Joe Martin Stage Race - The Journey Begins
Joe Martin Stage 1 —
The first stage of the 4 day event was a nearly 3 mile time trial up the side of Devil’s Den State Park, just south of Fayetteville Arkansas, gaining around 700 vertical ft, with an average gradient of 6.8%. With the mercury pegging the temperature at around 80 degrees in shade, and the sun and moderate humidity making it feel warmer, it was easy for racers heart rate to quickly blow up–but slow to cool down. The boys were happy to warm up at the Saris sponsored warm up tent, where they met a friendly face in the Cycleops’ regional rep. as they best prepared themselves for the pain to come. Nobody is ever entirely satisfied with a time-trial event, having likely metered their efforts poorly and blown up early, or finished the parcourse feeling like they had a little left to give–both sentiments shared by KS Energy riders that day as the weather and course proved to be not-so-predictable. Nonetheless, the squad finished admirably, positioning themselves well at the top half of the GC list while keeping the upcoming days of racing in mind.
Fosler finished in 48th, Frye in 55th, Paquette in 72nd, Heile in 73rd. The time gap between all 4 riders was less than 22 seconds, so it was a close race for KS.
Joe Martin Stage 2 –
Stage 2 of the Joe Martin Stage race started like a pirate raid on the Spanish armada. There were more explosions lighting up the first half of this race than we have seen in a while. With a field chock full of well-represented teams, each lit a canon one right after the other. KS Energy started with a stroke of bad luck and almost immediately lost one rider when Heile hit a nasty patch of gravel and flatted around ten miles into the race. With the front of the pack storming forward with guns ablaze, there was no catching back on for Heile.
A break finally established, but the timing didn’t play to the favor of Team WI. The major players in the field were happy with the split, as most teams were represented in the break–except Paquette and Frye of KS Energy, who put in huge efforts to pull the group together and protect the team GC contender, Bryan Fosler. When efforts to motivate other riders to help the chase failed, the gap proved too large for the two who relegated themselves to the sitting in the field. Two riders tangled on a fast descent with around 60 miles to go causing a large crash. Miraculously, Paquette stayed upright but suffered a puncture when he hit a fallen rider’s wheel.
No more than ten miles later, the field splintered in a stretch of crosswind through rolling hills as teams repeatedly attacked, trying to establish a second break. The fie
ld’s final knockout came during a ten mile climb at mile marker 75. Frye and Fosler finished in one of the many small remaining groupettos, well inside the time cut, while Paquette fought hard to survive and race stage 3 with a long a solo effort. All riders knew that there’s a time cut after the leaders finish the stage, so it was a fierce struggle to the finish even though the peloton splintered.
After over one-hundred-ten miles of racing the team all agreed it was one of the toughest road races they have ever done.
Fosler finished 66th, Frye 70th and Paquette 84th.
Joe Martin stage 3 –
Stage 2 was hard. But stage 3 turned the dial up to eleven. The fireworks started off the front of the field at the first climb only two miles into the stage. After repeated attacks, several breaks were established, gained ground and were brought back many times before one finally stuck. The lollipop course had one substantial climb which was topped off with multiple punchy rollers. The pace stayed high on the climb and the fireworks never ceased as riders would wind up attacks over the top and throughout the rollers. The KS boys hedged their bets against the break given the nature of the course and speed with which the field was rolling. Both Paquette and Frye took turns on the front making sure the pace stayed where it needed to be to keep the breakaway’s time gap manageable. After working with other teams that were left out of the break, the field caught the breakaway with around five miles to go. With 5k to go Paquette and Frye went to the front to keep the pace high and control the chaos to give strong-man Fosler opportunity to maneuver in the tight bunch. Fosler crossed the line in 12th after a 45 mph wind up towards the line, while Paquette and Frye finished within the field.
Fosler finished 12th, Paquette in 36th, Frye in 64th.
Joe Martin Stage 4 –
The stage 4 criterium handed out the hardest efforts of the race. The 8-corner 1.2 mile course featured 110 ft of elevation gain each lap with 90 ft of that in just the finishing 300 meter wall, and two fast descending corners which the field frequently rounded at over 40 mph. Needless to say, the race was painful from lap one. The squad’s efforts from chasing during the previous stages took their toll on the KS Energy boys during the very punchy, power intensive crit, but they held strong to the finish. After numerous attacks at the front of the field which very nearly tore the entire field to shreds, Fosler and Paquette finished with the remnants of the field, and Frye finished with a prorated time several minutes down. For a more in depth self analysis of Frye’s race, see “throwing in the towel.”
Fosler finished in 33rd, Paquette in 36th and Frye was placed at 53rd.
Of the 103 man field that started the TT, 25% of the riders weren’t able to finish by the end of stage 4. Joe Martin was a brutal series and you needed a lot of luck in addition to a set of legs to complete each day’s stage. I think that all the riders agree that they’ve learned quite a bit from Joe Martin and they’ll remember this race for a long time. The race had a lot of talent in the pack and it’s no doubt that it’s one of the hardest races these guys will ever do.
Creative Hotel Bike Storage