Both the Men and Women’s teams looked to continue their American stage race success this weekend at the Mutual of Enumclaw. The stage race packs a Merckx style TT, an evening crit and a tough road race into a two-day event.
The men’s team had a strong showing in the 10km TT and had multiple riders within striking distance of the general classification moving into the crit. With a tight and technical eight cornered crit, the team had to stay at the front the whole race and be aggressive. In previous years breakaways have won this crit so it was essential that we did not miss any moves.
Although there were lots of flyers during the crit, nothing stuck and with seven laps to go the TRT train moved to the front. The plan was to place our GC and sprinter Al Murison into a good position for the finish. We steadily cranked the pace and managed take control of the front of the field, setting up Al for the win with Kurt rounding out the podium for third. A very impressive show of strength from the men’s team.
The second and final day of the Mutual of Enumclaw turned into a hot and long day on the bike. Right from the gun, TRT rider Kyle followed a move and ended up in a two man break. The duo put four minutes into the field before the pack got organized into a chase. The field clawed back about two minutes and with 30km to go two riders bridged to a now solo Kyle. The three riders held off the field to the finish, Kyle taking second on the stage which put him up to third on GC. A great ride by Kyle and the TRT men to cap off a very successful weekend.