06/25/2019
Jeff Franz made the trip down to Greenville, NC to race in the Capital Subaru of Greenville Criterium on Sunday, June 23rd. The event was hosted by Bicycle Post, and the race organizers did an excellent job of putting on a great event. The course was a 0.6 mile L-shaped course in downtown Greenville that proved fast and challenging.
In the Pro/1/2/3 race, Jeff formed a combine with long time friend and former teammate Darren Fuller to battle the much younger and strong field. From the race official's whistle sparks flew with several formidable attacks launched very early on. The field stayed in a long angry line for much of the early stages of the race, with no group gaining more than a few seconds' advantage on the hard charging peleton.
Jeff and Darren both fired what few bullets they had left after doing battle in the morning Masters race (report and video to follow soon), but were unsuccessful at either establishing a group, or bridging to the group of 6 that eventually found themselves clear of the field and free to fly. The breakaway lapped the field, and everyone was jockeying for position for the final sprint for the remaining 15 laps. With 9 to go, Darren launched a daring solo effort that saw him clear of the group until the final two corners on the short, tight course. Jeff finished a respectable 9th in the final gallop for the line, and Darren was able to salvage an 11th place finish despite his hard and heroic effort for the last 9 laps.
Check out the video from on board Jeff's bike. Unfortunately, his GoPro battery died about 37 minutes into the 1 hour affair, but he was still able to catch some fast and furious racing action.
Video from about the first half of the race. My GoPro battery died and I didn't capture the whole race. Small but fast field. Stayed fast until a break of 6 ...
