Race Report: 2025 Winchester Circuit Race - Men’s 3/4

Race: 2025 Winchester Circuit Race - Men’s 3/4

Date: 5/10/25

AVRT racers: Jeremy Besmer, Wil Gibb, Jack Lund

Top Result: Jeremy 6/50, Wil 8/50

Course: 5 laps of a 4.5 mile rolling circuit. One long, super fast descent. One longer climb that leads to the finish that is split into two pitches with sections over 15%. Super fun course with excellent pavement throughout and no need to touch the brakes for any corners. 

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/14439816333

Nutrition: One bottle of super Skratch (80g carbs) and one bottle of water

Race Recap (written by Jeremy): 

I didn’t go into this race with any major goals - I just wanted to have fun, stay safe, and maybe get a few upgrade points. 

The combined field (3/4 and 35+ 3/4) was quite large (50 people!) and I knew it would have people with a broad range of skills, so I resolved to stay near the front throughout. Our general plan was to ensure the hill was hard each time to whittle down the field, and then work together on the final hill from a reduced group to create multiple chances to win. It wasn’t too hot at the beginning of the race (10am) but by the end it was very crispy. 

After the “neutral” 300 watt rollout up a steep hill, the race started pretty unceremoniously and remained tame for most of the first lap. It stayed this way the first time up the main climb, so I went to the front to set a steady hard pace. Wil came around me halfway up to continue our hard pace up to the top. This dropped half the field, but unfortunately most people caught back on during the rolling/flat section before the big descent. On Lap 3, someone attacked hard halfway up the big climb. I followed his move up to the top, and when we crested, I looked around and saw that about 15 racers remained (including Wil). The pace remained steady but not too hard through Lap 4, so a few people caught back on. I took this opportunity to check in with Wil, warning him that the pace on the hill on the final lap would probably be ballistic so we should try to be near the front going into it. This turned out to be quite prescient, as multiple attacks rolled from the bottom of the hill and continued through the top. This was a pretty hard effort but dropped fewer people than hoped and much of the group again came together during the first half of lap 5

Going into the last time up the hill to the finish, there was a lot of swarming, and unfortunately I was out of position to follow the first attack at the bottom of the hill. I did my best to steadily close the gap before the flatter part of the climb, but I didn’t quite close it. The gap then widened during the flat part, so I was too far back to participate in the final sprint at the front of the field. I did manage to pass a couple people on the final pitch to roll in for 6th. 

Thanks to Greg Beliera for capturing this moment - teammates helping teammates cool down after a crispy finish!