We had a successful week racing in the Joe Martin NRC in
Arkansas if I may say so myself; claiming all the jerseys! Stage 1 was an
uphill 4km prologue, short but gruelling! The insignificant time gaps following
the opening stage meant we had all to play for in the coming 3 stages
instigating some aggressive racing. I was awarded the white jersey as the top
U23 finisher in the prologue.
Stage 2 was hard; I quote my team mate Lex… ‘The race was
hard because we wanted it to be hard!’ The course saw us race up over a 9 mile
climb which was mentally tough you’d sense you were nearing the top glimpsing
the brow but instead it just dragged on up! Carmen, Jade and Courtney broke
away with Kathryn Donovan from FCS- Rouse which was an ideal scenario. Carmen
won the stage taking the leaders jersey, Jade donned the green jersey and
Courteney piked the white jersey from me!
I took 5th in the stage.
The following day we defended all 3 jerseys by jumping on
anyone that tried to get away! The final stage we contested was a crit around a
cool undulating course in downtown Fayetteville. A decisive break involving Carmen, Jade and
myself saw Jade solo to her first NRC win and a minor redistribution of the
jerseys. Jade took the leaders jersey and I took the white back from Courteney-
they all stayed in the Optum family so there were no hard feelings! We were so
fortunate to have wonderful host families for the week; putting on an amazing
bbq for us all and cheering for us (despite the fact they thought we were
called ‘team opium’!)
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| We were 1st team overall! |
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