Victories are sometimes more than just standing on a podium. Today I had a victory that outshined any medal. Since the beginning of Superweek I have struggled with criterium races. I have known what I have been doing wrong , but through injuries and personal under production in races I had became disenchanted with crits. That all changed today. I finally listened to my own advice and got a good starting position and readied myself for the start. From the gun I knew I had legs today. My goal was to sit top ten wheels throughout and save myself for the last 150 meters. It was one of those days where I just floated around the pack effortlessly. 30 minutes into the race I started to realize I might actually have a chance. With about 5 minutes left I eased my way up to the top 5 or so and keyed on the strongest sprinter in the group. 3 laps left all was as planned and I could see the podium. When we started our next to last lap the front of the leadout grabbed the hooks and slowed down. All of us prepping for a sprint at the end got swamped by the peloton. We crossed the line for the bell lap. I saw Brian Boyle starting up his leadout train and I had a ticket and wanted aboard. I saw him coming up filing through the others seemingly effortlessly. I made a move to get on but got pinched by a DRT guy(good tactics on their part). In the end I got a nice pack finish in the race. But I had a victory personnaly knowing if given an opening I could have outsprinted most those guys. But the highest point of the race was watching my teammate and friend ride like an animal and sacrifice himself for me. That is what a true teammate is, thanks.