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Rudy McDermott - The Next Great American Classics Rider
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| Selwink |
Posted on 12-05-2013 18:46
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Grand Tour Champion
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Joined: 17-05-2012
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You are getting closer to the win. Now get it!
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| trueblue3044 |
Posted on 12-05-2013 19:14
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Stagiare
Posts: 185
Joined: 07-06-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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Stage 4
Stage 4 was a little flatter than the previous two, but it still had two category 4 climbs.
Like the other stages, a break went early and got caught with around 15km to go. Since I got caught in a bad position in the last stage, my team decided to set up a small train to get me to the front. With about 3km to go, the race leader Bradley Huff's wheel was wide open for the taking. I hopped off of my train and onto his wheel, with the hope of coming around him in the final hundred meters or so.
He swerved through an opening and I was immediately cut off. From there I tried getting behind another rider to try and gain some ground, but it was too late. I got swallowed up by the pack and finished outside the top 10 down in 18th place.
This was pretty demoralizing, especially after my 6th place yesterday. But, there's still one more stage tomorrow and I'm not giving up without a fight! |
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| Areolys |
Posted on 12-05-2013 19:46
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Stagiare
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Joined: 09-07-2012
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I hope you get it tomorrow!  |
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| trueblue3044 |
Posted on 12-05-2013 20:07
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Stagiare
Posts: 185
Joined: 07-06-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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Stage 5
The team really wanted to leave on a high note and get a result in stage 5. Lawson Craddock joined the early morning break.
It was the biggest breakway of the race at 12 riders. It only got a maximum advantage of about 2 minutes, as the leaders teams were all keen on not throwing away their GC placings. With 25km left, the break was swept up, so it looked like it would come down to a sprint finish yet again. One more chance for me to prove my strength. My team dragged me up into the top 10 and I found the wheel of Nico Eeckhaut.
The sprint started and it looked like Brad Huff had a good line to the finish so I hopped over to him and started my sprint. I just didn't have the strength to compete with these veterens. I found myself outside of the top 10 once again and in 13th place.
Overall, there were both good things and bad things to take away from my first professional stage race. I got two top 10s which I'd say are fairly good for my first race of my career. Also, I was not on very good form since it is so early in the season, so hopefully my finishing kick will get stronger as I get into shape. My teammates were really supportive and we all had a great time. Time to head back to the US and train for my next race where I can hopefully improve!
Author's Note:
Thanks everyone for your support! Glad to see people following my story and wishing me luck. I'll try my best to get Rudy some noteworthy results in his next race 
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| trueblue3044 |
Posted on 12-05-2013 21:21
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Stagiare
Posts: 185
Joined: 07-06-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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Valley of the Sun Stage Race
Ahhh, the good ole USofA. Back on my home soil after a week in New Zealand that was a great experience. I went home to New Jersey for about a week to tell my family and friends about my experience. But, then it was back to our team base in Boulder, CO, where I shared an apartment with Lawson Craddock, Ryan Eastman, and Tanner Putt. For the next couple of weeks we trained together and then we were set to go to the Valley of the Sun Stage Race in Arizona.
Team Roster:
Lawson Craddock (Leader)
Rudy McDermott (Sprinter)
Andzs Flaksis
Ryan Eastman
Gavin Mannion
Jasper Stuyven
Gregory Daniel
Tanner Putt
Stage 1
It was fairly chilly for Arizona. But we wouldn't have to worry too much about that. The first stage was a 22km all out effort.
Time trials aren't exactly my cup of tea, but my form is coming in well. Nobody from the team really had a noteworthy result until Lawson Craddock took a crack at the course. He set the 3rd best time at the finish, 18 seconds behind then leader Ben Jaques-Maynes. I was up last for our squad.
I always find the moment right before you set off on a time trial the most unsettling in the sport. So many thoughts race through your head and you have to settle them all down. Then, you just go and all of those thoughts evaporate and you just become one with the road. I rolled down the start ramp and was off. I accelerated up the course and it seemed that my lady fans enjoyed the effort
I calmed down and settled into a nice pace. My legs felt really good. I passed through the intermediate checkpoint around 40 seconds off the pace of the current leader Jacques-Maynes.
I turned up the pace a little for the last half of the TT. There was a small climb to the finish so I had to give it everything I had left. I crossed the line and came in in 6th place, 23 seconds. I was pretty astounded.
Eventually, Ed Clancy of the Rapha Condor team beat Ben Jacques-Maynes' best time by 3 seconds. So I was pushed down to 7th place, but it was still a lot better than I was expecting.
Edited by trueblue3044 on 12-05-2013 21:22
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| Selwink |
Posted on 12-05-2013 21:30
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8856
Joined: 17-05-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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Looking good
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| trueblue3044 |
Posted on 12-05-2013 22:31
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Stagiare
Posts: 185
Joined: 07-06-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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Valley of the Sun Stage 2
Stage 2 is 160 km and fairly hilly, but is considered to be flat by the race organizers. It's gonna be a tough race, but if it comes down to a sprint, I'm the man in charge to get the win. If it happens to break apart on one of the climbs, Lawson Craddock will be our man seeing that he is our best rider in the hills.
Seeing that this is a hilly/flat stage, our DS thought we should send a man up in the breakaway. Gavin Mannion got the go ahead, but his breakaway didn't stick for long. A new 5-man breakaway went away and stayed away until about 11 km to go. Then, as soon as the gradient got steep for the last climb of the day, two riders went. It was Lawson's job to follow them which he did.
The group ended up about 5 riders strong, but only had a minimal advantage over the peloton.
We figured it would come down to a sprint finish so we got our guys up front and set up a train for me. We powered the front of the peloton from 6 km to go to 3 km to go. It felt good to be in control.
The sprint opened up and I had Huff to my left and a young British talent by the name of Ian Wilkinson to my right. It was neck and neck, but I just didn't have it in me.
I came in 3rd place, my best pro result yet, but I really thought I could've had that one. Once again, I did earn the honor of wearing the white jersey as the races best young rider. Hopefully I can find success in tomorrows criterium stage.
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| Selwink |
Posted on 13-05-2013 06:44
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Grand Tour Champion
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Good result
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 13-05-2013 08:25
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Tour de France Champion
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Another good performance from Rudy |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 13-05-2013 09:06
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Tour de France Champion
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Great sprint! |
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| Cycleman123 |
Posted on 13-05-2013 09:54
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Good start to your career! |
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| trueblue3044 |
Posted on 13-05-2013 20:06
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Stagiare
Posts: 185
Joined: 07-06-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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Valley of the Sun Stage 3
So the final stage of the Valley of the Sun stage race was upon us. It was the kind of race I grew up on; a nice short and flat criterium. It was right in the heart of downtown Phoenix and was a mere 70 km long. I thought I had a real good chance.
The day started off with a break of 6 going away after about 5 km of the short route. I sat in the pack and was going over the final sprint in my head a million times, thinking of where I'd gone wrong in the past and how I'd do things differently today. It was a collective effort from the whole peloton and the break was reeled in with about 10 km to go. That's when I had my small train bring me up to the front. At the start of the last lap, My team had me in a great position once again. (I'm wearing the green sprinters jersey even though I'm second in that classification).
With about 2km to go, my leadout man launched the sprint and I followed in his wheel. As he pulled off, exhausted from his effort, I swung around and hit the gas. My quick start put me in the lead early, but would I have the legs to hold on?
The finish line got closer and the competition started to close in, but then I found one more gear and there was no way anyone was catching me today. I looked under my bike and watched as that beautiful white line passed under me and raised my arms in glory. My first win as a professional. I was elated.
I was swarmed by teammates at the finish line. First by my leadout man for this race and my rommate, Ryan Eastman. I gave him a high five and hugged him thanking him for his hard work and then I went on to do the same with the rest of my teammates. I made my way to the anti-doping control and took my tests and that's where I found out that with my time bonus, I would get the yellow jersey and would be the overall winner of the Valley of the Sun Stage Race. I was in shock, but in a good way. I made my way to the podium and took home trophies for the win that day, the overall, the sprinters competition, and the young riders competition. So far, it is my best moment as a professional!
After we got cleaned up I took my teammates out for dinner to celebrate. What a day. I can't wait to get to my next race. My confidence is sky high!
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| NTTHRASH |
Posted on 13-05-2013 20:16
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Classics Specialist
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Hope I stay following! Good luck!
"America. Show a nipple on television and the whole country goes ape-shit." -DubbelDekker
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 13-05-2013 23:22
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
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Rudy Rudy  |
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| trueblue3044 |
Posted on 13-05-2013 23:50
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Stagiare
Posts: 185
Joined: 07-06-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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Beverbeek Classic
The next race on my calendar was the Beverbeek Classic in Belgium. This would actually be my first time in Europe ever so I was very excited. I am planned to race in a few races in Belgium in the upcoming weeks, so a few members of the team, myself included, will be staying in Belgium. Thankfully we have Jesper Stuyven on the team who has been gracious enough to let us stay in his home. It's a bit crowded, but I'm just glad to have a roof over my head! The Beverbeek classic is a 163km race which is mostly all flat. It is expected that there will be a sprint finsh so once again, I'm the man for the job.
Team Roster:
Rudy McDermott (Leader)
Jasper Stuyven (Free Element)
Gavin Mannion (Free Element)
Ryan Eastman
Andzs Flaksis
Connor O'Leary
Gregory Daniel
Antoine Duchesne
The day started off like most and a break of 5 went away. They got a max of about 5 minutes on the peloton. Meanwhile, I was protected in the peloton by my good friend Gregory Daniel. The pace came down slowly and the main break was caught with about 20km to go, but there were still a few stragglers who wanted to go alone. They were soon swept up with 14km to go. My usual leadout train of Jesper and Ryan Eastman got together and I hopped on Ryan's wheel. They brought me up to the front, but apart from two other sprint trains, the pack was a mess. At about 6km to go my train broke apart.
I quickly had to hop on the wheel of a rider in another sprint train.
Then the sprint started. I was in a great position and then a leadout rider swung out in front of me. It was Stefen Van Dijk of the Accent Jobs team. I had to hit the brakes in the middle of my sprint and pull around him.
At that point it was too late. I had incredible legs and even with the incident I managed to fly past a few riders in the final hundred meters or so I still got a top 10.
I was extremely disappointed at the result today. I know I could've won, but the maneuver Van Dijk made really cost me. I'll be staying in Belgium doing some cobbles training for the next couple weeks and I'll be racing in a few more classics. I'm excited for this. I've always wanted to ride on real Belgian cobbles so it should be fun. Hopefully I'll be able to get some wins and turn my luck around though.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 13-05-2013 23:56
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
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A top ten placing is still a good result |
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| trueblue3044 |
Posted on 14-05-2013 04:08
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Stagiare
Posts: 185
Joined: 07-06-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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sutty68 wrote:
A top ten placing is still a good result
yea most definitely! thanks for following!
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| trueblue3044 |
Posted on 14-05-2013 04:37
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Stagiare
Posts: 185
Joined: 07-06-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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Kattekoers
So the big day has come, my first real cobbled race in Belgium. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a bit nervous. Kattekoers is a relatively flat race, with two cobbled hills thrown into the mix. I'm excited to see how I can fair.
Team Roster:
Rudy McDermott (Leader)
Jasper Stuyven (Free Element)
Alexandre Darville
Tanner Putt
Ryan Eastman
Nathan Brown
Gregory Daniel
The race started off with a bunch of attacks, but none of them really stuck. Finally a group of 8 riders went away. The race rolled along and the peloton kept the break in check. As we approached the first cobbled section, I moved up to the front of the peloton in case of a split. And then I got my first taste of Belgian stones in a race.
We got over the first hill and proceeded to the second without incident. I again moved to the front for the second hill and thankfully I did. The peloton split right before the descent and only 67 riders were left in the main group.
With about 25 km to go, an attack was launched, and our man Jasper Stuyven covered it, but they were swallowed up by the peloton before an advantage could be gained.
Then the favorites started to attack and I sat in the pack a little too long. I realized that this was probably going to be a winning move and I tried to follow.
I eventually got caught in no mans land. There was no way I was going to get to the lead group, which was about 16 riders strong. As the kilometers ticked down, the lead group's advantage got bigger and they would end up being the ones sprinting for the win. Nico Eeckhout ended up with the win, he was the pre race favorite after all.
I ended up with a top 20, finishing in 18th position, 1:36 down on the winner.
Overall, I learned a lot about the Belgian classics and I'm sure that as I gain more experience, my results will improve.
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| krisa |
Posted on 14-05-2013 05:35
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3962
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Eeckhout is really good
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 14-05-2013 08:57
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
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Too bad about that blocking maneuver in Beverbeek  |
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