stage 1 Joe Martin

My first NRC pro race went well, 175km rolling terrain (160 riders). The weather was really hot to start with then all of sudden there was a downpour in the middle of the race and cleared slightly towards the end of the race. Early in the stage a group of riders got away, the peloton cruised nicely till the main climb then the chasing began pulling the break away back from 11Min's. The main climb was at 110km and was a 13km climb not very steep but it was fast. I hung in fine the peloton was quite big at the top of the climb. The last 15km was quite fast spent most of it sitting at around 50kmh+, which was a killer for that length of time. A nasty crash happened right next to me in the last 5km were a hand full of riders went down. The break got pulled in the the closing kilometers, i didn't have enough in the tank to try mix it with the front guys for the sprint. the finishing circuit was tight and dodgy. I finished with bunch time not exactly sure on the position.