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
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