The TIAA-CREF/CLIF BAR Cross Team made a strong statement at Sunday's Boulder Racing UCI event: that they are ready for next weekend's USGP races.
In the Category 3 race, Taylor Phinney and Andrew Barker quickly joined the 2nd group, not far off the leaders' pace. Taylor, in his 3rd cross race ever, and first in the Cat 3 field, showed tremendous power and surprising technical skill. Andrew rode his usual agressive race, but ended up fading out of the group in the last few laps. Taylor finished strong, capitalizing on a late-race crash in the front group to grab 2nd place!
Recovering from poor starts, Troy Wells and Tejay van Garderen turned in the team's best performances in the Open race.
Troy surged all the way up to the 3rd group, and the race stayed a contest between three groups of 3 for most of the day. As his older brother Todd jumped off the front late in the race to seal the win, Troy battled to stay with veteran Boulder racer Pete Webber (IMBA special projects guy and author, heard on NPR's Weekend Morning Edition, Saturday). Troy ended up finishing 8th, as the cagey Webber laid down a ferocious attack in the long beach running section.
Tejay took a little while to get his Biodiesel engine fired up - early in the race was sitting 3 spots from the tail end of the race - but once he kicked into gear, his ride was nothing short of amazing. Tejay used his raw power and ever-improving technique to pass a lot of riders, and ended up finishing with a fine 13th place.
Part-time Cross team mechanic Nicholas Saucier (and Pro Peloton wrench) was out at the race shooting some photos of the team, with one posted here for your enjoyment. For more photos from the race, check out cyclingnews.
Hopefully the beautiful sunny, warm weather we were treated to at the Boulder Reservoir will be in store for next weekend, as it would really allow us to show off Boulder's blue skies and amazing scenery. And make it an easier weekend on the mechanics!
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