La Verne Stage Race 2022, Stage Three Criterium
Oh man, getting there earlier is not the same thing as getting there early. By the time I arrived at today's La Verne Stage Race criterium course the Collegiate Women C/D were on their last lap; I didn't even have time to snap a single action shot. Fortunately they obliged by rolling around the course one final time so that I could at least get a shot of Sophia Krivoruchko (UC Berkeley) 1st place Women C, Jennifer Mettler (UC Irvine) 1st place Women B, Deryn Leduke (UC San Diego) 2nd place Women B, and Audrey Williams (Cal Poly SLO) 2nd place Women C as they spun a cool down lap.
The women Cat 3/4 race kept, mostly, together, even after a crash knocked Velo Club LaGrange rider, Nicole Steinmetz off her bike and to the ground (bloody lip and bloody knee she, never-the-less, recovered enough for a 5th place finish). There were some attempts to get away - on the backside of the course I saw both Fount Cycling Guild riders (Karle Pittsinger and Haley Smith) make attempts, as did Sofia Schugar of the San Diego Bicycle Club, but by the end the race was together, setting up a sprint finale. That sprint belonged to Marjorie Rinaldo who won by, what looked to be, about a bike length from Caitlin Howell (Zone Five Racing), and with Melissa Haley (Los Angeles Bicycle Club) finishing 3rd. Rinaldo ended the weekend 1st on G.C., with Howell 2nd and Steinmetz 3rd.
Hayes, Zhang & Clark
Zhang, Hayes & Clark
Though only six riders took the start, the Collegiate Men A/B again put on a good show. A split occurred fairly early, with three riders - Noah Hayes (UCSB), Yupeng Zhang (UCD) and Duncan Clark (UCLA), all Men 'A' - motoring away, and ultimately lapping the others. Once caught, and for a couple laps the six raced together again, but after that (and I don't know if the three leaders powered away again, or if the officials made them split to take away any potential advantage from the two riders with teammates) Hayes, Zhang and Clark again found themselves a trio charging to the line. Zhang had a lead around the final turn and halfway down the stretch looked to have the win, but Hayes turned up the heat, charging alongside the UC Davis rider for a finish that required the officials to check the camera before declaring Hayes the winner - Go Gauchos! Behind them, Benjamin De Vincente (USC) won the consolation 4th place (1st Men 'B'), from Sviotojlav Gudzenka (UCLA) and Christian Zollner (UCSB).
I tell ya, between the Hot Tubes, LUX-CTS and the Velo Sport teams, I wasn't sure there would be room for anyone else in Sunday's criterium, but there were plenty of others willing to try finding the gaps between those bigger teams. As it was those gaps were few and rarely led to the front. Christian Deschamps (Hot Tubes) took the win, with Luke Fetzer (LUX-CTS) 2nd and Alejandro Che (Velo Sport) 3rd. Only three riders outside the big three teams managed to fight their way into the top ten. The General Classification, on the other hand, was a different matter, with Diego Rangel Segoviano taking the 1st place prize, followed by Alex Gustin in 2nd and Jesse Maris in 3rd, both of LUX-CTS.
Masters 45+ / 55+
1, 2, 3 for Methods to Winning in the Masters 45+ / 55+ race
Team Minnie Mouse by a bike length over Team Spiderman
The album link for Sundays races - roughly between the Cat 3/4 women and Pro/1/2 men is here, and if you missed the Saturday road race report, here's the link.
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