and two composite riders Michael Dziedzic and Christopher Chase.

Friday’s time trial was like nothing we had done before. It was a 6.5k rolling course that ended on a climb up an unpaved road with several challenging switchbacks. Brian, Justin, Andre and Michael had impressive showings. They scored points by placing 5th, 7th, 10th and 15th respectively. Though we all managed to stay upright and upbeat, we were losing the team competition to the California based Team Revolution.

Saturday’s race was a fast and furious 6 corner criterium in downtown Murrieta that was made especially challenging by strong winds. Multiple attacks were attempted but nothing stuck until the teenage phenom that dominated the time trial got away solo for the win. With 6 laps to go, Andre jumped across to two riders from Team Revolution and Team Clif Bar Cycling. With three riders in the break representing three of the bigger teams, the break was successful. The three riders worked well together and Andre placed second of the breakaway for third overall and a place on the podium. With strong finishing sprints by Michael, Ben and Justin, we were able to take the lead in the team competition.

Our spirits were high going into the final day of racing despite strong winds and a stacked field. The cat 2 men set a blistering pace finishing the 56 mile circuit race as fast as the pro field. Midway into the race, after a flurry of attacks and a crash, the field split in two. Justin and Michael made the split of 16 riders. Realizing, we had numbers in the break, Brian and Andre were able to discourage chase efforts. In the break, Justin took monster pulls to ensure they would stay away, allowing Michael to unleash his killer sprint. Michael won the bunch sprint, placing second to one rider who attacked late in the race.

Knowing we had a 7 hour drive home, it was tough to stand around in our racing kits. We had goosebumps from the chill in the air as the sun was setting. The wait was well worth it when we stood on the podium hoisting the crystal team award above our heads.

Ah, the sweetness of victory!!!!

A special thank you to Danny Munson who provided race photography!

Thank you to California Pools and Spas for putting on an awesome race and to The Bike Shop of Temecula for sponsoring the Jorge Alvarado Team Competition.

A huge thanks to our generous sponsors Orbea, Zipp, SRAM, Pyramid Coaching, Technicians for Sustainability, R&A CPA’s, and TriSports.com!

- Andre McNulty