Dateline Pace Bend

Newsflash: Shane ‘Sammy’ Haga adds to his W collection. Haga built on his strong effort yesterday at Walburg with a convincing sprint win in the 3s race at Pace Bend today. To say Shane was disappointed that he got popped from the long, winning break at Walburg on Saturday would be quite the understatement. But with Teammate Jamey Munroe riding a solid race and some super domestique help from MVC Cat 3 team captain Steve Borski, Haga turned Saturday’s disappointment into a Sunday celebration. Borski’s sacrifice almost set Munroe up for a placing too, but as so often happens in the final sprint at Pace Bend, a crash marred the rush to the line. Jamey was forced out of his pedals and off the road, but at least his body and his bike came away unscathed. Of course the best away to avoid the carnage is to get out in front of it, and that exactly what Shane. Congratulations Shane on your 2nd W in 2 weeks of racing and your 3rd as a 3.

Although MVC didn’t have near as many at Pace Bend as it did at Walburg, Nokki, Kolb and Michael Winders did take on the 35+ 4/5. Alas, their luck was bad, bad and worse. All three stayed active and did there best to remain near the front 10-20, but then Tim got hit with a flat... and with no wheel truck help around, he ended up walking half the PB course. Nokki and Winders made it to the finish and even put themselves in position to contest the sprint, but like the 3s race, the story at the end of 35+ 4/5 race was a big crash. Fortunately for our boyz, all they suffered was frustration (and not broken bones like others). That’s not much consolation though when you work hard to put yourself right “there” when it’s money time, only to have bad luck rob you of the chance to close the deal. Let’s hope these guys have better luck at Lago.