Tour de Panama Stage 5- The grand finale

Tour de Panama Stage 4- Extra wet edging to the limit..

Tour de Panama Stage 3 - War zone

Tour de Panama Stage 2 - Gravel... that was some bullshit.

Tour de Panama Stage 1 - Crash and chase

A flat and shorter stage on mostly highway roads. We did an out and back on a main highway then a loop off the highway on rolling flowy roads into sprint finish in a small town called Parita. There were 2 intermediate sprints on the main highway with time bonuses. Time bonuses and big points on the finish. The day started really fast as expected with the field very strung out. Torin, Jade and Asa were at the front early following attacks in attempt to get a breakaway going. I also followed a few moves to see if I could sneak into a break. It was pretty clear that Medellin wanted to keep the field together. But they did not ride the front and control the race. They just took turns following attacks or chasing then stopping. So it was chaotic and aggressive but nothing was getting away. At around 50km in there was no break established, no control on the front of the field but the overall pace was steady. I thought it would be a good time to go back to the car for a feed. I started to make my rounds to see if the boys had empty bottles that I could take back to the car. Then at 54km at the bottom of a fast descent on the highway there was a crash near the front of the field. It was a disaster.. Started on the left of the highway and swept the entire length of the highway like dominos. I was far enough back to slam the brakes and come to complete stop before going down. The entire road was blocked with bodies and tangled bikes and I had to step over crashed bikes to get through and start riding again. The front of the race was completely out of sight at this point and it was an uphill section of highway. The chase was frantic and I was able to catch a small chase group that had formed ahead. It included the defending champion and current national champion of Costa Rica. Our group continued to grow in size as riders from behind were able to catch up and join the chase. The only guy on the team who was able to get past the crash without stopping was Jade. Asa and Orion crashed hard. Gabe, Torin and I were able to make it into the chase group. I took some really hard pulls in the chase and found myself pretty gassed as we were approaching the caravan. After 28 mins and 22km we finally made it back to the peloton. I made onto the back of the field as we turned off the highway onto the final loop to the finish. At this point I was pretty fucked from the chase and just happy to be back in the field. Gabe was able to move up through the field and get in the mix with Jade for the field sprint. Jade was able to finish 14th and Gabe 17th. I rolled through further back in the field 56th. Unfortunately Orion crashed into the guard rail really hard which destroyed his bike and left him with some pretty nasty wounds and bruises. He was not able to finish the race. Asa was relatively unscathed and able to finish. Pretty intense 1st day of racing.. 

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Randy Lee

Tour de Panama Stage 1 - Crash and chase

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Tour de Panama Stage 5- The grand finale

Tour de Panama Stage 4- Extra wet edging to the limit..

Tour de Panama Stage 3 - War zone

Tour de Panama Stage 2 - Gravel... that was some bullshit.

Tour de Panama Stage 1 - Crash and chase

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