Duke traveled to Madison, WI this past weekend to compete in Collegiate Nationals for the first time! Not knowing what to expect, Rob Ferris, Mike Niemi, Gael Hagan, and Mike Balajewicz braved a 15+ hour drive to race against the best collegiate teams in the nation.
The weekend kicked off with a 72-mile road race with over 8,000 feet of climbing, not to mention an uphill finish the last 4 miles. Ferris took 20th, Hagan took 22nd, and Balajewicz finished 36th. Between these finishes, Duke scored 23 pts and was ranked 20th in the team Omnium standings.
Racing continued on Saturday with a criterium around the state capitol. Ferris again scored big with an 8th place finish, less than 2 seconds behind the race winner.
Finally, Nationals wrapped up with a 19.2 mile team time trial (TTT) that finished in front of the Trek World Headquarters in Waterloo, WI. Duke’s men rocketed around the course, averaging a blazing 29.71 mph and placing 4th. Adding criterium and TTT points to their RR results, Duke scored 114 points and placed 11th overall in the D2 Omnium.
Congratulations to the racers who traveled to WI! Great effort, and great results to show! It’s been a real breakout year for Duke Cycling, and the program is only going to grow and improve next year. Stay tuned this summer and be ready for more exciting results to come!
Duke will be sending 4 racers to Collegiate Road Nationals, more than any other team in D2 ACCC. The team will travel to Madison, WI to compete in the chamionship omnium the weekend of May 7th-9th. Friday’s road race features over 8000 feet of climbing and finishes in Blue Mounds State Park. The crit on Saturday will be a fast-paced circuit around Capitol Square in downtown Madison. Nationals will wrap up with Sunday’s TTT, which will finish at the Trek World Headquarters in Waterloo, WI.
Duke finished the ACCC regular season with an impressive performance at conference champs. Up in the mountains of Blacksburg, the men dominated in the road race and team time trial. RR: In the A’s, Thomas Dominic took 2nd and Gael Hagan took 7th. In the B’s, Matt Rinehart took 1st, Davis Graham took 5th, Jeff Reid took 7th, and Chris Oishi took 8th. In the Cs, Alex Vetter finished in 8th place. TTT: Men’s A TTT (Dominic, Hagan, Maciej Balajewicz, Mike Niemi) was led by Hagan, who pulled the Duke Train to a narrow victory just 1 second ahead of VT. In the Men’s B TTT (Rinehart, Graham, Reid, Oishi), Graham was shaken up and suffered extreme arm lacerations from a crash while pulling the team down some technical descents at record speed. Despite the crash, the B team still managed to finish in 2nd place just 5 seconds behind WVU.
Overall, Duke won the road race and finished 2nd overall in the TTT. These results put Duke in 2nd place for the ACCC regular season behind Pfeiffer.
Duke traveled to Boone to contend with the dirt and gravel on the same weekend that UCI cyclists fought over the cobblestones of the Tour of Flanders. Like Fabian Cancellara, Duke was triumphant, taking 1st place in the RR and 3rd place in the Sunday Crit.
The cycling team returned from spring break training in the mountains of NC and racked up major points in the UVA+VCU criterium races (full results). After a week of rest, we now prepare to travel to Boone, NC this weekend– home of Appalachian State University.
The Boone-Roubaix road race course boasts steep mountains with numerous unpaved patches. The races will be grueling, and Duke is ready to drive the pace and conquer mountains!
Duke traveled to Madison, WI this past weekend to compete in Collegiate Nationals for the first time! Not knowing what to expect, Rob Ferris, Mike Niemi, Gael Hagan, and Mike Balajewicz braved a 15+ hour drive to race against the best collegiate teams in the nation.