The Jelly Belly Cycling Team’s Tour of Missouri was a fantastic way for the majority of our team to end their respective seasons. We were all surprised by the amount of fans pouring out to support this new race. Each day, thousands of people filled the starts, finishes, and climbs to cheer us on.
Our tour started off on a strong note with Aussie rider James Meadley getting into the move of the day and picking up a time bonus. This 3 second bonus put him in the Build-a-Bear Best Young Rider jersey for two days. While he lost the jersey in the ITT, he still rode a very respectable top-25 that netted him 2nd in the competition at the end of the week.
With none of our sprinters, we were forced to make sure we had a rider in every breakaway. Our other Aussie, Matty Rice did just this on stage 2, getting in the decisive GC break and gaining nearly 15 minutes on the field. Along with some other very impressive finishes in the bunch kicks, Matty was able to hold on to 10th place in GC.
The rest of the team was aggressive all week, with local Missouri rider Brian “Dweeza” Dziewa searching for that hometown breakaway, Jeremy Powers stepping up as our new sprinter, and Andy Bajadali and I covering every move imaginable.
In what was a less than spectacular tour for myself, I was able to salvage my self-respect by getting in the break on stage 5 and holding off the hard-charging field for a 7th place finish. While I would have liked to place higher up on the podium, I was happy that I could end my season on a high note.
Nick
