The final stage results have been posted at the Green Mountain Stage Race. Several categories had their races cancelled today due to nasty weather in the Burlington, Vermont area. Stage 4 was held in the downtown area on streets with very tight turns, which can make for very dangerous conditions in bad weather.
Half of the 10 scheduled races did manage to finish before the organizers called an early end to the Dealer.com Burlington Criterium. In the men’s 50+ category, stage 2 winner Tyler Munroe pulled away from the pack finishing 51 seconds ahead of the main field for his second victory of the weekend. Sydney’s Ambrose Delaney hung in with the main field finishing 7th in the final stage of the biggest Pro/Am road race east of the Mississippi.
In the overall competition, Tyler Munroe ended the weekend at the top of the 50+ heap 1:04 ahead Kevin Mosher, the winner of stages 1 and 3. Kevin Fitzmaurice used strong climbing in stage 3 to overcome a 1 minute deficit in the time trial, picking up 3rd place overall. Ambrose Delaney held his own throughout the competition finishing 6th overall, 3:12 behind the winner.
For a climbing specialist like Delaney, stage 3 is where he tried to make his move. “I broke away from the pack at about 75 kilometers in I think,” said Delaney after almost 100 kilometers of racing in stage 3. “I had a minute lead by myself for quite awhile. About 10 guys ended up catching me close to the end so I tried to hold on and stay with that pack but since I was worn out from riding alone in a break for so long I didn’t have enough energy to finish as well as I hoped when it came to the end. I took a gamble breaking away by myself and it almost paid off but that’s racing and I’m still happy with my finish.”
This is the second year in a row Delaney has joined over 700 other athletes at the Green Mountain Stage Race. Last year, Delaney was 19th overall in the 40+ division. Delaney also scored 15 points taking second place in the “King of the Mountains” competition, a race within the race that awards points to the first 5 racers across specific mountain passes during the competition.
Other notables. Kaarin Tae of Herring Cove was 24th out of 30 in the women’s 1/2 category, the highest level women’s category at the race. Cory Jay of PEI was 36th overall out of 93 athletes in the men’s 2 category. Jay’s crowning moment came in stage 2 when he was first across the line by more than a bike length in a massive sprint to the finish.
