Killington Stage Race - Day 1

Downeast Racing kicked off a long weekend of racing in beautiful Killington Vermont with the first of three events in the Legendary Killington Stage Race. Day 1 features multiple laps of an ~18 mile circuit.  The Pro 1/2 field was scheduled to complete 4 laps of the circuit.  Dan Vaillancourt, Matt Moon and Fred Thomas are head to head with an elite field including Canadian Pro teams, Continental US Pro Teams and Under 23 National Development Riders just to name a few.  With 120 riders filling out the Pro 1/2 field, it will be an exciting weekend of racing for these 3 DER boys!  The Category 3 field, with DER members Joseph Lynch and Eliot Pitney, were also slated to complete 4 laps of the circuit course, albeit with a much smaller field of ~50 racers.  Filling out the DER roster for the weekend is Team Leader Hank Pfeifle who is challenging for General Classification supremacy in the Master 50+ field.   

The team couldn't even get out of the parking lot to warm-up prior to the circuit race without making new friends.  Fellow Giant sponsored athlete Natascha Piciga flagged the team down to talk all things Giant and comment on the beauty of the team bikes.  Photos ensued.  Best of luck this weekend Natascha!

Day 1 is usually for the sprinters, and the racing did not disappoint.  DER did not factor in the sprints, but were ever present at the head of the peloton keeping a sharp eye on the developments.  With a fair bit of climbing on tap on Day 2, DER looks to put their feet up tonight and recover.

Day 2 is the road race, with numerous mountain climbs (this is Vermont!) .  The team is housed 3 quarters of the way up the infamous finishing climb of East Mountain Road, which is featured as the final test of strength and endurance in the road race (day 2). It will be a day for the climbers! Strava Segment - East Mountain Road 

Keep an eye on Velocity Results to follow along with team standings.