I've always thought it would be cool to compete in a huge stadium with thousands of screaming fans, and racing in the Angels Stadium parking lot in Anaheim is kind of close, right? It was actually a pretty good course: fast, open turns, but slow enough to still favor the guys that know how to corner.
The team rode well. We knew that breakaways were hopeless, but we all rode the front and stayed represented. Once the field sprint predictions were confirmed, our focus was to keep our sprinter safe, at the front, and out of the wind. With 12 laps to go, Fiordifrutta was all over the front of the race. Four of us worked together and set a tempo that brought back all of the flyer attempts and prevent further attacks.
At 5 to go, as expected, VMG/Felt took over control of the race for their sprinter. We weren't about to fight them for it, and most of us sat back and left things up to our sprinter. It would have been nice to have one person left to help Eric position behind the leadout, though, since the team's efforts didn't translate into respect for our sprinter in the last few laps. Eric had to fight hard for wheels, and we were too burned to throw elbows for him.
With just over a lap to go, there was a nasty crash about 10 guys back, and the top 30 or so were solidified while the rest of us dodged bodies. Up front, Eric did well to stay upright and sprint into 8th place. We got one good result and showed good team strength and organization, which was nice after a disappointing TT, and takes a little of the pressure off for the RR.
Personally, my legs weren't where I'd hoped. I managed to make the bridge efforts I needed to, but attacks weren't as easy as they were a little over a month ago. I guess I'm still building back to top form. Hopefully I'll feel a little better in the road race, but I still got the job done, and the season is far from over.
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