Empire kicks off August with some wins
Several squads were out representing Empire in three states this weekend. Jake Hollenbach took an impressive win at the Mt Equinox Hillclimb in Manchester VT. Jake bolted out of the gates, first to contest a $500 sprint bonus at the 1-mile mark of the 5.4 mile uphill assuault. This is always a gamblers move as no one has ever taken the 1-mile bonus and then gone on to win the race. The climb is relentless and moments to recover are few and far between. Jake ended up being joined by two riders after the sprint and cliimbed to the upper switchbacks with them until he made one more big move at mile 4, a 12% peice of mountain road, where he was able to establish a gap that ultimately put him 33 seconds ahead of the next riders.
In Pennsylvania, Clayton Barrows and Stephan Kincaid left there marks on the Tour of Lancaster. Clayton climbed his way into second place overall with some very consistent performances while Stehpan ripped the legs off the criterium stage attacking early to form and 8-man break (with teammate Clayton) which went on to lap the field. Kincaid, riding in a leadout position for Clayton, ended up gapping the break to take the stage win. Both riders will be at the Presbyterian Invitational in Charlotte on August 8th along with Daniel Zmolik and Mike Margarite.
The Empire State riders, Daniel Zmolik, Mike Margarite, and an on-form John Loehner took the overall Team Time Trial title at the Long Meadow TT. Despite Margarites flat tire the team was able to hold a 7-second margin over a strong Jonathan Adler squad. In the individual time trials both Margarite and Zmolik podiumed taking 2nd and 3rd respcitively to Lisban Quintero of Foundation.
“The team is firing on all displines which is a good indication of how the next 6-weeks may pan out”, comments team DS Mike Sherry. “We have a few riders out injured which always sets us back quite a bit but every one of the guys really steps up and fill gaps. Minturn’s absense will be felt in Charlotte next week and at Downer’s Grove for Nationals but the good news is he’s on the bike and the collarbone is well on its way to recovering 100% and other guys are really stepping up. After Nationals we have a few local races with the Mengoni GP and Chris Thater followed my Green Mountain and Univest. The team is looking very well rounded for all of these races.”
