Chodroff enjoys time in the Sun, seals overall victory

Buckeye, AZ - Jonathan Chodroff of the carried the leader’s jersey he won convincingly in the opening time trial of the Valley of the Sun stage race to the overall win, after finishing safely in the pack in the closing criterium Sunday.

“It was a bit rough today,” Chodroff said. But luckily I had two good teammates with me at the race.” Those two teammates, Bobby Lea and Roman Kilun, made sure Chodroff stayed out of trouble, both during the Stage 2 road race Saturday, and in Sunday’s criterium. While Kilun patrolled the front of the pack to keep any dangerous breaks from getting way, Lea stayed with Chodroff and kept him in position.

“Those guys were really strong this weekend,” Chodroff said. “I’m going to learn a lot from them this season. I haven’t done that many pro/1/2 criteriums yet,” he said, adding that, less than two years ago, he was still a Cat. 3 racer, and he’s only been racing for three years.

“Choddie did a great TT on Friday,” Kilun noted. “And Saturday, he did a great job staying on our wheel and out of trouble. Bobby took care of him in the crit today.”

Lea added that, “This was a new experience for him and he handled himself really well. This is trial by fire for him. Today wasn’t an easy day for him but he gutted it out.”

“It was a pretty stressful day today,” Chodroff said, “but I’m happy. I know I’ve been given a great opportunity to ride for OUCH Presented by Maxxis. And I’m going to learn a lot here.”

NOTES

The finale of Stage 2 was neutralized just before the finish due to a wreck that had occurred earlier during the Cat. 3 finish. However, the team had done some stellar work before then to make the finish inconsequential to the overall battle. Fairly early in the stage, a group of four riders, none of whom were a threat to Chodroff’s lead, went up the road and scooped up the available time bonuses. Kilun and Lea took to the front and kept the break under control, timing the catch to perfection in the final couple kilometers.

“Bobby and Roman had to do some work Saturday,” Chodroff said. “I just had to sit in and they took care of things.”

While Kilun is used to defending leader’s jerseys, sometimes short-handed, Lea is turning his attention to the road full-time after concentrating on the track the past couple years, efforts that earned him a trip to the Beijing Olympics last year. But he seems to be adjusting well - and quickly - to racing on the road.

“I haven’t raced with Bobby too much the past couple years because he’s been on the track so much,” Kilun said. “But I was really impressed with how he rode this weekend. I think he’s going to be a really important part of the team this year.”

“It was a pretty straightforward out-and-back course,” Chodroff said. “I paced myself well and just tried to ride within myself. It was only my second time on the new Kuota TT rig, but the bike is super fast and my TT position is good.”

Valley of the Sun continues Saturday with an 89-mile road race, and concludes Sunday with a criterium run on a tight, 0.8 mile course in the town of Buckeye.

“There’s only three of us racing here for Team OUCH,” Chodroff said, noting that Bobby Lea joins them for the race. “But we’ll do everything we can to defend the jersey through Sunday.”

Photo: Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us