The Wolfpack Hustle Shortline Crit took place in Long Beach, California some days ago, and it finished up yet another chapter of the Unified Title Series. The competition was fierce this time around with strong local racers and international racers showing up from around the globe.
QUALIFY
Qualifying went well for almost all the categories, teams stayed strong and gave it their all, but the women’s road category had a trick up its sleeve this time around. The qualifier for women’s road started off at a good pace but quickly got competitive as Jo Celso started off with a strong breakaway that was so good in fact that she held such a massive gap that she lapped the entire women’s field. She broke off staying in first place, took off and single handedly lapped the 2nd and 3rd place riders. Definitely a killer show watching her hold one of the gangliest breakaways I’ve seen in a while. As the day went on, the rest of the qualifiers for men and women went on well for the day, until there was a crash in one of the fields after a rider got caught in one of the guardrails. Other than that the beginning of the day went on well for everyone.
PRE-FINALS
The men and women’s road and track finals were comprised of some of the strongest riders out there. Along with some big team names, like Cadence x LOW, Mobbin’ Unknown, Leader, GLK, State Bicycle and Team Cinelli Chrome making an appearance at the finish line, the stoke was definitely high for racers and spectators alike as everyone warmed up and got ready for the main event of the night.
FINALS
Women’s Road Final
The women’s road finals took off well with a fast and intense race, multiple attacks but the group would chase down each one, leaving the race to finish as a bunch sprint with Jo Celso taking the win, Reily Pankratz managing to get 2nd and Esther Walker in 3rd.
Men’s Road Final
The men’s road finals launched off the night with a strong start along with multiple breaks, most were caught until Zack Morvant and Brian Forbes managed to stick a great 10 lap breakaway to the finish, which ended with Brian Forbes taking the sprint, putting him in 1st place, while Zack Morvant scores a strong 2nd place, and the winner of the chase group Craig Streit in 3rd.
Women’s Track Final
The track finals played out in a similar manner as the road finals. The pack stayed tied together, not letting any breaks go unchased until the end; with Jo Celso (Team Cinelli Chrome) making a killer performance taking 2 first places wins in a row, which left 2nd place to Christina Peck (All-City Team), and 3rd to Trina Jacobson (Aventon Factory).
Men’s Track Final
The last final of the night proved to be quite a show with a crash in the beginning of the race stringing out the field. With a large gap and a chase group holding fast speeds the group began to break apart, leaving only the strongest riders to contend. The race played on well with breaks and tactics being played throughout, with the race finally finishing with Edgardo Richiez (Impulse Stage) taking 1st place, Addison Zawada (StateBicycle Co.) holding 2nd, and Chris Rabadi (DOSNOVENTA) grabbing 3rd place.
The 2015 Shortline Crit was definitely an awesome event for everyone involved. A big thanks goes out for Roadblock and Wolfpack Hustle for their pioneering of events like this. They never fail to disappoint, and they always put on a great show.
