Rutgers Classic Weekend! Victory!

Victory! Chris sprints for the win in the circuit race!

Wow! What an amazing weekend of racing.

Rutgers University Cycling once again hosted the ECCC season opener at Rutgers this past weekend. The weekend included a prologue no-aero ITT in Johnson Park, a criterium on Livingston campus, and a circuit race on Livingston campus.

Once again, Rutgers shattered attendance records with registration of 450 individual riders!

The weekend was a roaring success for the host team both as promoters and racers.

Saturday morning started off with the ITT in Johnson Park. Our Intro Men had a strong showing with Dave A. and Dave K. finishing 11th and 12th, Taylor 17th, Andy 20th (even after being crashed in the closing meters!), Kevin 31st, and Gerry 35th. In the Ds, Rich finished 24th, Ray 47th, and Kyle 80th. Jen, our lone women in the Intro Women's field put in a strong ride for 8th!!! Our C men may have been the story of the weekend with Chris finishing 3rd, Will P. 14th, Mark 57th, Don 60th, and Noah 75th. In the Bs, new riders Alex and Steven finished 29th and 61st. Will C. held it down in the As to finish 43rd.

Racing action moved over to Livingston for a brand spanking new criterium course. The Men's D kicked off the fun with Rich finishing 25th and Ray 17th. The Intro men saw many Rutgers riders in the field with Andy finishing 7th, Dave K. 17th, Taylor and Dave A. 20th and 21st, Kevin 32nd and Gerry 36th. The Intro women brought the second RU podium of the day with Amy getting 2nd in her first race! Jen rode strong to finish up 6th!

Amy finishing 2nd! (photo: Velocity Results)

Next up was the C men. This was arguably the largest RU field of the day with 6 riders. The crew went to work immediately controlling the race and launching attack after attack. Mark got a jump on the field courtesy of a UVM rider and held off most of the field to finish 2nd (3rd podium of the day)! Noah finished up 6th in the field sprint, Chris 13th, Will P. 27th, Don 30th, Jay 36th.

Mark gets 2nd! (photo:Velocity Results)

Next up for RU was the B men. With new RU riders, Steve and Alex, the team was well-represented. Alex got 23rd and Steve 43rd. In the As Will C. and Jason raced a hella fast race but got caught up behind a crash on the last lap to finish 30th and 31st.

Sunday brought much cooler temperatures and intense wind to the Rutgers Circuit Race on Livingston campus. First up were again the D men. Rich had a fantastic ride to finish 7th. Ray toughed it out in the wind and hung in for 18th. Next up, the intro Men faced even harsher winds. Nonetheless, Andy finished 12th, Dave K. 17th, Kevin 30th, and Gerry 35th. In the Intro Women, Jen was alone on Sunday but still put in a fantastic ride to finish 10th!

Following Saturday's success for the C men in the TT and crit, the team was set to bring the pain in the circuit race. The fun began with Mark charging off the line and opening up a gap through the first two corners. Don and Chris then went to work attacking and counterattacking while Will P., Charlie, and Mark hung out in the field. With one to go, Charlie drove it through corners 3 and 4 with Mark in 3rd wheel. Up the hill the last time, Charlie took Mark through the last corner and delivered him again to 3rd wheel. Behind Mark, gaps opened and Chris got on Mark's wheel for the field sprint. As the first two riders slowed, Mark opened up the sprint into the massive headwind. As Mark faded, Chris came around and drove it to the line for the win! Despite working for the entire last lap, the RU squad filled up most of the points-earning spots with Chris 1st, Will P. 5th, Mark 6th, and Charlie 11th. Don finished up strong after a hard day in the wind for 22nd and Jay 39th.

In the Bs, Alex and Justin put in solid rides for 48th and 55th. In the As, Will C. was alone and rode a blistering fast race full of attacks, bridging and general speediness to finish 28th.

It was an amazing weekend. We have many thanks to give out, but the biggest one goes to this man:

Rob, our race director

Rutgers Cycling wishes to extend HUGE thanks to Rob, Rob's Mom and Dad, and Rob's girlfriend Laura for pretty much making the whole weekend happen. Without them, there could be no Rutgers Collegiate Cycling Classic.

Rutgers Cycling would further like to thank Rutgers Police Department, especially Officer Washington, Rutgers Recreation Sports, The Highland Park Hermes, Efinger Sporting Goods, The Middlesex Parks Department, Pacific Health Labs, Inc., Tom for being our moto-official, Redbull, Ed Post, Maul Electric, Inc., Alicia and Alessandro, The LaChouffe Elf, Dario at Harvest Moon, Cycle-Smart, and our army of volunteers from Rutgers and the Highland Park Hermes.

It's only the start of the season, but boy are we tired!