Race Report: 2024 Il Giro di San Francisco - Women's 3/4/5
Race: SF Giro Women’s Cat 3/4/5
Date: Monday September 2, 2024
AVRT racers: Katarina Zgraja, Katie Monaghan
Top Result: Katarina 3/28, Katie 9/28
Course: The course starts with a left turn, then immediately a right turn over some train tracks.Then there is a noticeable (but not steep) uphill into another right hand turn. Then a long straight section, then two more rights into the straight finish.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12306994249
Nutrition: Turkey sandwich for breakfast. Sis gel on the start line. A couple of swigs of Tailwind carb mix during the race.
Recap (Written by Katarina):
I knew this was going to be a tough race, judging by the pre-registration list. It was a combined 3/4/5 race, which I think is the first time for me racing with cat 3’s, so I was excited for the challenge. My goal was to execute a field sprint in this race, so my plan was to try to work as little as possible, and chase down any threatening attacks to avoid a break forming.
Super sprinkles had dominating numbers in this race, with 12 out of the 28 riders. The pace started fast from the start, and Sprinkles did not hesitate to throw many attacks. I found myself chasing down a good number of them, but none of them had gotten to a point of getting away too much, so to me, it wasn’t too much overexertion. In general, nothing out of the ordinary happened throughout the race, besides the flurries of attacks. I myself struggled getting into good positioning in the corners. I think it was perhaps that my last crit was Cat’s Hill earlier this year.
Near the end of the race (<5 laps to go), I found myself at the front of the group. Katie immediately noticed this and came to help me out (super appreciative for her selfless support to protect me and my legs). I tried to stay in a good position and prepare myself for the last lap.
The pace quickened on the last lap. It had a high concentration of Sprinkles riders, plus Eva from Eclipse, Hannah from Terun, and myself (probably some others too that I am forgetting). Hannah really pushed the pace on the long straight section (about half way through the last lap). I found myself in ~7th position going into the last 2 turns. Not the position I wanted to be in. I started to have doubts that I could execute a solid sprint result this far back. However, on the final turn everything changed. The rider who was in 2nd position clipped her pedal, went down, and took down 3rd and 4th position riders. I had time to react, slowed down to avoid the bikes and riders on the ground, and suddenly I was in 4th position. I ramped up again for a “sprint”, passed one rider, and crossed the line in 3rd place.
