Leaders find footing in second day of Joe Martin race
Posted on Saturday, May 10, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/Sports/65054/
Day 2 of the 31 st Joe Martin Stage Race was unique for a lot of reasons, but still refreshingly the same, as it ended in the heart of downtown Fayetteville on historic Dickson Street.
With the time trial already completed on Thursday at Devil’s Den State Park, the countless number of cyclists who have descended on Northwest Arkansas this weekend were already measuring themselves as contenders or pretenders heading into Friday’s road race.
“ The race really started well from a tactical standpoint, ” Joe Martin Stage Race director Bruce Dunn said. “ One, yesterday’s time trial was new, in how the racing occurs, because usually the time trial is the second race on Saturday. ”
Friday’s road race, which in the past was the leadoff event, now serves as a day to either make up ground if a rider didn’t like the time he or she posted on Thursday, or to separate themselves from the pack if they were sitting in good shape following the time trial.
“ With the racers having an established leader on the road, it was a little more dynamic this year, and there was a lot harder racing [on Friday ], ” Dunn said. “ A lot of teams really stepped up to the plate and raced a lot harder than they normally would [in past years ]. ”
One such team stood out in the Pro men’s division. Colavita Sutter Home provided by Cooking Light placed four cyclists in the top 15 Friday, with Lucas Sebastian Haedo leading the individual standings with a pace of 4: 24: 54.
Right behind him was Rory Sutherland of Health Net presented by Maxxis. Sutherland is looking to repeat as Joe Martin individual champion and is in solid standing heading into today’s events.
In the pro women’s division, Cheerwine Cycling was the top team with the top two tandem of Laura Van Gilder and Catherine Cheatley coming in with a time of 2: 52: 47.
The women raced a distance of 64 miles, while the men traveled 110 miles to complete their race.
With half of the four-day event now in the books, Dunn couldn’t be any happier with the way the community has accepted and embraced the race.
“ Logistically, we’ve really had a great event [so far ], ” Dunn said. “ The downtown area has been great, we saw a lot of people out watching the race and we’ve had beautiful weather. We’re really excited and we’ve got a lot of good teams from more countries than we’ve ever had before. ”
Today’s events will feature an assortment of road races that will all end past the intersection of Razorback Road and 15 th street.