08/02/02 by Team Summit
A slightly warmer than comfortable evening greeted Team Summit and the 70 or so other competitors for Stage 1 of the Tour of Ohio. The course was a short 4 corner offering with one small undulation but that feature posed no significant challenge for the riders.
It was a good out of the gate effort for Team Summit but definitely left the team wanting more. Strong riding by all only resulted in one rider in the cash and points. Jim Gilmore pulled off a nice field sprint to take 13th overall. It was a great sprint effort from the field and would have nailed a solid 7th but unfortunately there was a 6-up breakaway that took the top spots.
The break established about 2/3 of the way into the race and with every significant team represented...except us...it moved off the front to a nice lead very quickly.
Team Summit was also challenged with mechanicals during the race as both Osowski and Adams took wheel changes. Other Team riders managed field finishes in the fairly quick race that averaged about 26mph for the 34 laps (30 miles).
The great part of Tour of Ohio is that there's always tomorrow......of course, that could be the the bad part too....depends who you talk to....the Team Summit guys are definitely of the former opinion tonight.
More news after Stage Two from New Bremmen tomorrow.