Brian Bosch gets a call up with some impressive company
The weather gods had promised war earlier in the week. Rain and wind would rule the day at the Merco Downtown Grand Prix, the traditional season opener for the NRC-caliber Pro/Elite peloton. But even the weather gods can break their promises and so the entire Yahoo! Cycling Team and a 125+ sized field lined up for a dry, occasionally sunny, battle for the podium spots at the 2010 Merco Grand Prix. The team was relaxed at the pre-race meeting and warmed up together along the canal donning its new kits for the first time — an encouraging sign given the competitive level of the field with the Bissell, United Healthcare, Bahati Foundation, California Giant, and various other known Pros and teams present in full.
Kevin Klein working hard for the team
The high tempo was there from the start and was there to stay for the entire race. The high speeds at Merco make it hard to get away from the field and for the field to close gaps once someone, or a group, does get away. The tight course at Merco makes for a race-within-a-race to stay at the front and demand big efforts to move back up if a rider does find himself shuffled back.
Given these conditions the early-season peloton was whittled down lap after lap. After a slew of early attacks from various other riders and Yahoo! Cycling Team’s Briggs, Wilk, Copeland, and Switters, an early breakaway exclusive of a Yahoo! Cycling Team rider got away for the first time this season which put the team on the defensive. Vanacht first launched a bridge attempt. Up next Yahoo! Cycling Team’s Briggs, Wilk, Klein, and Copeland organized at the front of the field and started a methodical chase of the leaders. This big effort paid off and the first truly organized and dangerous move of the day was brought back.
Philip Mooney made it into the main breakaway of the day
The middle part of the race saw the entire Yahoo! Cycling Team involved in the action either initiating or covering moves with Mooney, Bosch, Wilk, Huffman, Dibble, Copeland, Briggs, Klein, Parnes, Owens, Switters and Vanacht all in the mix and hoping to solidify that elusive winning breakaway. The race-within-the-race saw the team grouping itself in two’s and three’s and leveraging each other’s efforts to stay up or move up in the thinning field. As breaks formed and gaps opened up our management team Haldane Morris, Allen Bean, and Kristy Morrow located around the course provided the gap information to the team.
Eventually a functional breakaway got off and established the gap required for it to stay away. The Yahoo! Cycling Team was represented by Phil Mooney. The other powerhouses, too, were represented with the exception of United Healthcare which took a few laps to organize at the front but eventually brought its entire team to the front and put in a manic chase while the front group tensioned the legs to keep the high speeds required to fend off a well-organized pursuit.
Vinny Owens and Evan Huffman contemplate the task ahead
As reported by all the major cycling media outlets, the chase came down to the last lap where the breakaway splintered and even to the last corner of the last lap where Bahati Foundation’s sprinters and a few others overtook what was left of the breakaway. Phil Mooney dug deep and maintained his final effort to finish in 10th place. It was a well-earned top 10 for Phil whose determination helped make the race. Yahoo! Cycling Team rider Brian Bosch fought himself into the money in 15th place in a wild sprint finish to complete the day.
All in all, the town of Merced, the promoters/organizers, our sponsors, the Pro/Elite racers from the various teams, and especially the fans and families made and kept their appointment at the 2010 Merco Grand Prix. Only the weather gods missed theirs.
