SEPTEMBER 6, 2010
Burlington, VT – Jake Keough and Tim Johnson of the UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis put a fine end to the Labor Day weekend. Keough won the fourth and final stage today, a criterium in downtown Burlington, Vermont, while the duo succeeded in protecting Johnson’s 2nd overall position.
Johnson entered the final stage 2:04 behind his cyclocross teammate Jeremy Powers (Jelly Belly), but just 0:03 ahead of 3rd overall Gavin Mannion (Trek-Livestrong), and 0:24 ahead of his other cross teammate, Jamie Driscoll (Colavita-Sutter Home).
“Jeremy had a pretty good hold on the lead, but the battle for second through fifth was pretty tight,” Keough said. “Mannion was really close and we definitely wanted to protect Tim’s GC position, but still hopefully have a shot at the stage win. We tried to work off of each other to make sure we covered all the moves and nothing got away.”
Things pretty much stayed together for the 50-lap, 31-mile race, and with six to go, Johnson took up a familiar position at the front of the bunch.
“Tim feathered it when he could to save some energy and hit it when things started to swarm,” Keough said. “It was great having him up there controlling things.”
For those final laps, Keough positioned himself on Johnson’s wheel and stayed there, with his younger brother Luke (BikeReg.com) taking third wheel. On the downhill run to the final corner, Johnson gave Jake Keough the inside line and with just 125 meters to the line from the corner, Jake had the clear run to the line for the win. His brother Luke got caught in some traffic and took 3rd, with Mannion slotting in between the Keoughs for 2nd on the day.
Living up to its name
The Green Mountains of Vermont served up a varied course for the four-day race, starting with an opening, uphill time trial that put Johnson in 3rd overall after day one.
On the second day, the peloton took nearly four trips around a hilly, 19.5-mile circuit. The hard, hilly course served to break up the field, with a group of 14 riders containing all the major contenders for the overall coming to the line together in the end. The Kelly Benefits duo of Reid Mumford and David Veilleux took the top two spots on the stage, but Johnson once again took 3rd place.
On the race’s penultimate day – a 70-miler covering three major climbs – Powers made his move with Veilleux.
“Those guys got a five-minute gap at one point,” Johnson said. “Jake was riding tempo to help bring the gap down but there weren’t enough guys from the other teams to organize a chase. By the time the chasers reached the base of the final climb – the grueling Appalachian Gap climb, with a final pitch reaching 20% – Powers and Veilleux still had a four-minute lead on the greatly diminished bunch, which Johnson led up the entire climb. Showing that his racing form has come back quickly and strongly following his return from injuries sustained back in April, Johnson steadily closed the gap and when he crossed the line, he’d nearly halved it to just over two minutes. Johnson finished 7th on the stage, 2:25 behind Veilleux, but high enough up to sit 2nd overall going into today’s finale.
“It was a good, hard weekend of racing,” Johnson said. “All the courses were difficult, and this may have been the strongest field they’ve had for this race. The criterium today was awesome. The University of Vermont is back in session and there must have been 10,000 people around the course. Overall, it was a really successful race. I think I spent more time on the podium this weekend than I have the past few years. It’s good to come back and feel this strong.”
Photos: Jonathan Devich, Epic Images
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