The Veulta Puebla, a six stage road race held around the state of Puebla, Mexico was held last week and found riders from the Toshiba-Santo cycling team in good form.
Not really knowing what to expect the four riders from Toshiba-Santo showed up to the start of the race ready to experience a taste of international racing. In true Mexican style there was very little information available on the stages and course profiles. The locals and past participants were our main source of information.
Hagman showed his good form on stage one getting second in the only KOM sprint of the day. Stage two however was the Queen stage and would solidify the GC for the rest of the week.
Stage two stats: three major climbs, 10km, 25km, 8km to the finish. 12,000 feet climbing. 110km. !!!! Hagman rode and impressive race being attacked by Tecos, a team from Guadalajara, Mexico, who had a full squad of eight riders over and over again. Two riders managed to evade Hagman and he finished with a solid performance in third place putting over 4 minutes in the the fourth place rider. Also, Hagman managed to win the KOM leaders jersey and would wear it for four days!
Stage three and four were easy days being controlled by Tecos and no GC change occurred.
Stage five however saw Hagman in a bit of trouble when a break away get nearly seven minutes. All the GC contenders became nervous as the stage neared the finish. Alex, in a display of strength and calculation saved his third place by a mere 28 seconds by riding the last 20km of the race on the front of the peleton, over a climb and to the finish. Hagman showed his maturity as a rider and was able to hold onto third place overall.
Stage six was a circuit race to finish the week off and what a week it was!
A huge thanks to Dan Vaillencourt, Andrew Talansky, and Mark Heckman! They all rode out of their minds and helped me to keep my third place overall. Mark climbed like he was a skinny bitch. Dan broke away like he was a classics racer to his first pro win of the season. And Andrew was all over the road helping with bottles and getting into the decisive break in the ciruit race. You guys rock!
Not really knowing what to expect the four riders from Toshiba-Santo showed up to the start of the race ready to experience a taste of international racing. In true Mexican style there was very little information available on the stages and course profiles. The locals and past participants were our main source of information.
Hagman showed his good form on stage one getting second in the only KOM sprint of the day. Stage two however was the Queen stage and would solidify the GC for the rest of the week.
Stage two stats: three major climbs, 10km, 25km, 8km to the finish. 12,000 feet climbing. 110km. !!!! Hagman rode and impressive race being attacked by Tecos, a team from Guadalajara, Mexico, who had a full squad of eight riders over and over again. Two riders managed to evade Hagman and he finished with a solid performance in third place putting over 4 minutes in the the fourth place rider. Also, Hagman managed to win the KOM leaders jersey and would wear it for four days!
Stage three and four were easy days being controlled by Tecos and no GC change occurred.Stage five however saw Hagman in a bit of trouble when a break away get nearly seven minutes. All the GC contenders became nervous as the stage neared the finish. Alex, in a display of strength and calculation saved his third place by a mere 28 seconds by riding the last 20km of the race on the front of the peleton, over a climb and to the finish. Hagman showed his maturity as a rider and was able to hold onto third place overall.
Stage six was a circuit race to finish the week off and what a week it was!
A huge thanks to Dan Vaillencourt, Andrew Talansky, and Mark Heckman! They all rode out of their minds and helped me to keep my third place overall. Mark climbed like he was a skinny bitch. Dan broke away like he was a classics racer to his first pro win of the season. And Andrew was all over the road helping with bottles and getting into the decisive break in the ciruit race. You guys rock!
