Three Boys Went to War Like 10 Men

Today, June 14, 2008, was the Road Race of the Western Slope Omnium hosted by the community of Glenwood Springs. The race course was an out-and-back starting and beginning just east of Glenwood Springs in Dotsero. The course traversed a beautiful canyon heading northeast from Dotsero, covering a 12 mile dirt section at the northern tip of the course, which had a short steep destructive power climb and turned the field around to battle a strong headwind out of the west on the way home.

Heading into the day, Team Legacy Energy’s riders including Dan Workman, Paul Esposti, and Phil Mann, anticipated that a breakaway would win the day’s race. Our tactics with three riders, racing against some larger teams including Team Rio Grande, Vitamin Cottage, and Tokyo Joes, were to get into the breakaways. The race became animated right from the gun and Phil found himself in the first well-established breakaway with two other riders (Allen Krughoff and Christian McArthy) that rolled for about 20 miles. Unfortunately, Phil’s front wheel went into the back of his breakaway companions rear wheel destroying several spokes. Frustrated he was forced to wait for the wheel vehicle and chase back to the main field.

The pace remained high for the most of the day but it did not prevent Dan from following the next aggressive move off the front. Charging hard for several miles, the field eventually caught Dan a few miles before the race hit the turn-around.

Following the races only challenging climb, the field split up a bit only to come back together for the remaining 40 miles. Phil, Paul, and Dan continued to execute their plan and covered every breakaway, until one finally stuck. Phil rode away from the field with what would eventually become a 4-man break including: Kevin Nicol (Tokyo Joe’s), Taylor Sheldon (Rio Grande), and Lachlan Morton (Real Aussie Kids).

The break hovered around the one minute mark for the last 30 miles of the race, and managed to stay away until the end. Phil unleashed his sprint with 200 meters to go and took home the win for Team Legacy Energy!

The following day the same three Legacy boys showed up to race the Glenwood Springs criterium and try to defend Phil’s omnium position. It was a very hot and sticky day. The course contained freshly tarred chip sealed roads as well as some technical corners that made the race single file for much of the day. Paul was all over every important move that went off the front after the first 20 minutes of the race.

The field was dropping riders every lap as the heat and technical nature of the course proved too demanding for many. Eventually Paul made it off the front with a group, and it was clear it wasn’t coming back. Many riders from the peloton tried to get across to the move, with Phil and Dan covering these many bridge attempts. After a brutal chase Phil made it across to the lead group, which had grown to about 10 riders. Paul worked to keep this group together and his efforts found him off the front chasing the 2 riders ahead of him. He worked alone for the next 6 laps and rode in solo for 3^rd place on the day. Phil managed to sprint it out for 6^th. Team Legacy Energy’s efforts over the two days were enough to secure two podium spots in the overall omnium competition, with Phil taking the win, and Paul getting 3^rd overall. It was an awesome weekend!