In the photo: Mikal Davis, Tom Van Pelt, Oscar Martinson
Written by Mikal.
The spring racing kicked off in earnest for me at the Chico Stage Race. This was the first big race for me as a part of the TMB Development team, and I was still getting to know my teammates. The 4s had a big squad full of firepower and we made sure nothing got off the front in the road race. Tom managed to grab a spot on the podium, and almost everyone else finished in the main pack. All in all, we were in good shape at the end of day 1.
The next morning, we had an early and cold criterium in downtown Chico. After chatting a bit with Frankie Andreu, we got on the line and despite a nasty crash, managed to get Tom on the podium again and keep myself and Oscar in contention for the GC. The last stage was the Time Trial, my specialty. I was down 13s on the leader, Tom was down 3s and Oscar was down ~20s, so all three of us had a legitimate shot at taking the overall win.
At the end of the day, I managed to snag the fastest time in the TT and clenched the GC with Tom in 4th and Oscar in 5th. A hugely successful weekend for the team and an indicator that the TMB 4s were a strong bunch of dudes. I was stoked to have such a successful debut race!
