Race Recap | Joe Martin Stage Race Pro 1,2

The Joe Martin Stage Race is one of the premier stage races in the country, and we’re fortunate enough to have it right here in Northwest Arkansas. It is a 4-day stage race for the elite 1/2 race with an uphill time trial, two road races, and a crit. For me, this would be the first time competing in a race longer than two days, but I’ve been preparing for it since November and had a strong team around me.

The opening time trial at Devil’s Den sets the tone for the entire weekend. You won’t win the race there, but you can certainly lose it. The 3-mile climb up the switchbacks fits my skillset pretty well and I was aiming to take advantage of it. I hit my time checks early, but struggled the last few minutes and ended with a time of 10:03, good enough to put me into a tie for 3rd with another local rider, Johnny Purvis (OBP).

Headed into stage 2, the strategy seemed pretty simple – stay safe in the peloton and maybe have a go at the end to try to get some time back. That all changed when Spencer Seggebruch (Big Shark) attaked 45 miles from the finish line. I went with him and we quickly bridged to the early breakaway of 7. Spencer attacked again and I hesitated and was left in a chasing group of 6 riders with 5 going up the road. We hit the bottom of Gaylor about a minute behind the leaders and a minute ahead of the peloton. The gap was about the same going over the top of the mountain except for the lead group was down to two riders, and so was my chase group. With the wind coming out of the north our only chance was disorganization in the peloton; unfortunately that didn’t happen and we were pulled back into the peloton in West Fork after having been in the breakaway for 35 miles. At this point I downed as many Clif Bloks as possible and tried to find my way to the front of the peloton for the finish. I was still way too far back when we made the turn off of School St. It was a costly mistake as a gap opened up in front of me at the finish and I lost 26 seconds and fell to 8th place in the GC.

The stage 3 road race featured 3 laps of the Hogeye loop and a fast run in to the finish at Baum Stadium. The break formed early with several teams represented, and nobody who was a real threat in the GC. The peloton never really went hard over the Wall. The race occasionally got strung out in the wind up on 170, but always came back together. Overall it was a pretty stress-free day except when I lost track of where I was on the road and found myself riding through the ditch, but Sean and Ben were able to quickly guide me back to the peloton. Coming into the finish, the break still had a pretty sizeable advantage and another chase group of 4 formed. I tried to bridge across to this group, but they were already too far away and I was quickly swallowed up by the peloton. The chase group eventually caught the original breakaway and finished with a small gap on the main field, where I finished safely maintaining my GC position.

The final stage was the 50 minute crit in downtown Fayetteville finishing atop Church Hill. A lot of hard work over the last 3 days can all go to waste here if you aren’t careful. The crowds were out in full force all around the course. An early mistake caused me to slip back in the field. After this, I was constantly moving up, passing people up Church and down Dickson. I finally made it near the front of the race with 2 laps to go, but didn’t have the legs left to try anything. I finished 20th, but on the same time as the winner and actually ended up moving up a spot to finish 7th in the GC.

My Tyson teammates Ben, Kevin, Richard, and Sean did a great job of looking after me all weekend. The support and encouragement from other teammates not in the race, as well as the rest of the local cycling community was simply phenomenal. Also, a big thank you to our sponsors Tyson Foods, Clif Bar, The Bike Route, Shoulder Center of Arkansas, and Creative Awards. And I want to thank Bruce Dunn for putting on a such great race and all the volunteers who work hard to make this race happen. It was a fun weekend, and I really learned a lot about myself and about racing.