DeKrey just nipped at finish line in Air Force RR, Ishay 4th!

Another weekend of Spring weather in the Colorado Rockies kept FLC Cycling from sending a full squad to the racing weekend hosted by the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Instead, the riders would train at home with a Team Time Trial and then send a three rider Men’s Squad for the Sunday road race on the Air Force base.

With an expected 4-7 inches of new snow, the Sky Hawks did not load up the truck and trailer with all 20+ riders that had signed up for the weekend. Instead we would complete a team time trial at home in the Durango sunshine and take a small squad of A Men riders that are trying to qualify for Collegiate Nationals in less than three weeks.

Coach Matt Shriver and team manager Dave Hagen left Durango on Saturday afternoon with Men’s A rider’s Jesse DeKrey, Rotem Ishay, and Alister Ratcliff. Both Rotem and Alister are in the hunt for spots on the Nationals Team and needed one more start per collegiate rules.

The road race course at the Air Force Academy is almost identical to the 86′ Road World Championships course. A CSU rider escaped on the first lap and sat out there burning matches all day. FLC rode a very smart race and mad all of the selections. The one FLC attack of the day, by Alister Ratcliff, was a good move but ended quickly when he was forced to cross the yellow line to pass a car in the course before entering a left hand turn. Alister was disqualified by the moto official in a controversial decision. Jesse DeKrey and Rotem Ishay followed moves and coming into the final sprint were in perfect position. Jesse hit out with everything a little early and came up just short of the win, earning a 2nd place finish to CSU rider Caley Fretz. Rotem followed closely with a 4th place.

Overall it was a good showing for the Sky Hawks with the National Championships coming up in just a few weeks. Missy Erickson attended a Criterium in Albuquerque, New Mexico to improve here Crit form and placed 19th in the Cat 3 men and then an impressive 4th place in the Pro 1-2-3 Women’s Race.

Read the Durango Herald Article here.