Joe Martin Stage Race Day 4

Downtown Criterium! 60 minutes on a 1.3-mile loop.

The General Classification was pretty much sewn up. All that could shake it up was a top-three finish for a time bonus or a huge flier off the front. The racing got underway at 3:30 with about 60 racers left out of the 110 starters. It was pretty fast from the gun and the twisty course kept the field strung out single file for most of it. There were some attacks. Johnson was hurting after yesterday’s massive efforts and kept out of the fray. Tuttle tried to snap off the front but couldn’t get anything to break. Micah covered moves and kept tabs. With five laps to go it was clear that no breaks would work. Then, on the final lap, a different kind of break happened… the rider in 5th position clipped his pedal around a corner and caused a pile-up. Normally when this kind of thing happens everyone stuck behind the crash gets pack time. Today the referee searched deep in her soul and decided otherwise. The wreck caused a gap behind the front four riders, and bigger gaps further down in the field. Sadly, Johnson got held up to the tune of 19 seconds and bumped down about 15 spots on the GC. Tuttle, however, held on and finished 11th and kept his 8th overall for the week!

Made some great new friends, had a blast racing in Arkansas, and we’re looking forward to Part II of the 2009 season.