Espinoza and Li win Tandem Sprint National Title in T-town
Breinigsville, Pa. (Aug. 2, 2009) - The USA Cycling Tandem Sprint National Championship was was decided Aug. 1 at Valley Preferred Cycling Center. In a thrilling display of teamwork in its truest form David Espinoza (Breinigsville, Pa./Bike America) and Nelson Li (Hillsdale, N.J./Somerville Sports) pedaled their way past the Matt Diefenbach (Pottstown, Pa.) and Anton Quist (Arlington, Va./Saroff Racing) to take the USA Cycling Tandem Sprint crown by only a wheel.
While the winning move was somewhat predictable, the exciting part still lies in the duo pulling it off. Espinoza and Li went over the top in the middle of lap three and four and held on down the stretch. Perhaps the most surprising part of the Espinoza-Lee win is the fact that the two riders just decided to enter the Tandem event about ten days ago. Then you need to consider that Li had never even raced a tandem before.
"We did come to the conclusion that we were going to do it together about a week and a half ago," said Espinoza, a multiple-time USA Cycling Collegiate track national champion. "We came out and practiced a lot, and I think that's what helped us the most."
Even without previous race experience, Li wasn't surprised by the outcome.
"Dave's got some horsepower, so I knew we were in a good position to win," said Li. "It's pretty exciting because this is my first time on a tandem. Things just fell into place."
Things may have fallen into place, but Espinoza and Li at least tried to plan their way to the win.
"When we started we didn't have a strategy right away, but as the rounds came up and we knew who we were racing against we decided what we were going to do and how we were going to handle the race," added Espinoza. Obviously during the race things change, but we just tried to stick the plan and try to do what we planned from the beginning."
The win was just part of a great night of tandem action at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center. For more information visit thevelodrome.com.
*Photo courtesy Randy Inglis.
*Photo courtesy Randy Inglis.
This Article Published August 2, 2009 For more information contact:
