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Eckmann Animates Inner Loop Road Race At Gila

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California Giant Berry Farms/Specialized rider Robin Eckmann spent most of the day in a breakaway on the Inner Loop road race, stage 2 of the SRAM Tour of the Gila. Make that two breakaways for the 19-year old rider.

“Yesterday I think my legs were just not there yet, a little bit hungover from traveling here and I think last weekend was a little bit hard for me, the racing back in Colorado. But, today I was feeling a lot better so I was really focusing on a good breakaway that I could stick in and survive.” Eckmann said.

However, the break did not survive the final climb as the sprinters’ teams ramped up for the bunch sprint where Nate Wilson finished 19th to keep his top 15 GC standings.

For Eckmann, the first move started early. “I was in the 10-man breakaway at the start of the stage and then that didn’t really work out because too many guys were pretty high up on the GC so I wasn’t really participating in the work, it got caught pretty easily. I went before the KOM again but got reeled in again.”

Another attack at the front and two riders escaped the field, joined quickly by two chasers. “That’s where I waited a little bit, I was still feeling a little bit tired from the first move and then all of a sudden, two minutes later I decided oh I will give it a try. So I bridged up to them and almost didn’t make it.”

Then, Eckmann got some help from a Mexican National team rider who was also bridging up to the move. The two managed to make juncture before the second KOM, and Eckmann took the front on the tricky descent.

“Down the descent, I was feeling pretty good so I actually had to wait for the most of the guys at the bottom again because they were going a little bit slow for me. I was hoping giving them a good line to ride but then I looked back and there was almost a 20 seconds gap, that was interesting.” Eckmann said. That descent is well-known for its tricky corners.

“Some of the corners are sketchy a little bit because they turn in on you, they start out wide and then all of a sudden they turn pretty quickly. That’s the only thing.” Eckmann continued, “But I think all the hairpin turns are in pretty good shape.”

The six riders worked together building up a gap of over three minutes and 30 seconds as they approached the final climb.

“The guys were attacking each other and it turned that my body wasn’t really up for it yet, I was hanging there. The first part is a little bit steeper, and then it levels out a little bit and then I was bridging up to them again. It wasn’t a lot but there was a gap. I was definitely struggling there a little bit. I bridged up to them.” said Eckmann who took a gel.

“Two minutes after I got that coffee gel in me I was thinking about attacking.” he laughs. “Then I thought about the sprint because I had pretty good legs for sprinting these days. I was hoping that the break would survive but it didn’t happen, we got caught with about 15 kilometers to go.”

Eckmann found his teammates in the field. “I had my teammates around me so I trying to give them a hand to move up in the peloton because I was still feeling fresh but not fresh enough to really finish it off in a strong sprint. So I made sure that everybody is safe and in the right position for the finish. Then I called it a day with about 1 kilometer to go.”

The stage was ultimately won by Eric Young (Bissell) in a bunch sprint. Rory Sutherland (UnitedHealthcare) remains the GC leader.

Racing continues on Friday with the Dan Potts Memorial Tyrone Individual Time Trial. Riders face two climbs in the out and back 16.15-mile course and 1,188 feet of climbing.

Wilson Climbs To 14th At Gila’s Mogollon

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California Giant Berry Farms/Specialized rider Nate Wilson survived the final brutal climb of the first stage at the SRAM Tour of the Gila to finish 14th. The field, still together as they took the right hand turn to start the long slog to the finish line, simply blew apart under the impetus on the pro teams. Put in good position from strong teamwork, Wilson was riding with a competitor for the white best young rider jersey.

“I maybe hit it a little bit too hard at the bottom because I was with Joe Dombrowski (Bontrager Livestrong) and I thought he was in trouble so I tried to drop him right away to go for the young rider’s jersey but I think I probably just rode a little too above myself because after the first few minutes, he was riding away.” Wilson said.

Dombrowski finished second on the stage and leads the under25 classification. Wilson kept on climbing at his own pace to the line

“I was passing people on the way up but I couldn’t quite lift it as much as I wanted in the last kilometer. I had two guys with me the whole time and then they just out sprinted me at the end. I think it was a decent effort with what I had. All the guys were super good so I wish I could have been a little bit better, but it was okay.”

The 94.1 miles stage started fairly uneventful when a two-man break went up the road early on and the field stayed calm even through  crosswind sections.

“It was fairly windy and I thought that one of the big teams was going to try to blow it apart, we were all doing a pretty good job being attentive but it never really happened. I think it was maybe a little bit too much of a headwind, so no one really wanted to try.” Wilson explained.

The Berries worked together to protect Wilson and Evan Huffman. “Everyone did a super good job. Robin (Eckmann) was bringing me some bottles when I really needed them, and Staz was doing a really good job keeping us in front running up to the climb. Honestly I probably didn’t do a quite enough good job staying with him, that probably would have helped. Over the mesa, Evan did an incredible ride to bring me across as many groups as he could. Everyone was riding really well.”

The break was finally caught and the jockeying started for the final 5.5-mile climb on a very narrow alpine road with rough road pitching up with grades of 19% at some points.

“It was pretty mellow honestly most of the day until we hit the few miles leading into the climb and everyone started fighting for position. We all hit the climb as a group and went for it.”

Wilson finished one minute and 27 seconds from stage winner Rory Sutherland (UnitedHealthcare).

Racing continued on Thursday with the 79.1 miles Inner Loop Road Race, a stage that traditionally ends with a sprint finish. A stage finish well suited for Chris Stastny.

“Probably just try and stay safe tomorrow and help Staz for the stage.” Wilson said of the team plan. As for the white jersey, it’s a wait and see for the time trial on Friday, “ I think Evan is close enough and with the way he’s been time trialing, he has a legitimate shot at it, so we’ll see.”

Berries Ready To Tack On The SRAM Tour of the Gila

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The seven riders on the California Giant Berry Farms/Specialized squad made their way to Silver City, new Mexico and are ready to battle it out at the 26th annual SRAM Tour of the Gila starting Wednesday.

“We’re super excited that we were invited to the UCI race SRAM Tour of the Gila, with SRAM being our components and wheel sponsor. It’s awesome to be a part of it and our kids are really excited.” said Team Manager, Anthony Gallino.

Recently ranked as a 2.2 stage race by the Union Cyclist International (UCI), the event was added to the 2012 UCI America Tour.

Gallino continued, “As soon as we got the calendar out, everybody was jazzed. As a UCI race, it’s been on everybody’s radar for sure.”

The goal for the development is the white under-25 best young rider jersey which will be hard fought with the best of USA’s espoir riders showing up to battle it out. “The race can be seen as a preview for Nationals, it really showcases the young talent.”

The California Giant Berry Farms/Specialized roster for the SRAM Tour of the Gila includes Robin Eckmann (19), Evan Huffman (22), Stephen Leece (20), James Mattis (39), Torey Philipp (19), Chris Stastny (21) and Nate Wilson (21). John Hunt will be directing the team.

“Evan and Stephen are both going real well, it’s their time to showcase themselves.” commented Gallino. Leece just finished fourth overall at the Sea Otter Classic men’s road stage race while Huffman joined Colorado-residents and teammates Eckmann and Wilson to train at altitudes for the past weeks.

The race starts with the 94.1 miles Silver City-Mogollon Road Race with its mountain-top finish on Wednesday. The second stage, the Fort Bayard Inner Loop Road Race, is a 80-mile (129km) loop with 5,781 feet of climbing and includes the dangerous 3-mile Sapillo Descent, a very technical drop of over 1000 feet with  numerous sharp corners, hairpins and two switchbacks.

Friday is the 15-mile (26km) Tyrone Individual Time Trial on an out and back course with a total of 1070′ of climbing. Saturday is the downtown Silver City criterium with fans cheering on the riders on the four-corner course.

The final stage on Sunday is a beast, the Gila Monster Road Race. The 105.7-mile course with 5 categorized climbs delivering a total 9,131′ of climbing and some dangerous descents with steep grade and blind corners.

The riders know that it’s a perfect to shine.

“You see what Andrew Talansky did a couple of years ago.” Gallino said of Talansky who won the white jersey as a Berry in 2010. “He had his breakout ride at Gila, that same year some ProTour teams were invited to it. It’s a great chance to showcase your talents. The kids are nervous but they’re also excited.”

Two Berries In Top 10 At Sea Otter Classic

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After four days of hard racing in unseasonably hot weather, Stephen Leece and Torey Philipp finished in the top 10 of the Sea Otter Classic men’s stage race. Leece placed fourth overall and Philipp, tenth, for the six-rider California Giant Berry Farms/Specialized squad in Monterey, CA.

The racing started with the 60-minute criterium early on Thursday morning. “It’s kind of a strange race with two u-turns.” Leece said of the 1km course held on the Laguna Seca Raceway. “Pretty much you have so stay up at the front and the team did alright with that. I don’t think we did quite as well as we would have liked to, we would have liked to have put Benny in a position to do well but we didn’t quite do that.”

The squad missed the decisive break which stayed away until the finish. In 17th place, Benny Swedberg was the highest placed for the team.

“The next day, I think made up for it in the road race.” continued Leece who took a flyer on the final lap of the 68-mile road race stage which culminates in a one-mile climb to the finish line.

“I attacked about a few kilometers from the feedzone.” he explained. Only the three riders locked in the general classification battle were able to catch him. “(Andy) Jacques-Maynes, (Matt) Cooke and (Morgan) Schmitt bridged up to me on the feedzone climb. The pack was not to far behind but there was no organization or impetus to bring it back in so we stayed away all the to the finish. The other guys beat me in the finish, I’m not too happy about that.”

Leece’s fourth place on the stage moved him up to fourth in the general classification. “I would have liked to have been on the podium, on that day and also on the overall, fourth position is very hard to take because it’s just outside of the podium but I was still happy with the result.”

Saturday afternoon brought the 7.8-mile time trial where Leece placed 10th at 38 seconds from the stage winner. “For me that was a good time trial, I think I paced myself pretty well, and took advantage from the course pretty well. I’ve raced this race a few years now and I know that course pretty well. Each year I think I do better and better on it. I think I could have done a bit better but I was happy with how I kept my GC position and how fast I went.” said Leece.

Philipp’s 20th place, at one minute and eight seconds down in the time trial moved him up to tenth in the general classification.

The fireworks exploded in the final stage, the two-hour circuit race held on a 2.2-mile loop on the Laguna Seca Raceway with a challenging 300-foot climb and the Corkscrew descent.

“We did a really good job as a team of covering breakaways and I was really happy about that.” said Leece. Sam Bassetti made his way into the first short-lived break. But then the race dynamics changed when following a flat, the yellow jersey Andy Jacques-Maynes was off the back of the field with his Kenda/5Hour Energy teammates. “Exergy was at the front, they were riding and preventing any breakaways from going up to road.”

The reset button was hit when the yellow jersey caught back to the dwindling field with six laps to go. The Berries were marking attacks and riders. “ I was covering Andy and Schmitt and Cooke, trying to get with anything that looked dangerous and promising. All the other guys were doing a good job in being in anything that went up the road.”

With two laps to go, Chris Stastny escaped with three others but the break was also brought back in the final lap. Yannick Eckmann was the highest rider in the squad finishing in 9th place with Bassetti right behind.

“We had good representation up the road throughout the race, and I felt good following all the dangerous moves when I needed to. Unfortunately we didn’t have anyone up the road at the end and with the hill, it’s very hard to organize so we didn’t get anyone far up there in the sprint but I held on to my position in the GC in fourth and I was happy with that result.”

Both Leece and Philipp held on to their general classification standings to finish top 10 overall won by Andy Jacques-Maynes.

The next big race for the squad will be the SRAM Tour of the Gila in two weeks. “I’m really excited for that, I’m on good form, I feel strong, that race will be another level for sure. I’m excited to test myself at it.” concluded Leece.