Team Type 1’s McRae Third At Athens Twilight

On of the great things about being a cycling fan is that the sport and its athletes move fast. When we last saw Jen McRae she had just closed out the USA CRITS Series with a victory in Las Vegas. In her first race of the season, McRae picked up right where she left off and found herself on the podium at the Athens Twilight Criterium.

Athens, Ga. – It may have been her first race of the season, but Team Type 1’s Jen McRae wasn’t content to simply finish the Athens Twilight criterium.

Not when an estimated 30,000 people were lining the kilometer-long course of a race that celebrated its 30th anniversary on Saturday.

“I was so ready for this race,” McRae said after finishing third behind reigning U.S. national criterium champion Brooke Miller (Team Tibco) and Tina Pic (Colavita/Sutter Home Pro Cycling Team).

“I’ve had a huge training block, so by the time Athens comes around, I’m ready to roll. I get major butterflies, especially for this race. I’ve won it twice over a 10-year span (1997 and 2006), so when I show up there’s a motivation to go for the win.”

In recording the Team Type 1 women’s professional team’s 22nd podium finish of the young season, McRae also got a chance to race alongside the squad’s two riders who have Type 1 diabetes: Monique Hanley and Morgan Patton. Unfortunately, neither finished the 40-lap event. But McRae still had a bevy of teammates around her as the race wound down.

“Jackie (Crowell), Kori (Seehafer) and Sam (Schneider) were still with me, but the field had pretty much shattered,” McRae said. “We were represented in every move that was up the road tonight, so that was awesome. That was our strategy – to establish a break and go for the win from there.”

Crowell, who finished fourth at this race a year ago, was one of those who found herself in a breakaway. She and Seehafer each gobbled up a couple in-race primes on the way to helping McRae with the final lead-out. Coming out of the final turn, McRae came from five wheels back to make her bid for the win.

Both the Team Type 1 women’s and men's squads would also compete in this past Sunday's Historic Roswell Criterium in Downtown Roswell, GA. It is the second event of this year’s USA CRITS Speed Week series, which comprises seven races in nine days.