Redlands & Training Camp
TaG Cycling Race Team April News
This months focus was team training camp in Tucson AZ, followed by Redlands Bicycle Classic 5 day stage race.
The team spent the week leading up to Redlands with an intense preview and prep for the upcoming race.
We were very encouraged by the opening performances.
22 year old Axel Froner raced an aggressive opening stage to finish 1st in the U23 UCI category and top10 in the stage. Thimas Schellenberg put himself in the points category taking 2nd place from an early breakaway.
There were solid performances throughout, with 21 year old Nathan Pruner fighting to secure the young riders podium overall and hovering 4th and 5th by a tiny margin all week. Nathan put himself on the map with the mtn top finish on Day 2 for Oak Glen.
The battles went on and the team showed their capability in the 2 final days finishing in the front groups both days. Including a close attempt by Axel to get into the front group on the final Sunset Loop stage. Axel fell just short but showed bookend performances on first and last days as the top rider.
Axel,Tommy and Nathan put TaG in a very respectable 9th place team overall. Second highest finish for an amateur team.
Read on for some recap and words from our Director Sportif, former Pro and triple Olympian Gord Fraser.
Thank you! Lesley T
Dear TaG Community,
I wanted to take a brief minute to thank all of Team TaG’s supporters, both past and present. This is Gord Fraser and I, along with Gillian Ellsay had the pleasure of directing the team for their first team race of the year in Redlands, CA.
Redlands in years past has been the first true season opener for the North American road calendar, and 2023 was no different. With most of the boys having experienced the race last year, we went into this year’s edition with more confidence and modest ambitions to create an upset. Stage 1 saw Tommy slide into the first serious move with former overall winner Matteo Dal Cin and together they’d contest the race’s first time bonus. Tommy took 2nd place and 2 seconds bonus but they’d soon be brought back to the bunch. Unfortunately we’d miss a very strong 5 man counter move with all the big teams, and they’d take the stage. Axel was fighting for the bunch sprint and would leadout the very difficult uphill drag to go 4th in the bunch and an impressive 9th on the stage. First u23 rider for the stage!
The stage 2 summit finish atop Oak Glen was an uncharacteristically sedate affair. The Denver Disruptors had a relatively easy day controlling in the unusually cold conditions. Nathan climbed well and was our best placed rider just outside the top 20; and encouraging result.
Maybe one discipline where team TaG showed its inexperience is time trialing. Stage 3 offered a chance for the team to work this skill and the boys put in a good effort.
The big question for the stage 4 criterium would be if Legion of Los Angeles would use the opportunity to control for the stage win, giving Project Echelon yellow jersey effectively the night off. Legion executed their 3 year reign as the best criterium team in the country with a straightforward stage win. TaG tried to initiate early breaks and Axel again being aggressive and positioning well throughout.
Sunday’s famous stage 5 Sunset Loop is one of the country’s most heralded races. The boys had nothing to lose and tried to find the early break and get a head start so when the GC battle really heated up, they’d have the race come to them. But the slow methodical jersey defense of Project Echelon would whittle down the peloton each of the 12 demanding laps as they kept Legion of LA in check. A final split the second last lap had Nathan, Tommy and Axel confined to the second group, although Axel was so close to getting across. They would finish 26, 31 and 40th on GC respectively. Nathan placed 5th in the U22 category while the team finished 9th out of 26 teams on team GC
So what can team TaG take from our season debut? The gap isn’t terribly significant to the older more established teams and pros competing domestically. A great camp in Tucson, paired with hard racing gives the riders their initial block of serious training and racing load. This will set up the team well for the upcoming events; The UCI ranked Joe Martin Stage Race in Fayetteville, Arkansas and Quebec’s Tour de Beauce. Every race is an opportunity to develop and create chances for career defining results.
Watching Canada’s Mike Woods take an amazing 4th place in the classic Flèche Wallone, takes me back 10 years when he was an emerging talent fresh out of distance running. The Cyclery in Ottawa first helped the prodigious talent, then Louis Garneau’s Quebecor team followed until Mike blossomed was graduated from team to team to ultimately be one of Canada’s greatest ever pro road racer.
The TaG community is providing a similar vital pathway for our young racers to gain experience and reach their goals. Team member Braden Kersey says it best. “Thanks to the TaG community we’re able to compete at top races such as Redlands whilst being supported by the best staff in the business. Both of these things are critical in helping us make that next step into the pro ranks”.
So thank you so much for this opportunity
Gord