Tour of Virgina Stage 4 - Douthat State Park to Wayneboro

4/26 - Stage #4 - Douthat State Park to Wayneboro – 108 miles

This is another beautiful day in the Tour of Virginia, sunny and mid low 70’s. Today’s stage is the queen stage of the Tour of Virginia, starting with one category 3 and then two category 1’s and countless uncategorized climbs, that really deserve KOM points. We all agree that this is the hardest stage. The two category 1’s are Montebello (better known as Vesuvius) and Reed’s Gap (the top is 1.5 miles past the Wintergreen Resort). These two climbs are epic; many riders from PA know these climbs from training camps and touring the parkway.

In today’s report we will start with the bad news first. Boyd Johnson(SC) who started the day sitting 24th GC flatted after cresting the cat 3. Chris Ernst(NC) stopped and gave him his wheel. Joe Whitman and Mike Miller went back to bring Boyd back to the pack. Chris never made it back to the field. Chris abandoned in the next feed zone. Joe and Mike got Boyd safely back into the pack.

Soon after getting Boyd back, Miller started having trouble. Mike was barely able to stay in contact on the flats, let alone the small climbs. This was not a good day to have a bad day. Later we found out Mike was having severe stomach problems. After the first category one he was able to “stop” for a natural break. He soldiered on, catching dropped riders and finishing inside the time limit.

The good news was John Delong and Boyd had great days. John and Boyd went over the top of the final climb 30 or 40 seconds behind the leaders. John and Boyd led the chase on the descent. They came close to bringing it back, but the leaders were racing for time bonuses so they pushed it all the way to the line. John used Boyd’s leadout to out sprint the group for 16th place. Boyd finished 21st. Jame finished 31st. Joe finished in the 50’s. Mike finished about 30 minutes back, but not last place.

At the end of the day John is 21st, Boyd is 24th Jame is 32nd in GC.

The winning time was +/- 4:40 h:m