Two coasts, two wins for OUCH Presented by Maxxis

Long Beach, CA - With no races on the national calendar this week, several riders from the OUCH Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis took to the streets for local races on both coasts. The result was two race wins and one overall omnium title, courtesy of John Murphy and Bobby Lea.

On Saturday, Murphy followed up his Redlands Criterium win from the week before by winning a convincing sprint from a nine-rider break in the inaugural Long Beach Bicycle Festival.

“The break went about halfway into the race,” Murphy said. “There were two guys from Fly V, two from Colavita, a couple from Rock. I had decided early on I was only going to get in a break if all three of those teams were represented. Any other combo and I wouldn’t go.”

It was a wise move on Murphy’s part, and the fact that each of those teams had two riders in the break actually played into Murphy’s hands, even though it’s usually good to have a teammate or two with you.

“Because I was on my own, they didn’t have too much problem with me hanging in the back of the break,” Murphy said. “I wasn’t going to work and no one really pushed me to. If the break stayed, I was going to sprint for the win. If we got caught, I was going to sprint for it. Either way, it didn’t matter.”

Free from having to do too much in the break, Murphy was able to come into the final laps fresh. Coming out of the final turn with about 350 meters to the line, Murphy was sitting fourth wheel.

“Nobody really sprinted out of the turn so I hit it,” he said. From there, it was just a matter of holding on.

Wins on consecutive weeks gives Murphy some confidence going into his next series of races.

“I’m hitting a good streak of form,” he said. “I’m starting a big block of racing and I’m hoping to carry this momentum through.”

Murphy races next at the Tour of Battenkill in New York in two weeks, followed by a series of criteriums in the Southeast which will take him into May.

Lea wins two-day Philly Cycling Classic

On the other side of the country, Bobby Lea and Jonathan Chodroff took part in the two-day Philadelphia Cycling Classic over the weekend. The opening day Saturday, Lea won the criterium out of a break and also took the overall lead in the omnium format race.

The second day of the Classic featured another criterium.

“Chodroff was a big help monitoring any dangerous moves and did a great job staying at the front,” Lea said of his teammate’s efforts Sunday.

Lea took 6th on the final stage to secure the overall win, “no thanks to a hook at 100 meters to go that had me sprinting in the grass,” he said.