The word of the day: chasing!

Chasing. That was the word of the day for stage 1 of the Cascade Classic. After an off-the-line attack by Steve Cozza that had the whole field chasing for the better part of the first hour, things shifted out of our favor and we were caught out of a 11-rider break with 60 km to go.

It was obvious right away that the break had some horsepower and it would be up to us alone to bring it back. We didn’t waste any time getting to the front and the guys made a valiant effort to bring it back. In the last 20 km, some other teams lent help to the chase, and at the by the base of the final climb with 2 km to go, the group was within sight. Three of us – Pat, Peter and myself finished towards the front end of the riders that came out of the field, so that was a good sign for today’s finishing climb.

A little time lost today, but we’re going to keep fighting every day. We all know the climb today and it will be another decisive stage with even bigger time gaps.

Team Garmin-Chipotle H3O stage 1 results
1. Santiago Botero 2h48′31″

13. Blake Caldwell +55″
14. Peter Stetina +55″
18. Pat McCarty +1′01″
67. Steven Cozza +2′24″
88. Tom Danielson +3′07″
96. Tom Peterson +3′11″
111. Daniel Holloway +5′10″
141. Jason Donald +24′33″

Team Garmin-Chipotle H3O GC
1. Santiago Botero 2h48′21″

13. Blake Caldwell +1′05″
14. Peter Stetina +1′05″
18. Pat McCarty +1′11″
67. Steven Cozza +2′34″
88. Tom Danielson +3′17″
96. Tom Peterson +3′21″
111. Daniel Holloway +5′20″
141. Jason Donald +24′43″