Wednesday, August 11, 1999 - Sunday, August 15, 1999 -- Martinsburg
Tour of West Virginia
Story and photos by Marty Lamp

Martinsburg: [Coverage] [Pics] [Results]
Wheeling: [Coverage] [Pic Set 1] [Pic Set 2] [Results]
Huntington: [Coverage] [Pic Set 1] [Pic Set 2] [Pic Set 3] [Results]
Charleston: [Coverage] [Pic Set 1] [Pic Set 2] [Pic Set 3] [Results]

A breakaway on the fly

The tour of West Virginia made it's second stop of four in Wheeling on Thursday evening. Over 90 racers took to the streets of downtown Wheeling amidst a crowd of spectators and fans; the local brew pub even had a kettle band playing in the streets.

The course was a 6/10ths of a mile loop that started directly in front of the Civic Center on Main Street. A quick right on 14th Street took racers slightly uphill for a block before again turning right onto Market Street where a flat section gave birth to many small battles. Once again it was a right turn after crossing Wheeling Creek, then it was onto Main Street and back to the start. Pro 1-3 racers rode 53 laps for 35 miles, and Citizens/Cat 5 racers rode 15 laps.

Swarming the streets of Wheeling

No stranger to the front, Trent Klasna of Team Navigators pushed the pace hard leading a small breakaway pack most of the race. With 20 laps to go, Team Merlin led a pack of 20 that had a 10 second lead on the peleton. Eric Wohlberg, a gold medal winner in the Pan American Games, was edging the peleton closer to the lead.

With 10 laps to go, Klasna held a 10 second lead on a chase pack of nine racers, led by Chad Gurlach of Team Merlin. The rest of the field was more than 20 seconds behind. With only 5 laps to go, Klasna was back in the small chase pack, and Gurlach was in the lead. When the bell rang announcing 1 lap to go, it was clear that a pack of 4 would battle for the win; Gurlach and Klasna were out in front joined by Graeme Miller of Team Shaklee and Jaun Pineda of Team GS Mengoni.

This breakaway pack would battle to the finish, and it was Graeme Miller from New Zealand getting the win. " It was just a matter of cat and mouse, of seeing who would panic first", said Miller. The agressive riding Klasna finished second, and Jaun Pineda finished third.

In the Citizens/Cat 5 race, Thomas Hanley was the winner, with Chris Freter finishing second, and David Crow finishing third.