Tulsa Time
It could be very interesting down in Tulsa this coming weekend. I'm gonna predict that some unknowns will have a very big weekend, maybe the biggest they've ever had. Things can change, but a glance at the start list so far makes it look like a wide-open race for a whole lotta cash.
The promoter of Tulsa Tough is a friend of mine and he told me that they did it the right way from the get-go. They had all the city's big hitters on board from early on and consequently raised a lot of greenbacks--almost 75 large. They hope to have the race on the national calendar by next year. If so, with the plan to have even more money then, this will be one of the larger pro turnouts. But this year, with a couple NRC events pulling the pros elsewhere, the Tulsa race will be a showcase of regional talent, which means that some of the working boys and girls will be taking home a lot of cash.
In the pro,1-2 men, ABD looks to be the powerhouse team with guys like Reid Mumford and field sprinter John Puffer being the odds-on early favorites. But there's plenty of room for some lunch-pail teams to squeeze into the right break or leadout train and take home some serious loot. Both Mesa and Mercy have to like their chances and count on guys like St Louis' best opportunist, tough-guy Kurt Fletcher, to put themselves in position to grab while the grabbin's good.
The women's pro, 1-2 is probably even more open than the men's. Big UCI races around the country and in Canada will draw off all the pro teams and even the stronger regional teams. Without any strong team presence, the women's races will come down to the inevitable field sprints and favor someone who is good at putting herself in the right place at the right time. This is one of the strengths of Molly Vetter-Smith as she proved last weekend at Quad Cities under similar circumstances. Mercy Fitness' Stacey Bertsch is another rider with a nose for a good position and a sprint to do something with it. Supposedly one of the courses has a "sharp" hill on it just before the finish. If it's "sharp" enough, this could work in the favor of Columbia's own ProPam (Hinton).
With the way these fields are shaping up, and no big pro team presence, I'll predict that each day will have a different winner. And on a given day, that winner could be someone who's never been within eyesight of that much prize money. Should be interesting. Later.
The promoter of Tulsa Tough is a friend of mine and he told me that they did it the right way from the get-go. They had all the city's big hitters on board from early on and consequently raised a lot of greenbacks--almost 75 large. They hope to have the race on the national calendar by next year. If so, with the plan to have even more money then, this will be one of the larger pro turnouts. But this year, with a couple NRC events pulling the pros elsewhere, the Tulsa race will be a showcase of regional talent, which means that some of the working boys and girls will be taking home a lot of cash.
In the pro,1-2 men, ABD looks to be the powerhouse team with guys like Reid Mumford and field sprinter John Puffer being the odds-on early favorites. But there's plenty of room for some lunch-pail teams to squeeze into the right break or leadout train and take home some serious loot. Both Mesa and Mercy have to like their chances and count on guys like St Louis' best opportunist, tough-guy Kurt Fletcher, to put themselves in position to grab while the grabbin's good.
The women's pro, 1-2 is probably even more open than the men's. Big UCI races around the country and in Canada will draw off all the pro teams and even the stronger regional teams. Without any strong team presence, the women's races will come down to the inevitable field sprints and favor someone who is good at putting herself in the right place at the right time. This is one of the strengths of Molly Vetter-Smith as she proved last weekend at Quad Cities under similar circumstances. Mercy Fitness' Stacey Bertsch is another rider with a nose for a good position and a sprint to do something with it. Supposedly one of the courses has a "sharp" hill on it just before the finish. If it's "sharp" enough, this could work in the favor of Columbia's own ProPam (Hinton).
With the way these fields are shaping up, and no big pro team presence, I'll predict that each day will have a different winner. And on a given day, that winner could be someone who's never been within eyesight of that much prize money. Should be interesting. Later.
posted by JimmyMc at 9:09 AM
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