Vitamin Cottage gathered three victories this past weekend at the Deer Trail Road Race east of Denver. VC took the men's and women's pro-1-2 category races along with the master's 45+ race.
In the men's 77-mile pro-1-2 race, Vitamin Cottage won for the third consecutive year. Just a few miles in, an early breakaway formed with Curt Chesney (Timex), Jeff Harmann (Big Shark), Carlos Casali (HART) and Vitamin Cottage lifer Joe Taddeucci. Chesney, a triathlete with a number of Iron Man top 10 finishes, was not intimidated by the long breakaway and helped motor the break to nearly a 4 minute lead. Approximately 5 miles from the finish, a small group including VC's Jon Tarkington and Christian McCarthy joined the break. After a series of attacks initiated by Vitamin Cottage, Tarkington hit the group hard and maintained a small gap all the way to the finish. As the chasing group began to tire, McCarthy launched and bridged up to Tarkington. The two crossed the line together with both riders completely disinterested in taking the individaul victory. The judges ruled McCarthy the winner with Tarkington second. The remnants of the field roled in shortly after with Baker taking the field sprint in 10th.
In the women's race, VC rider Beth Fisk and former Vitamin Cottage teammate Sharon Allpress (Value Act Capital) rode away from the field with 20 miles to go and finished first and second, respectively. Fisk, who has been no stranger to the top step of the podium, scored Vitamin Cottage victory number two on the day.
The men's 45+ race also unfolded with an early breakaway represented by VC's Bob Pinkerton, Vic Williams and Jeff Ray. In the closing miles, Vitamin Cottage newcomer Bill Kellagher stormed by the two survivors of the early break, Bob Pinkerton and Randy Culver (Pikes Peak Velo), and held it all the way to the line to complete the VC hat trick. A small group rolled in just behind Kellagher with VC's Brett Wade sprinting for second and Bob Pinkerton hanging on for fourth after being off the front for nearly the whole race.
Vitamin Cottage will be back in action this weekend with the team split between the Tour of Gila and locally the Lookout Mountain Hillclimb and Rocky Mounts/Izzy Criterium.