Cyclists in Durango usually have to travel hours away to race against quality competition, but the Fort Lewis College cycling team and lots of other local riders impressed on Saturday and Sunday in the Squawker Classic in Durango.
Riders from Colorado Mesa, Arizona State, University of Colorado Boulder, Air Force Academy, the University of Denver and more came to Durango to race the Skyhawks on their home turf with the criterium race on Friday and the road race on Saturday.
“It went really good,” FLC cycling director Ian Burnett said. “We got fortunate with that weather being earlier in the week. We had a pretty solid turnout for Durango racing.”
On Friday, the cyclists competed in the 0.75-mile neighborhood crit, starting and ending on East 4th Ave. The crit has been a staple of the Squawker over the years, and there were six categories. The top men and women raced in the men’s 1-2-3 and women’s 1-2-3 categories, with other cyclists racing in the men’s 3-4, women’s 3-4-5 and men’s 4-5 categories. There was also a men’s 40+ 50+ category.
On the women’s side, Alexis Jaramillo from Colorado Mesa finished first in the women’s 1-2-3 category, followed by Durango’s Lauren Aggeler in second and FLC’s Oona Nelson in third. In the women’s 4-5 category, the University of Colorado Boulder’s Rachel Cohen finished first, followed by Durango Devo’s Tilia Clausen in second and June Bremner in third.
The Skyhawks were much more successful on the men’s side, with FLC’s Elliot Thornblade finishing first, followed by Henry Nelson in second and FLC’s Isaac Allred in third.
“I couldn’t feel any better,” Thornblade said. “It was a great weekend with all the teammates.”
Thornblade doesn’t have a lot of experience in crits, but he’s always been told that he’d be good at them because of his power at 190 pounds. He worked well with his FLC teammates early in the race that took about an hour. The Skyhawks didn’t allow anyone to break away early until it was Thornblade and a few others who were the ones breaking away. His teammates did a good job making sure no one else joined the breakaway group.
“Each lap we would pull, and we didn’t really talk about it, us three in the break, but it just kind of ended up we would each pull at the same spot each lap, so we’re doing basically equal work,” Thornblade said. “Then at two laps to go on the second to last lap, Nolan from CMU, he crashed in the corner right before the finish … then me and Henry both looked at each other … then Henry pulled a little bit past on the finish straight.”
Thornblade then attacked on the back half the course. Going into the climb, he sprinted as fast as he could, descended hard and sprinted on the long finishing straight for the win.
After a fun crit win, Thornblade is looking forward to racing Sea Otter in California, the opening round of the Life Time Grand Prix on April 16. Then, he’s excited for the cycling national championships in Wisconsin on May 8-10.
On Saturday, Durango resident Michaela Thompson won the women’s road race in the 1-2-3 category on the 6.72-mile course. Behind her was Jaramillo in second and Aggeler in third. Durango Devo 3000’s Sophia Alexander won the women’s 3-4-5 road race.
Burnett said the road race, which was southeast of town, was somewhat new because the Squawker had to be canceled last year due to snow. It’s a simple course, with a little gravel section, that made for some dynamic racing.
FLC’s Cooper Mangum took the top spot in the men’s 1-2-3 road race in two hours and 13 minutes, followed by Tayne Andrade in second and the Skyhawks’ Isaac Allred in third.
“The road race course is pretty beautiful,” Mangum said. “It’s not too bad. The road section is pretty ripping fast … having so many teammates in the race made it pretty fun to be in the breakaway knowing my team is working for me behind.”
Mangum and Andrade went off the front in about Lap 2 of nine, with Mangum knowing his team wasn’t going to chase. He and Andrade worked well together at the front, and by the final few laps, the pair had a few minutes on the rest of the field.
The final climb came and Mangum, feeling the hometown high, got the best of Andrade and took victory.
Next up for Mangum and the Skyhawks is the Front Range Cycling Classic in Colorado Springs, hosted by Air Force on Saturday and Sunday.