PA Update: Stages 1b, 2, and 3!

TIME continued their strong performance in Pennsylvania in the two stages following the double top 10 finish in Stage 1a. The evening crit, Stage 1b, saw Eric Barlevav to yet another solid bunch kick finish, which was won by VMG-Felt's Daniel Holloway, who got the better of Kelly coming into the final turn.

Stage 2 was an even better day in terms of GC for TIME, as two made the front group of 25, which ended up putting over two minutes into the field. Nick Frey and Eric Barlevav made the crucial break in what was the first real GC shake-up of the week. Frey put his big engine to work to allow Barlevav an easy ride to the finish, but Eric was a little bit down in the end and finished 7th on the day. Erik Saunders commented afterwards, "He just upgraded to a Cat 2 last year, sometimes we expect a little too much." Still, another top 10 for TIME, two guys up high on GC, first on Team GC and some big hopes on Nick Frey's shoulders. Kelly Benefit's Kevin Lacombe took the small group sprint.

Stage 3 was where it all came apart though. The first day in the mountains saw the field strewn all across the Pennsylvania countryside, due in large part to the field's response to VMG's Peter Stetina who stormed away solo on the first big climb. The resulting chase put the whole team under pressure, and no one made the crucial group of 30. All GC hopes are gone now, but there are still two more opportunities to shine, as all energy is focused solely on what would be a tremendous stage win.