Sugarloaf Circuit Race: 3-20-2010

Last Saturday had Team Lindner Capital taking on the hilliest and arguably the hardest course in Florida, the Sugarloaf Circuit race. Six laps equaled six trips up the infamous Sugarloaf. Jeff, Curtis, Clint and James would be tasked with keeping their current on form Czech (Karel) in contention for the win.

Beginning from the first trip up the hill riders were falling off the pace. On the second ascent a rider broke his crank bringing everyone around to a standstill. As the riders up front attacked, the riders caught out by the wreck scrambled in an attempt to regain contact...some wouldn't make it back on. Up front Jeff and Curtis drove the peleton to bring back a break with all the major teams represented...except Lindner Capital. This same scenario played out over the next 2 laps as Jeff and Curtis chased down any moves made over the top of Sugarloaf.

With the team exhausted, the last two laps left Karel to fend for himself. Karel found himself covering a break late in the race only to have it pulled back by ZMotion. In Zmotion's attempt to make it onto the final podium, or possibly score their first win of the season, all their rider's were cooked going into the final climb. This gave a single Santos rider an opportunity to solo in for the win, with Karel dusting the field to grab second place. Riders were stretched out over the next 10 minutes as they struggled to finish the race.

With Karel's second place, he now holds a sizable lead in the Florida Cup series. With half of the events complete, Karel is the odds on favorite to take the overall prize...and bragging rights in Florida for 2011.



Remaing Florida Cup events:
Apr 3 Webster Roubaix
Jun 10 Stuart Criterium
Sep 19 Bartow Criterium
Sep 26 St. Joe Road Race

Chain of Lakes Cycling Classic: 3-6-10 & 3-7-10

Chain of Lakes Cycling Classic Road Race

Warm temperatures and sunshine greeted us for the 70 mile, 5 lap road race held in Winter Haven, FL this past Saturday. Lining up were Jeff Kopp, Ralph Teton, Clint Bridier, Karel Sumbal and James Sweeney. The announcer made it clear that the yellow line rule would be strictly enforced, which would make the race more difficult considering the category 3’s were added into the already large field…and the howling cross winds would also do their part.

Several attempts to flee the field didn’t get far until lap two when James joined 5 other riders. The break consisted of a rider from ZMotion, John Durango from Santos, a rider from Atlantic Shores Velo, and one rider each from two other teams. After gaining one minute on the field the break looked promising, until the ZMotion rider started attacking the break with 35 miles to go. This happened several times, so the break lost cohesion and with a little of one lap to go it was “grupo compacto” with everyone together.

This would not last long as a group of riders broke clear on the last lap. As riders were dropped from the break only three remained: Ivan Franco from Santos, Calixto Bello from ZMotion, and Karel from Lindner Capital. The last mile was very tactical and Karel secured a podium spot with his second place finish to Ivan Franco.
James was able to take 4th in the field sprint (7th overall) aided by Clint’s outstanding work to bring, and keep him near the front towards the closing meters of the race.

Chain of Lakes Cycling Classic Criterium
Karel entered the last stage of the Omnium in the top three, with a great chance to move up to the top step on the podium. The plan for Jeff, Clint, and James was to keep the field together unless Karel was in the break. This would give him a chance to win the weekend Omnium as well as take the lead in the Florida Cup series.

Sunday's course featured a tight eight turn true criterium course. From the gun the pace was fast as ZMotion tried to shred the field. James had a good start and kept an eye on the action up front while Karel saved himself the the last half of the race. As the race progressed Jeff and Clint took turns covering attacks and pulling back the ones which Lindner Capital didn't have representation.

With many unsuccessful attempts to form a breakaway, it looked as though the race could come down to a mad dash for the line for the remaining survivors. But, with time counting down a ZMotion rider and a Santos rider established a good gap. Moments later, when another ZMotion rider and Ivan Fanco from Santos attacked, James followed them. As the two groups met there was some disorganization and soon everyone was back together. And as often happens, another group of riders moved clear and Karel made his move to follow. Once in the break most riders worked well together and soon they had 1/2 a lap up on the rest of the field. This eleven rider break would make it to the line to contest the win. Karel took second place even with some dangerous riding by other riders in the sprint. This was enough for him to secure the Omnium win overall and lift him into the lead of the Florida Cup.

Tallahassee Cycling Classic RR: 2-28-10

Tallahassee Road Race Report, February 28, 2010

Karel, Clint and Jeff headed out to Tallahassee on a cold Sunday morning to take part in a unique Road Race early in the Florida Racing Season. Having not been able to do the Criterium and Time Trial on Saturday the trio from team Lindner Capital Advisors figured that some fresh legs and not being in the chase for the overall GC could possibly make for a good day. The Pro,1,2 field was smaller than usual but was very top heavy with talent. Team Type 1, a domestic Pro Team was in town for a fund raiser and a little race training so that alone would make it interesting and probably very difficult.

The RR was a 7.5 mile loop in the rolling hills with a 1.7 mile dirt section each lap. With the race being 70+miles Team LCA figured we would take it easy for a few loops and read the race. From the gun it was more like a Criterium race with attack after attack going up the road trying to establish a break. During lap 2 a break of 3 riders got up the road and finally the pace settled into an uncomfortable grind. The dirt road was an adventure with each lap as it was filled with deep dirt sections, potholes, rocks and a climb. As the race progressed riders dropped out as the hills and dirt road took its toll on the riders and bikes.

With 3 laps to go the break was caught after a few riders in the break flatted on the dirt road. As usual when the break gets caught everyone on the field feels they have a chance to win and new attacks went one after another trying to establish another break. With 2 laps to go Team Type 1 sent a few riders on the attack and with them was Andy Crater. Crater has won several races in FL already this year with his sprint. Recognizing this move right away Karel jumped across to the three riders with another Team Type 1 rider getting a free ride. At the last possible second Jeff bridged to the 5 riders as the three Pro riders formed a three man time trial and took the pace off the charts up hill, down hill and through the dirt. Just like that the 6 man break was gone and Team LCA had two riders.

Clint was back in the field and he described the move like a bomb going off in the field as rider after rider tried to bridge the gap unsuccessfully. Karel and I instantly were suffering massively as we quickly realized that being in a break with 4 riders who do this for a living was going to not be an enjoyable experience. With the pulls being long and hard Jeff decided Karel should sit in and try and recover a little if that was possible. As the break went through the start finish for the final lap we knew that nobody from the remaining field was going to catch us. Crater attacked on the dirt road with a Team Type 1 rider on his wheel and Jeff got on the front and took up the brutal chase. With the Team Type 1 riders sitting on his wheel and Karel suffering Jeff pulled the two man break back to within 10 meters leading into the final climb. The sprint started with Karel giving it everything he had up the hill and through the two turns. Karel just missed the podium taking 4th and Jeff finished in 6th. Even through all of the suffering the riders on Team Lindner Capital Advisors were happy with recognizing the deciding move of the day and placing 2 riders in the winning move.

- Jeff Kopp