Dietrich 8th at Elite National Championship Road Race, May 22

A five-man Fiordifrutta/Wheelworks squad put in a great effort to catapult Mike Dietrich into the front group and on to an excellent finish. The 110 mile course in Seven Springs, PA had 12,000 feet of climbing, making this one of the hilliest National Championship races in decades. The field was definitely scared of the course and put in a cautious first two laps out of a total of four. Josh Anthony tried a couple of mid-race attacks, but the field was not ready to let a group go until the third lap when Dietrich jumped away with two Snow Valley riders and one from Broadmark Capital.

This group was caught toward the end of the third lap and then Dietrich suffered a flat rear tire. A quick bike swap with Chris Peck, got Dietrich back in the race, with Peck catching the small 35-man front group a few minutes later. Another bike swap with Peck got Dietrich back onto his familiar steed, and after a brief chase the duo was ready to challenge the final lap. Dietrich climbed well in the closing miles to finish in 8th, with Peck a few minutes back in 27th. Josh Gewirtz also put in a great ride in his first trip to Elite Nationals to finish 44th out of the 170 starters.