Team Priority Health

In the hottest, most humid weather Priority Health has encountered this year, Tri-Peaks stage race kicked off with an evening criterium on the Arkansas Tech campus.  A strong wind and fast pace meant that the peloton began shelling riders in only the 2nd lap of the one hour + 4 lap race.

In a blistering early attack, strong-man, Tom Zirbel quickly gained a promising gap on the field.  Unfortunately, he slid out rounding an off camber brick paved corner at approximately a zillion mph, but this merely stoked his motivational fires for stellar races the next two days.

All of Priority Health's riders were represented in the many subsequent breakaway attempts, and mid race an 11-man breakaway containing Priority Health's Robbie King escaped for good.  The heat had seemingly wilted anyone's desire to chase, so the break gained roughly 45 seconds advantage on the peloton, which it held to the finish.  Ivan Stevic, one of two Toyota riders in the breakaway, attacked entering the final lap, and held on for the win, while Robbie placed 5th, narrowly missing the time bonus.

 

Stage 2 - May 20, 2006

Saturday’s 92 mile stage of the Tri-Peaks Challenge contained 3 significant climbs and some brutal heat and humidity to boot.  Perfect conditions for Priority Health to go on the attack!  The green and black were aggressive early, initiating moves from literally the first mile of racing (compliments of Brian Sheedy). 

After 15 miles of covering moves, the peloton slowed enough to let Tom Zirbel roll off the front solo.  Zirbel was able to increase his lead to 1:20 on the bunch before being led the wrong direction on the course.  Whoops!  By the time the lead vehicle realized their mistake, the peloton was long gone in the other direction.  The race van was kind enough to give Zirbel a lift back in front of the group but he was quickly swallowed by a chase group of 25 or so containing Sheedy and Aussie Champ Richard England.  This was a good situation for Priority Health, as Richie had been riding phenomenally of late and with 2 riders to support him, the chances of a good result were optimal. 

The 3 guys in the lead group rotated through a paceline, making sure the pace was high enough to stay away as Tommy, Robbie, and Teddy hung back in the peloton, covering moves.   On the last 2 climbs, the pace in the lead group was hard enough to drop the weaker riders but they were able to catch back on following the long, windy descents. 

With the heat and humidity, it was critical to keep drinking fluids and taking in electrolytes as much as possible which made mechanic Ben Oliver's presence in the race caravan all the more important.  It was his first time behind the wheel in a caravan but he was a natural – handing the riders bottles with ease while negotiating the course, heading back and forth from the peloton to the lead group, and giving the riders time gaps and course information over the race radio. 

With 15 miles to go, the gap on the peloton was holding steady at 2:30 and Richie decided to attack the lead group and have a go at it solo.  He had a gap of 25s at one point, but the other teams were marking him. And, after about 10 minutes of being out in front alone, the constant counter-attacks finally brought him back.  When he was reabsorbed, he had expended so much energy that he was unsure in his ability to sprint at the end. So, with 2k to go Zirbel was told in no uncertain terms to attack and go for the win. 

By having Zirbel attack so late in the race, he would either stay away and get a good result or the other teams would have to chase so hard that hopefully Richie or Brian would be able to sprint by them in the finish.  So with 2.5k to go, the peloton slowed just enough that Zirbel was able to attack, and the bunch didn’t respond immediately.  One rider from AEG-Toshiba chased Zirbel and was able to catch him with 1500m to go but still the peloton did not give a concerted chase. 

So the race was on, with Zirbel and the Toshiba rider battling for the win with the lead group nipping at their heels.  Zirbel, not yet the savvy veteran, worked a little too hard in the last kilometer and didn’t force the Toshiba rider to pull through enough.  As a result, the Toshiba rider was able to sprint by Zirbel in the last 50m and take the win by half of a wheel.  Richie was able to finish 3rd in the chase group 3 seconds later for a 2nd and a 5th on the day for Priority Health.  With Brian's finish in the group as well, that left 2 GC contenders for Sunday’s finale up Mt. Nebo. 

 

Stage 3 - May 21, 2006

Following the successful breakaway from Saturday's second stage which included Brian Sheedy, Richard England, and big Thor Zirbel, Team Priority Health wanted to keep things together for Sunday's stage to give Richard and Brian every chance of high GC finishes. The stage finished up a 4km climb, with an average gradient of 18%!

The team was prominent at the front of the bunch throughout the stage, and while the race was fairly uneventful, the pace heated up leading to the base of the climb. Tom Zibel, fresh off his 2nd place in yesterday's stage helped bring the team to the front of the peloton 5km from the bottom of the climb, and paced the bunch at 60km/h for 5 minutes! The sprinters turned domestiques for the day, and delivered Richard and Brian to the base of the climb in ideal position. Richard and Brian finished the job well, and maintained their high GC positions with Richard, the sprinter turned GC rider finishing 6th on GC, with Brian claiming 14th overall. Robbie also finished top 20 on GC coming in 19th.

The tour went quite well for the team; we were well represented in all breakaways, and prominent at the front end of the peloton for the whole race. The boys who raced would also like to give a HUGE thank you to Benno the mechanic, who as our solo staff for the weekend, did a tremendous job driving in the caravan, handing out drinks, being the mechanic, and then drove us home from Arkansas to Michigan straight after the race.