Tour of Ohio stages 3,4,5

Well I found out on the 2nd day that they were doing the sprint jersey completely different this year. Its actually now "the most consistent" jersey I guess as they are giving more points for top 10 finishes with smaller point sprints here and there. So with all the hilly races I decided to not go for any points and just go for wins. I was kinda leaning that way anyway b/c I really wanted to give a go at winning the Worthington stage and not wasting my energy on intermediate sprints.

Anyway, stage 3 was a doozy and I finished off the back. too many hills.

Stage 4 was my hometown crit and with tons of family and friends there I was gunning for this one. The course is a tough 1 mile circuit with a good hill in it. I thought with this being a stage race that the teams would not let a break go and it would be a big field sprint but I was completely wrong. I chilled for the 1st 5 laps but noticed breaks were getting a little more time then I thought they would. So I changed my strategy as I saw a break of 5ish guys get a good gap with another couple trying to bridge. The field slowed down to a crawl and thats when I jumped and got away on my own. I made it across to the 2 and then a couple others joined us. A couple laps later we were 10 off the front with a good size gap. It continued to grow and I was hoping we didn't lap as I was confident I could win if all these guys didn't have their teammates. Jittery Joe's waited to long to shut down the break and we ended up lapping with 3 to go. A ton of chaos and in the end I just got worked over and ended up 4th. Great ride today by Jittery Joe's as they take over yellow.

Stage 5 was another hilly one that ended on a even hillier circuit. I made it close to the circuits and then just rode the rest of the race out. It was blown to bits all over the place like a cross country meet. So I don't even know where I finished.

Today is the last stage and finally a flat criterium! My fitness seems to be getting better everyday so I am definitely shooting for a stage win. Let's see what happens!

Happy Fathers Day to all!