final stage 60km crit

A 1km four corner circuit. It was another great race for the Abercrombie & Fitch team. We had to seal the deal on the jerseys and that's exactly what happened. The race started off fast every team was having their turn attacking us. Our job was basically to keep the bunch together unless i got into a break away with guys that were not a threat then I was allowed to go try take a lap on the field. I put myself into a lot of positions were i got into small breaks but nothing would stick or there were the wrong people in the break. I was having a go at doing this as well as just covering attacks all the way down till 4 laps to go when I was smashed and had to start thinking about getting into the lead out train. The last coupe of laps were really intense with some people taking some big risks to move up, but it was safe on the front. Coming into the closing lap I was only good for a sweeper as i was fried. Marco took out the final sprint in fine form.















We finished the tour with Mark Hekman in yellow, Marco Aledia in green, Tim Swain in polka dot jerseys and I managed to finish up in third position over all. It was an awesome tour, we all had a great time and everyone rode over and above expectations to get these fantastic results. i was really happy with my consistency. i place in the top 7 in five of the 6 stages. i had my best day obviously on the second day were i won the hill primes, the stage and took the yellow jersey.

Jimmy also had a nasty looking crash check out this clip on you tube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i740hrygToI

stage 5 50mile circuit race

The 12mile circuit had one climb on it which was pretty tough when you didn't have good positioning as a lot of people could not keep up with the tempo going up and would let wheels go. I had a particularly bad day. I just didn't feel on top of things, thanks to my strong team mates i just had to make sure i covered the breaks i was in a position to and that make sure i was there for the sprint to go for the time bonuses.

Everything was going well until the closing 2 miles where i was in the line up which was unorganised as no one team really took control of the lead out. I got swarmed and ended up back half way through the bunch. Luckily there was 'some room' on the outside between the two last left hand turns and i basically sprinted around the outside of the bunch and swung into second wheel through the final corner. I burnt all my matches making my way up to the front and once i was onto Hekmans wheel for the lead out all i could do was just hold on. I ended up rolling across the line in 5th place. I was disappointed with my ride but i am still up their on GC and looking forward to a great crit on the final day tomorrow.

stage 4 worthington 40mile crit

In this stage we had Hekman in second place on GC so we were really looking for the win for him to take the time bonus to move back into the yellow. I had an average day finishing 7th not having a lot left for the sprint. it was a tough circuit on the side of a hill in Columbus. The team worked really well together. I finished the day sitting 3rd on GC and second in King of the Mountains competition.


part I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0mw5i6ZS9M

part II http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxeXqeseZHo

part III http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss9rk1l11RU

here are some videos of the crit.

stage three

70mile road race with 6 major climbs. I started the day in the yellow jersey and also leading the KOM competition. My job for the day was basically to make sure i was there for the finish and try and maintain my lead in yellow. the climbs were steep which shattered the bunch each time. we had Tim Swain get away in an early break and he spent up until the closing 3miles on a steer step climb. he did a fantastic job and picked up 3 KOM's so now he is leading that competition. mark Hekman made a break away in the last 20miles to go, they stayed away and held a 50 second lead. I lost the yellow jersey at the end of the day although finishing 5th in the stage and felt great. We now sit 2nd and 4th on GC. 1st 2nd and 3rd in climbers jersey. and first and second in sprint jersey. the Yellow is what we wont so for the next three days we have our work cut out for us with 2 crits and one not so hilly road race left.

tour of Ohio stage 2

A 60 miles on and 8.3 mile circuit. the course was hilly and had a mean 300m steep hill to the finish. the day started off with a thunder storm which cleared as the race went on. we had Marco in yellow and Hekman in the sprint jersey. I won the first KOM in a break that i was covering and then the second by a good team lead out. only a third of the field made it to the finish in the bunch. I had another great lead out into the base of the climb to take out the up hill sprint to the finish. it was a great days racing for the team and myself.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/2007/jun07/tourofohio07/tourofohio072

tour of Ohio stage 1

First stage was a 40mile crit on a 1 mile figure eight circuit with 130 starters. The race started off fast and didn't let up till the finish. The Abercrombie guys had a great race, every break away was either covered of initiated by us. The circuit was tight in areas with all 90 degree bends. this made for exciting times with people trying to bomb corners and touching pedals. the team stayed out of trouble. the field although stretched out the whole time and shelling half the field came down to a bunch finish with perfect lead out set up from 5 laps out. It was a fantastic evening with Abercrombie take out the first and second. Marco now hold the yellow jersey and Mark Hickman's riding the green sprint jersey. good work guys. i felt awesome in the race covering breaks and attacking. I finished with bunch time. I'm really happy with were my form is at the moment, hanging out for the second stage circuit race.

louisville crit 80km

This was a pre tour of Ohio crit we went to, we didn't really have it together as we usually do but we know know what we have to look into for the tour. I felt fine but didn't manage to put myself into the right position to finish well on the tight figure eight 2km curcuit. I'm looking forward to the start of the Ohio tour.

Saint Louis circuit race 100km

This weekend Hayden Godfrey and i hired a car and drove 6hrs Saint Louis to do a circuit race, it was about 20 laps of a 3 miles. The course was really Roley but the wind was in the right directions that we had tail wind up hills and head wind down hills, this made sitting in the bunch quit easy. Hayden and myself teamed up for the race as we had no other team mates. There was a lot of attacks from he two bigger teams but nothing would stick and anything that looked half dangerous Hayden or myself had it covered.

We came down to about a 50man bunch sprint. My job was to lead out Hayden, the bunch was so dodgy because the course was not really difficult to stretch it out, this meant that i had to be on the front early for decent with a 90degree left hand bend at the bottom about 1km out from the finish. I bombed the corner with Hayden two wheels back, i ended up gaping the front of the field which forced the guy between myself and Hayden to chase me, the lead out worked well and Hayden came flying past at the bottom of the up hill sprint, Hayden held on to get third place. I didn't have enough left to hold on to a top 20 finish up the hill which was a shame but we were happy with the ride and i learnt a lot and had great experience racing with Hayden. I now have my form back and am feeling great.

ville road race

A small road race with 3 laps of a 20km circuit. the coarse had a nasty climb of about 700m steep then about 4km of gradual climb and undulations to the finish line. On the first lap i set the tempo up the climb and by the time we had reached the start finish we were down to three including Hayden Godfrey. We maintained a high tempo and got rid of the third rider coming into the last lap. Hayden and i stayed together down to the finish where i led out and he came around me. it was a good training race, and great to have some hills to ride.

St Albans, Grand Prix criterium

It was a 1km 4 corner circuit with a couple of hundred meter 13% climb. we had 50minutes plus 3laps. The field was not very big but the race had a good purse for the win for a small race. I had no team mates at the race so i was prepared to be picked on by other riders. The race was fast and a group of 5 of us lapped the field. The bunch was together coming into the finish where i won the sprint.