Collegiate road cyclists raced up the front hill and around Rim Drive Sunday morning for day two of the Squawker Classic race weekend.
The men A category started the day at 8 a.m. and the women A category finished at noon.
Each category raced for a designated number of laps around the five mile course.
Below are recaps of each category in the order they raced.
Men A
The Men A category stayed together on their first of nine laps. By the second lap, a break of three riders went up the road. Fort Lewis College’s Andre Bos was in the trio along with riders from University of Colorado and Colorado Mesa University.
The trio stayed away until the final lap where CU riders attacked the steep climb up E. 8th Ave.
CU riders Grant Ellwood and Daniel Rowen went one - two, respectively.
“We just kind of threw a few attacks, a few hard digs at the end, and then Daniel and I went for it on the climb, and it worked out well for us,” Ellwood said.
Men B
FLC’s Nash Dory broke away solo on the first of six laps. FLC riders in the main field made sure Dory could stay away, and the rest of the teams could not chase him back.
After a convincing solo win by Dory, teammate Dillon Janda attacked the climb to take second place for the Skyhawks.
“Dillon made a break for it,” Dory said. “I chased it down, just kept on the gas and from there on out made a gap and kept working,” he said.
Men C
The collegiate men C category raced as a combined field with the USA Cycling category 4/5 and master 45+ categories due to small field sizes.
The small field size meant that the men C race would be pretty split up for the four lap race. Colorado College’s Adam Jolly kept the lead the entire race for the win, followed by Colorado State University.
“There was a pesky CSU guy on my tail the entire time, but I was just kinda working with the old dudes to shake him off, and eventually we did,” Jolly said.
Women A
Colorado Mesa University’s Natalia Franco was on the attack from the first lap of the six lap race. She was chased by a CU rider and followed by three others. By the second lap, Franco was off the front solo.
Franco maintained her lead all the way to the finish for the win. Going into the last lap, CU’s Emily Shaldach made a solo move from the main group of four. As she crested the final climb with another rider, Shaldach was able to sprint for second place.
FLC’s Charlotte Backus took fourth place.
“I’m a climber so I just knew I had to wait for the climb and then put my pace like progressive,” Franco said. “I just like broke away without even trying and then just keeping the same pace for the rest of the race,” she said.
Women B/C
Once again the combined women B/C field was very small, with FLC’s Peyton Valko being the only C rider.
The race stayed split up for the full four laps, and Denver University’s Christa Gutzel had a big lead.
Gutzel took the win with Air Force Academy in second.
“I know I can do hills so I just stayed with the pack for the first lap, and then I took off on this hill,” Gutzel said.