Aaron’s/L5Flyers Cycling Team turned in an impressive performance at the first race of the 2006 Georgia Cup Series in their brand new Hincapie team uniforms.
Aaron’s Lee Anne Asbury kicked off the weekend with a win in the opening prologue (time trial). From there the rest of the Aaron’s Women’s Elite Team - Kari Bradley, Julie Granger, and Tiffany Ballew - worked hard to make sure the yellow jersey stayed with Aaron’s for the rest of the weekend. During the criterium, it started to rain and the girls ramped up the speed quickly shedding half the field. Then the Aaron’s team kicked up the pace at the front for the last few laps stringing out the peloton until Lee Anne kicked it into high gear and left the competition behind. Lee Anne cruised across the line with several bike lengths to spare.
Sunday’s road race saw more of the same with the Aaron’s women controlling the race from the start. The goal again was to keep the yellow jersey safe on Lee Anne’s shoulders and make sure she was fresh for the final sprint. The plan worked to perfection by dropping half the field early on and then keeping the pace high throughout the windy race until the other teams had nothing left for the final sprint. Lee Anne won again taking the final yellow jersey for the omnium and the Georgia Cup leader’s jersey in the process. An added bonus saw Kari Bradley sprinting over the “mountain” first and taking the Queen of the Mountain Jersey.
The men’s team also started off the season on the right foot with several top finishes despite racing in a torrential downpour. “It rained down-ways, side-ways and up-ways . . . it was cold and the winds were high . . . we even saw the Wicked Witch of the West a couple of times”, said John Allison, an experienced category 2 who was one of many Aaron’s team members who raced in the rain on Saturday. The Competitive guys started things off with a spectacular podium sweep in the criterium – Kevin Hertzberg first, Steve Hatfield second, and Dave Nassick third. Steve’s second place finish combined with his time trial put him in the yellow jersey headed into Saturday’s road race. Unfortunately, Steve overslept and wasn’t able to make the race, so it was up to Ty Tagami, currently third overall in the omnium to shoot for the leader’s jersey. The team fought hard to keep the field together and Ty finished the weekend on the podium and in prime position for the leader’s jersey. The Elite men were also able to score several top ten placing and Bruce Wadiak secured the Georgia Cup King of the Mountain jersey.
Aaron’s demonstrated great results and potential for the 2006 season so stay tuned there’s much more racing to come!
