July 25 Final Coal City Criterium

A hot sunny night for the final crit. We had 14 racers take the line.  With it being the final race 40 laps were on the board.  After two neutral laps they were off with Harry getting out front pushing the pace and trying for an early break.  The pack reeled him in fairly quickly though.  13 laps in the bell was wrung for the first prime and Doug Merrick showed he was the thirstiest taking the sprint by over ten seconds on the rest of the pack.  He didn't let up though and continued to push the pace staying off the front for another lap until he was joined by James Grant and Connor MrGrady.  Together the three of them held the main pack off for the next six laps until Doug had enough and fell back to main bunch.  From there Connor and James spent the next 15 laps working together off the front building up almost a 30second lead at one point.  On lap twenty the bell was wrung again for another prime but none of the riders seemed interested and James and Connor maintained their break.  With five laps to go the group shut down the break away closing the gap on the two young riders fairly quickly.  In the final sprint James Grant showed his fitness as he managed out gun the rest of the pack depsite having been off the front for the majority of the race.  He was followed closely by Iain Hay and Liam Sullivan.

LAP TIMES

Tech issues meant the first seven laps were missed

 

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