American Eagle Outfitters Tour of PA Final Report

By Steve Bauer

David Veilleux of Kelly Benefit Strategies needed a mere one second to grab the overall lead when we began the final 146 km road stage to Pittsburgh.  The course was challenging with no particular big climbs but it was riddled with never ending up and down tough terrain. Our Team RACE Pro guys were to participate in the action if it presented itself and Keir Plaice our best rider on GC was to stay close to the riders challenging the yellow jersey. The most interesting breakaway of the day took an advance of 2 minutes in the latter half of the race and it included former yellow jersey holder Van Hooren.  He was virtual leader at about 20 km to go before the peloton began its charge toward the end and entered the three 5 km circuits.   It was certain that Veilleux would try to grab the lead sometime during the stage and since there was no attempt yet, the final circuits would reveal attacks.  During the last lap of the circuit within 3 km of the finish line the tandem attack of Lacombe / Veilleux accelerated clear of the rest of the field negotiating the turns at maximum speed and stole the race away from Konica Minolta race leader Van Heerden.  Veilleux wins the stage and takes the lead overall in impressive style.  Keir Plaice of Team Race Pro held his position as our best placed GC rider in 15^th.

 

Stage 6-Pittsburgh Criterium

The final showdown was to be an interesting one.  Downtown Pittsburgh was the stage for a fast, exciting 3 km lap which included Boulevard of the Allies, the brick surfaces of Grant Street and Liberty Avenue.  There was rain and thunder threatening on the horizon. The gun fires and the boys are off.   Holloway attacks from the gun but never makes it a lap before being absorbed.  Subsequent attacks are constant but the pace is too fast to break away.  The rain begins hard and the bricks on Grant Street become icy slippery.  On turn one about 20 riders hit the deck and everyone comes to pit one for a free lap.  Adam Thuss is the only TRP rider caught up in the mêlée and promptly takes a few pounds of pressure out from his Hutchinson tubeless tires in a smart move to improve grip.  In the next moments we learn the police have neutralized the race due to a Tornado warning.  The commissaries tell everyone they will decide to continue or to cancel the stage imminently. WHAT?  Cancel?  Anyway the restart does take place but GC is complete and finalized on the spot.  Veilleux is named winner of the overall.  No prize money for the stage will be awarded however, the guys will race anyway.  Our young men are not discouraged and stay in the action.  Racers are pulling out left and right as the rain pelts down and eventually a main group of about 30 riders charge on through the rain and slippery corners.  Plaice, Pozniak, Poitras and Batty make the final and begin to attack the VMG train.  Poitras makes several attempts but is reeled back by the bunch.  Plaice counters several times but VMG are containing every attempt for the final sprint for Holloway.  In the final charge Holloway wins from Lacombe.  Keir Plaice is awarded the most aggressive rider on the stage.  It’s a fitting end to a job well done by Keir during the week.  Keir takes 15^th GC overall and 2^nd in the Under 21 age group.

 

Our young men have gained valuable racing experience and have competed very well in the challenging terrain with a high quality of competition.  Its time to pack up once more and begin our road trip to the Canadian National Championships in St. Georges de Beauce, Quebec.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 4th, 2008 at %I:%M %p and is filed under Featured, Races and tagged with Keir Plaice, Team RACE Pro, Tour of PA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.