Is the only way to describe the inaugural edition of the US Cycling Open in Richmond Virginia. The riders woke up to less than ideal conditions, 30 degrees and Snowing!!! Not what was expected but the course which was described as a Belgian Classic was getting the weather conditions to match.

The guys were very excited to compete in the spotlight of NBC with the Nations best cyclist all in attendance. The riders were all feeling strong coming off a great winter in Tucson and an early season race schedule in California.
Team Director Dave Werling told the guys to be very aggressive from the start and to try and get in the early move which we all expected to happen. However this plan backfired possibly due to the poor weather conditions but no break got away on the 60 mile flat run into the circuits in downtown Richmond.
With all the riders still feeling strong we rode at the front on the technical 5.5 mile circuit which consisted of a cobbled climb up Libby Hill and a fast cobbled descent. It was defiantly a challenging circuit. Despite the solid legs most of the guys had we ran into some bad luck and suffered a couple flats and a crash from our team leader on the day Chris Jones.
In the end the day didn’t go as planned but the guys all felt that the fitness was there and look out for them next weekend in Jacksonville.