Gallegos Executes a Great Escape, and Thrall Emerges From the Belly of the Beast For an Emphatic Win on MyWhoosh's Alcatraz AWOL Course.
Date: December 21, 2024
Course and Format: A three-lap 30km scratch race on MyWhoosh’s Alcatraz AWOL course, a rolling route with a 1.5 km steep stepped climb at 5.2 km into each lap.
Echelon Racing League Men's Elite Race 2
“After Race 1, it was obvious Pucker was the rider to watch—he rode away solo and made it look easy. This time, my plan was to stay conservative and make sure he didn’t get the same opportunity,” were the prophetic words of Thomas Thrall who shared what was going through his mind leading into Race 2.
It was a jailbreak from the opening gun as Race 1 winner Hayden Pucker, tried to escape the elite field in Race 2 of the Echelon Racing League. 2023 World Champion Bjørn Andreassen (Denmark), former USA Cycling National Esports Champion Brian Duffy, and Cycling Canada National Esports Champion Thomas Thrall wouldn’t let that happen and marked Pucker closely.
A flurry of attacks and counterattacks ensued during the rolling lead into the first climb, and the fireworks started to fly as the group hit the lower slopes. When the smoke settled at the top of the 1.5km stepped climb with multiple double-digit pitches, a group of six riders went clear, including Pucker, Andreassen, Riccardo Panizza (ITA), and 2024 UCI Cycling Esports World Champion finalists Neal Fryett and Zach Nehr of the USA.
A chase group containing Jurd Hurd (USA), Bruce Bird (CAN), Alex Marr (USA), and Carlos Ospina (ESP) made the junction as the group approached the second ascent. Andreassen had an unfortunate technical issue that took him out of the race for the win, but he battled to salvage a result thanks to the sacrifice of teammate J Bruhn.
Pucker pushed the pace, and only Thrall and Hurd had the power to answer the call. Fryett battled valiantly to make it across until Pucker attacked on the descent, and he had to fall back to Nehr and Panizza.
The three-man front group maintained a gap of twenty seconds over the three chasers as they approached the third and final climb.
Pucker attacked the lower slope at nine wkg with reckless abandon. Thrall grits his teeth and clung to the wheel. Hurd couldn’t do it. It would be a two-up sprint to the line.
With 300m to go, Pucker blinks first, jumping to 14 wkg, and Thrall responds with a perfectly timed 16 wkg to go over the top and get the photo finish victory by .08 of a second.
“I focused on saving energy for the hard climbs and any late attacks. When it came down to just the two of us, I knew my best shot was the sprint—and thankfully, it worked out,” explained Thrall.
Hurd holds on for the final podium placing. Nehr outsprints Fryett for fourth.
“Big kudos to my NeXT pb Enshored teammate Bjorn Andreassen, who had a dropout on lap 1 right at the top of the climb but still fought his way back to finish 7th with the help of another teammate, J Bruhn. Really happy to take a win on MyWhoosh and excited to keep building toward Nationals!”
You can find the full results for the Men’s Elite Race on mywhooshinfo.com here.
The Echelon Racing League Overal Standings for Men’s Elite, B, and C are on mywhooshinfo.com here.
Echelon Racing League Women's Elite Race 2
2024 USA Cycling Esports National Champion Kristen Kulchinsky and runner-up Liz Van Houweling attack the climb on lap one. Race 1 winner Hermansson (SWE) and Elyse Gallegos (USA) are the only riders who can meet the blistering pace and the four crest the climb together.
A strong chase by Tiffany Penner (CAN), Melissa Aitken (USA), and Roberta Bussone (ITA) makes it a six-rider front group. Despite a valiant attempt, Johanna Tidholm (SWE) couldn’t repeat the race 1 chase heroics, coming ever so close before an attack by Kulchinsky closed the door on the run into the second climb.
Only Gallegos and Van Houweling could match Kulchinsky’s 8wkg attack on the lower slopes as the three power over the top together. Hermansson digs deep to keep them in her sights, but they grow smaller and smaller as the gap extends to over 30 seconds back to her, Penner, and Aitken.
Kulchinsky pressed, forcing her two break mates to close the gap, and that’s when Gallegos made her move.
“After Liz and I worked together to close the gap on Kulchinsky at the bottom of the climb on lap 2, I figured continuing to push the pace on any of the inclines would suit me well before the final climb,” Gallegos explains the moment she took the race into her own hands.
Listen to Project Echelon’s Eric Hill as he explores his early adoption of cycling esports as a distinct discipline, and hear about his plans for the 2024/25 Echelon Racing League season during Virtual Velo Podcast Episode 59!
“I caught them off guard a bit as they looked to one another to close the gap, and once I got 5, then eventually 10 seconds, I knew I had to go all in and just buried myself.”
That the multi-time IRONMAN champion triathlete turned elite esports specialist did, gaining an over forty-second advantage at the base of the final ascent.
Kulchinsky looked to Van Houweling to close the gap, knowing her teammate Aitken was only seconds behind. She looked back but didn’t react, which allowed Hermansson, Penner, and Aitken to join the five-racer chase.
Gallegos dug deep to maintain the gap over the top of the climb and held it for a well-deserved and long-awaited win following chronic crunch-time technical issues.
The affirming victory had special meaning for Gallegos, who shared, “I’ve had drop out after drop out, and finally seeing my hard work pay off and a race properly executed feels amazing. I look forward to finding and building on this as we move further into the Echelon Racing League series and eventually USA Nationals.”
Kulchinsky attacked the group and went clear for second. Van Houweling got the best of race 1 winner Hermansson for the final podium place, followed by Penner and Aitken.
You can find the full results for the Women’s Elite Race on mywhooshinfo.com here.
The Echelon Racing League Overal Standings for Women’s Elite, B, and C are on mywhooshinfo.com here.
Echelon Racing League Community C Results
In the Echelon Community Women Cat C race, Laura Toconas of Colombia secured first place, narrowly edging out Kim Bonilla from the Philippines in second. Stefania Sanchez, also from Colombia, claimed third, followed closely by Italy’s Valentina Disegna in fourth. Rosalina Barragan from the U.S.A rounded out the top five.
The Women’s Community Cat C results are on mywhooshinfo.com here.
In the Echelon Community Men Cat C race, Dylan Kennett from New Zealand claimed the top spot, finishing in 48:37.745. Nicolás Trujillo of Colombia secured second, just 1.63 seconds behind, while his compatriot Jhon Jairo Calderon followed closely in third, 1.179 seconds off the lead. Rodolphe Bertrand from Canada finished fourth, with fellow Canadian Jacques Rusinek rounding out the top five.
The Men’s Community Cat C results are on mywhooshinfo.com here.
Echelon Racing League Community B Results
In the Echelon Racing League Community Category B Women, Camilla Ahlberg from Sweden dominated the race, finishing with a time of 47:47.904. Dorancy Gonzalez Rua of Colombia took second place, followed closely by Serena Vittori of Italy in third. Alejandra Jaramillo, also from Colombia, claimed fourth, with Lorena Beltran rounding out the top five.
The Women’s Community Cat B results are on mywhooshinfo.com here.
In the Echelon Community Men Cat B race, JJ Miller [DIRT OGs] 👑 from the USA clinched victory with a time of 44:58.259. Colombia’s Jose Montero Oviedo followed in second, 8.65 seconds behind, while Jonathan Bisson of Canada secured third, just 8.434 seconds off the leader. Scott Cunningham from the USA claimed fourth, with fellow American Joe Meyer completing the top five.
The Men’s Community Cat B results are on mywhooshinfo.com here.
Semi-retired after more than 20 years as the owner and director of a private Orthopedic Physical Therapy practice, Chris now enjoys the freedom to dedicate himself to his passions—virtual cycling and writing.
Driven to give back to the sport that has enriched his life with countless experiences and relationships, he founded a non-profit organization, TheDIRTDadFund. In the summer of 2022, he rode 3,900 miles from San Francisco to his “Gain Cave” on Long Island, New York, raising support for his charity.
His passion for cycling shines through in his writing, which has been featured in prominent publications like Cycling Weekly, Cycling News, road.cc, Zwift Insider, Endurance.biz, and Bicycling. In 2024, he was on-site in Abu Dhabi, covering the first live, in-person UCI Cycling Esports World Championship.
His contributions to cycling esports have not gone unnoticed, with his work cited in multiple research papers exploring this evolving discipline. He sits alongside esteemed esports scientists as a member of the Virtual Sports Research Network and contributes to groundbreaking research exploring the new frontier of virtual physical sport. Chris co-hosts The Virtual Velo Podcast, too.
