Team Pursuit to determine white jersey owner

Seven days remain until the start of the Little 500. But before the race begins, a Spring Series champion must be crowned.

Team Pursuit, the final Spring Series event before the Little 500 race, is set to start at 1 p.m. Saturday at Bill Armstrong Stadium.

Two teams will face off in a 12-lap race for the women and 15-lap race for the men. The team must ride in a pace line. It’s an event where a team is only as fast as its third-fastest rider, since the clock doesn’t stop until three team riders have crossed the line.
The two fastest teams compete in a final heat to determine the winner.

In 2010, Gray Goat Cycling finished seventh in Team Pursuit with a time of 9:38.59. Senior rider Ryan Kiel said the event is more about conserving energy than riding fast.
“It’s a little bit longer lap set than ITTs (Individual Time Trials),” Kiel said. “When you’re with a group of four riders, it’s really about doing your work on the front of the pack and knowing when to pull off smooth rotations and keep the group tight. It’s also a little more strategy than there is in ITTs where it’s just ‘Go fast, turn left.’”

Last year, Teter and Phi Delta Theta won Team Pursuit. The Team Pursuit winner, for both sides of the field, has finished in the top three on race day for seven of the last nine Team Pursuit competitions.

Delta Chi third-year rider Will McDermott said the event is a good measure of a
team’s depth.

“Even though it’s only 12 laps, 15 laps overall, it’s a good indication of your overall team and your top three riders,” McDermott said.

This year’s event will determine who wins the white jersey, given to the team awarded the most points from Spring Series events. In the standings, Teter currently leads Delta Gamma by three points. The Cutters are ahead of Phi Delta Theta by
13 points.

“I’ve gotten school set up so I can take it lightly during the next few weeks,” Kiel said. “As a senior, most of the butterflies don’t come anymore. For me, it’s just business
as usual.”