Dombroski claims first season victory

Amy Dombroski, coming off a second place at Cross Vegas and in one of her three domestic race appearances before kicking off on a long European campaign, headlined the Elite Women’s race.

Lining up alongside the local favorite were Andrea Smith (Ladies First Racing), herself coming off an eleventh place in Las Vegas and her teammate, Saturday’s winner, Crystal Anthony.

Runner-up from Saturday, Sally Annis (crossresults.com p/b JRA Cycles), came back looking for a step up. Sara Bresnick (Embrocation Cycling Journal) looked to pick up some early season UCI points as well.

From the gun, it was clear that, despite the late return from Las Vegas, Dombroski and Smith were the class of the race. Dombroski took the holeshot and stretched a gap from the very beginning. Behind her there was a concerted chase put on by Smith, Annis, Bresnick and Anthony, along with Rebecca Wellons (Quad Cycles).

Smith took the reins of the group and quickly snapped the elastic, fighting to reach Dombroski. Smith’s tactic had her well-placed should Dombroski make any mistakes, but no such mistakes came and Dombroski rode a smooth, fast and clean race, taking a victory in front of her father and home crowd.

“It feels good to come home and to win here,“ said an exhausted Dombroski.

Behind her, Smith’s second-place was never in any real jeopardy as Annis sat half a minute behind her. Coming across the line, Smith pumped her fist, obviously pleased with her result. Annis held off a chasing Bresnick for third and a great start to her season with two podiums against stiff competition.

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