Holloway defends title at Athens Twilight Criterium

Daniel Holloway (Alto Velo-SeaSucker) defend his title at the Athens Twilight Criterium held on Saturday night in Georgia. The elite criterium champion lapped the field and out-sprinted his breakaway companion Ruben Companioni (Stradalli Cycle p/b Safetti) to take the win. Frank Travieso (UnitedHealthcare/706 Project) was third.

From the starting gun of the men’s event, Holloway was active on the front, trying to force a break on the .69-mile course. He eventually got his way early on with German track rider Christian Grasmann from the imposing Majola/Pushbikers squad in tow.

Six riders took up the chase, with local Georgia racer Thomas Brown (UnitedHealthcare of Georgia p/b The 706 Project) leading the charge. The move was a strong one, with multiple teams represented in the breakaway.

The break eventually lapped the field, and incredibly with 45 laps to go, Holloway pushed through to the front once more and attacked, this time taking Ruben Companioni (Stradelli) along for the ride.

Holloway and Companioni, who had crashed earlier in the race, established a break with 27 laps to go, and quickly eked out 20 seconds, taking advantage of disorganized teams back in the pack.

It was a titanic effort as Holloway, who started the original breakaway, and continued to push more and more of an advantage out on the field led by UnitedHealthcare-706 Project and Astellas.  

Even though Astellas chased hard, they couldn’t chase down the duo as gap extended to 44 seconds.

When Holloway and Companioni hit 10 laps to go, only 15 seconds separated them from making contact with the back of the pack.

"We were by ourselves in the last 10 laps and it looked good," Holloway said about his lead with Companioni, "But this kind of course can still eat you up and spit you out, I tried to recognise that and stayed smooth."

As the laps ticked away, the duo eased off the pedals giving them a clean opportunity to sprint it out together and dealing with the chaos of the pack.

"I had told him ‘Let’s not get crazy. Don’t get wild. Don’t crash or overdue it just because we’re out. Let’s just have the respect to get to the finish line.'"

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