Though Snelling is considered the traditional opening kick-off to the NCNCA season, Chico Stage Race has replaced Merco as the first marquee event for teams to really test their legs. It is a fantastic measuring stick for how individuals are riding and teams are gelling. We went into the event with three GC hopefuls (Mauch, Rossi, Rugg), two sprinters (Bassetti, Myers) and four workhorses (Chrisman, HD, Moore, Phillip). The goals for the weekend were to ride together as a team, preferably at the front, and to put one of the GC guys on the podium.
Stage 1: Thunderhill Raceway Circuit
Nate Freed off the front during the Master’s 35+ Race © Alex Chiu
Friday’s Circuit Race at Thunderhill Raceway Park was fast from the gun, and whipping wind made it a tactical affair. Moves would ping off the front, be brought back, and then the process would repeat. One move containing Rally’s Evan Huffman was able to stay away until four to go, and that was only from frantic chasing by us, Jamis, and even Rally at times. It was eventually gruppo compatto, but we did a subpar job of riding together and it was a free-for-all into the final lap. A violent crash coming out of the last corner scattered the field and created time gaps (most notably Rossi at 17 seconds) that would later be neutralized. Despite the chaos, Willie was able to sprint to fifth and we were all safe and sound with no time gaps going into Saturday’s road race.
Stage 2: Paskenta Hills Road Race
Tim Rugg sucking dust on the gravel section © Alex Chiu
If the mission was to ride together as a team at the front on Friday, it was really the goal Saturday. Positioning into the famous Paskenta gravel is crucial, and we were determined to be at the front for our GC guys, even if it meant sacrificing the workhorses in the process. There weren’t many fireworks on the first 45-mile lap, and we controlled the pace at the front through the crosswind section and finish back to the gravel. The road becomes narrow and chunky about two miles from the gravel, and everybody knows this, fighting for the same space at the front. The workhorses got mobbed at the front just as we were reaching the gravel, and through flat tires, redlining, or just bad luck, only Chrisman, Mauch, Rossi, and Rugg remained at the exit back on to pavement. Other teams, most notably Rally, controlled the pace to the finish, ramping it up in the final km. Our best finisher on the day was Rugg in 15th, but there were no time gaps for the other three that made the split. Everybody was elated, as we rode together as a team at the front very well, and kept all our GC hopefuls without time gaps heading into Sunday’s TT and downtown criterium.
Stage 3: River Road Time Trial
The time trial is where Rossi really shines. We had been burning all our matches to get him (and Mauch and Rugg) to this point with the freshest legs possible. He delivered, but as seems par for his course, someone else was just on their day. This time it was LUX U23 rider Brandon McNulty, who put in a time of just a hair over 20 minutes on the classic River Road TT course. Rossi came in 3rd, about 30 seconds back, Rugg was 6th, and Mauch was 12th. Strong, strong riding considering the talent of the field. This put Rossi into 4th on GC, so all we could hope for was a good crit and that luck may fall our way.
Stage 4: Steve Harrison Memorial Downtown Criterium
© Alex Chiu
It did. The crit was strung-out from the start. After about 25 minutes, a nine man break rolled off the front. Fortunately it included HD and Rugg. Rugg was sitting pretty at 5th in GC, so when they crossed the line 40 seconds in front of the main field, it catapulted him all the way up to 2nd in GC. Rossi slotted down to 7th, but all in all it was a fantastic result for the team and it showed Herbalife 24 p/b Marc Pro – Natures Bakery is going to be a force to be reckoned with, not only in the NCNCA but also the NRC.
Notable Results
- Stage 1 – 5th (Myers) and 8th (Chrisman)
- Stage 3 – 3rd (Rossi) and 6th (Rugg)
- Stage 4 – 4th (Rugg) and 10th (HD)
- General Classification – 2nd (Rugg) and 7th (Rossi)
- TEAM GC – 2nd overall Team
