By Steve Bauer
The race began promptly after the 3 km neutral roll out and never let up until the finish line in Souderton. The impact of Hurricane Hana on the weather was imminent even though the nasty weather held off for the first hours. A warm rain came down periodically making for inconsistent and slippery conditions.
Attacks were constant as the peloton negotiated the left right, up down terrain of the race course. Accelerations continued until around 35 km into the race where the first critical phase occurred. Two groups of 15 strong men stretched some distance over the rest of the peloton. The groups merged to make a race of 30 men at the feed zone including 3 Team RACE Pro (Parisien, Roth and Walters), 3 Garmin, 3 Team Type 1, 3 Tecos riders, and a mix of remaining teams. No other group was able to bridge up on the first KOM as the leaders continued racing hard. Five riders formed over the top of the KOM with TRP missing the move. It was a dangerous miss with Two Garmin boys, one Team Type 1, and one Tecos in the acceleration. Parisien responded first followed by support and strong chase efforts by Walters and Roth. As the gap closed Parisien jumped to bridge bringing Euser from Garmin across. The two were the last riders to make contact with the leaders and formed the break that led the race to the 11 circuits in Souderton. Before entering Souderton, Parisien got clear away with Pat McCarty (Garmin) and the duo worked smooth in front.  On the Souderton circuit the rain now came down hard, torrential at times, filling streets with a full wash. The chase bridged on the first time up the finishing circuit hill. Shortly after Euser (Garmin) attacked hard and got away. Parisien made attempts to go with each critical Garmin attack but was shut down. Frederik Ericsson (Cyklecity.se) slipped away at a opportunistic moment and joined Euser in the lead. The two cruised away gaining time every lap as McCarty and Farrar from Garmin frustrated any attacks to follow from the chase. At 5 laps to go the previous chase group rejoined the first chase group making the race interesting but too late to bring back the two leaders. It was a race for third place as Roth and Walters sacrificed efforts for Parisien to make the podium. It was a tough task against the fresher legs of the Garmin riders.
Overall a great effort and well fought race for Team RACE Pro. Garmin-Chipolte was stronger on the day and made no tactical errors to give us a chance to capitalize.
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RESULTS
Distance: 160km      Time of Winner: 3.50’ 48â€Â    Average Speed: 41.59km/hr
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1. EUSER Lucas, Garmin-Chipolte
2. ERICSSON Frederik, Cyklecity.se Sweden
3. McCARTY Pat, Garmin-Chipolte
4. FARRAR Tyler, Garmin-Chipolte
5.  PARISIEN Francois, Team RACE Pro
6. MAMOS Philipp, Sparkasse
7. JONES Christopher, Team Type 1
8.  WALTERS Mark, Team RACE Pro
9. KOBZARENKO Valeriy, Team Type 1
10. KING Robbie, Rite Aid Pro Cycling
13. ROTH Ryan, Team RACE Pro
26. MILLER Buck, Team RACE Pro
50. HUNT Andrew, Team RACE Pro
58. PLAICE Keir, Team RACE Pro
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