George Ganoung wrote Power-Tap
Fitchburg Classic Stage 4
Date: July 5th, 2008
Place: Ian 24th @ winner.s time, George 103rd @ 2:07 (Final GC Ian 27th @ 2:15 (5 NRC points), George 63rd @ 9:45) Avg speed 27 mph for stage, 26.3 mph for entire race
Location: Fitchburg, MA
Course: 50 miles, 55 lap 3 corner downtown criterium
The race: After yesterday I think everyone in the field was a bit tired and the course and pace was a little more forgiving although still pretty quick. The primary goal was to keep Ian from losing any GC but also take advantage of any opportunities that might pop up for breaks. I got in a couple of little groups early just by following wheels, and Ian was in a few more throughout the race, but it was pretty obvious it was going to come down to a field sprint so we sat in for the most part. I found myself on the wrong side of a fairly big crash with 5 laps to go (needless to say free lap had just ended) I didn.t go down but had to stop, clip out and restart. I chased onto the back of the field but by the time I got there, the pace had ramped up and the .back of the field. was actually .off the back.. I kept rolling just to finish and they pulled me and a bunch of others with 2 laps to go and prorated our times. Ian hung in tough and finished 24th on the stage. All and all a good 4 days of racing. The community was very supportive with a huge crowd out on all the days and it was just a good experience. Ian.s ride was impressive, I know we like to tease him a bit about his magic formula that says where we would finish if this or that didn.t happen, but I can vouch that he was a serious contender for at least a top 15 finish on GC without the mechanical issues on Day 2. For Bill it was great to get some NRC experience and he has progressed a lot since his early season injuries. For me it was good to remember what.s needed tactically, mentally and physically to compete in these long hard races. Hopefully it will pay off and we can give Ian more of hand down the road. Fortunately CISM and Nationals are not stage races, I think I can be good for going .all in. for one day. ***