Armed Forces Team Opens European Campaign in Speyer
15 July 2006

The Armed Forces Team displayed excellent teamwork in their first European race as they worked together to earn Andy Shaw a 13th place finish in the "Rund um den Berliner Platz" Criterium Race, held in the town of Speyer.

As most criterium races in Germany, this event was conducted as a points race with 5, 3, 2, 1 points going to the first four riders to cross the line every five laps. The race was 65 laps of a 1.2km course for a total of 78km (about 48 miles). To make things more interesting, there are sprints between these "point laps" for other prizes called "primes". All of this adds up to very fast and aggressive racing.

Shaw sprinted for some early race points and from then on the team worked hard to chase down breakaways and to put Shaw in a good position to collect more points. In the process, Ian Holt was able to sprint for a prime as well.

Shaw proved that his form is back after a collar bone break in April sidelined him for quite some time.

The Armed Forces Team races again tomorrow night at the "Groβer Preis der Bäckerei Götz Lustadt" Circuit Race in Lustadt (near Speyer). This race begins at 1600 and is slated for 108km (about 67 miles).

The team is competing in these events to prepare for the Military World Cycling Championships (CISM) to be held in The Netherlands, 22-28 July.

PHOTOS
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