Louisville Criterium: Brett Rindt, Logan VonBokel, Kevin Tempel
2016 has been an exciting season for the Fort Collins’ based elite team as they have continued to make their mark on the P/1/2 field in Colorado and 1/2 fields across the country.
The team kicked off their spring campaign with an early trip to Valley of the Sun in Phoenix then continuing through the BRAC calendar and wrapping up with Joe Martin Stage Race in Arkansas and Tour of the Gila in New Mexico. The spring events saw results in almost every field the team entered. Owen Hatcher led the charge in BRAC events, making the breakaway at Louisville Criterium taking sixth and again the next weekend at the CU Circuit race with a third place finish. Nate Prewitt was right behind Owen at Louisville taking seventh. This spring saw Andre Szlendak prove himself as one of the best sprinters in the state after taking third at the City Park Criterium before racing a heavy collegiate calendar for the University of Colorado, where he took the top step of the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Cycling Conference Omnium! Outside of BRAC in March, Brett Rindt and Nate Taggatz returned to Arizona to show their stage racing form, finishing 9th and 11th, respectively. Grant VanHoose escaped the Colorado winter for two months, training in Arizona and Texas and managed a fifth place finish in the Texas famed spring classic Lago Vista before returning to Colorado for the BRAC calendar to start.
With a long spring campaign already completed, the squads were in full form for the two targeted events in Joe Martin and Tour of the Gila. After not having any general classification threatening time trials at Joe Martin, the squad looked for stage results. Kevin Tempel returned to Joe Martin with vengeance after a disappointing 2015 attempt, and took tenth in the second stage that covered 110 miles and the infamous climb over Mount Gaylor. In the final stage, Tony Olson showed the field how MinnesOOOtan’s race crits taking 5th on the climb heavy course finishing on Church Hill. Onward to Silver City New Mexico for the Tour of the Gila, considered to be the most grueling amateur stage race in the country. The squad was short a rider after Owen broke his hip at Denver Federal Center in the week prior. In the first stage, Brett Rindt proved his climbing abilities with the best, taking seventh place on the stage, setting him up for a long week of a general classification battle. The team worked to protect him the remainder of the week knowing the final general classification would be decided on the famed Gila Monster. Along the way, Nate Prewitt took 11th in the time trial and Grant made the breakaway in the criterium to take 6th. Brett finished the week in 6th place in the General Classification, earning the best overall result the team has had in our two years of existence on the national stage.
Tour of the Gila: Nate Prewitt, Nate Taggatz, Grant VanHoose, Brett Rindt (One mullet is more glorious than the other)
Next up came the summer leg of the team calendar, with Tulsa Tough and the Cascade Classic highlighting everyone’s calendars. Before hitting the road, Kevin Tempel carried his fitness into the summer taking fifth at the City Park Crit hosted by thump and followed it up the next day with fourth in the Colorado State Championship road race. Tony Olson also found the podium at City Park taking second in a positioning battle against Primal-Audi. An unexpected move saw Grant head home to Oklahoma City for a few months where he has attempted to become a midwestern crit racer, taking fifth at day three of the Oklahoma City ProAm, third in Speedwheel Criterium, and sixth in the state road race.
On to the big one… TULSA TOUGH! For most of the roster, it was their first time at the spandex rodeo, wide eyed and ready to rub elbows, everyone went all in for the team. Kevin again proved his form, leading the team all weekend taking fifth on day two and eighth on day three on the notorious Cry Baby Hill, which led to a 5th place omnium finish. Tony was right behind Kevin on day two taking tenth after they motored the breakaway. In addition to strong results, the team was the crowd favorite in the 1/2 field with what seemed like never ending commentary from Dave Towle and capped off with a viral video of Will Nabours using extreme cooling measures following Cry Baby Hill.
Tulsa Tough PreRide: Tony Olson, Will Nabours, Andre Szlendak, Nate Prewitt, Kevin Tempel, Matt Kotarbinski
Tulsa Tough Day One: Grant VanHoose, Matt Kotarbinski, Kevin Tempel, Logan VonBokel, Nate Prewitt
The same weekend as Tulsa Tough, Owen returned to form after the hip injury, taking third place on the homefront in the Colorado State Criterium Championship with heavy help from Nate Taggatz.
The team’s form continued and chemistry took full notice at the Wheels of Thunder Criterium in Commerce City where Owen and Kevin led the breakaway with Owen eventually winning! Scout’s first victory in a P/1/2 field! Kevin was close behind for Fourth and what became a notorious podium photo showing off his famous Iowa Hawkeye thighs!
Wheels of Thunder: Owen Hatcher, Kevin Tempel
Up next was the final leg of the teams “Big 4” calendar, the Cascade Cycling Classic in Bend, Oregon. The stage 1 time trial saw Nate Taggatz motor his way to 8th place with the rest of the team close behind. Stage 2 was full of fireworks, with Andre and Kevin both rolling breakaways in the early part of the 92 mile day, before Owen made the final selection up Mount Bachelor to take third place. The events of stage 2 put Owen into 9th in the General Classification followed right behind by Nate Taggatz in 10th. The team approached the stage 3 criterium with the plan of keeping the boys in their General Classification positions while working to get the sprinters Kevin and Andre into position, after one rider got away in a solo break, Andre took second in the field sprint for a third place finish! The final stage was all about positioning and keeping the GC riders safe and the charge was led by Nate Prewitt for Owen and Taggatz to finish 9th and 10th, respectively.
The team has had a fulfilling second season, with results all over the country while proudly representing our amazing sponsors. As a 1/2 squad, many team goals include category upgrades for the category 2 team members. With category 1 license upgrades on the horizon for many riders, the team will look to further prove themselves as being among the best in the BRAC P/1/2 field and nationally, as the team calendar finishes up with Littleton Twilight Criterium, Steamboat Springs Stage Race, and Gateway Cup.
Huge Thank You’s are do to all of our incredible sponsors for making such a great season happen to this point: Scout App, Butler Manufacturing, proVelo Bikes, Spex Vision Care, Peritus Coffee Roasters, Source Endurance, White Buffalo Kitchen, Castelli, Cannondale, Mavic, Smith, Your Group Ride and First City Mortgage Group!
