Athens, GA (April 28, 2007) Under the Athens, Georgia stars and before thousands of screaming fans, Josh Thornton of the Kodak Gallery Pro Cycling Team, presented by Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. lapped the field in a breakaway and finished a close second in the Athens Twilight Criterium.

Thornton and seven other riders made the race’s decisive move by attacking a dozen laps in to the eighty lap race. Working well together, the break away group lapped the elite field and worked their way back to the front.
 
Through out the race, the high pace and aggressive riding contributed to a high number of crashes. It was estimate by one team director that nearly half the race was involved in at least one crash with several riders making contact with the tarmac two and three times.

Looking to dictate the race and avoid the carnage, the Kodak Gallery riders stayed at the front of the field. However with only four laps to go a Team HealthNet rider who was also riding near the front, lost control and crashed taking down with him many of the field’s elite racers. Dominique Rollin, Kodak Gallery’s rider who was coming off a 3-for-3 winning streak avoided the initial crash but was then immediately knocked to the pavement by a bike that flew up from the crash and struck him.

Commenting on the impact of the crashes on the race, Team Director, Robin Zellner said, “In a race like this, crashes are inevitable. By riding at the front of the field, our guys were able to avoid the chaos and control the race. Unfortunately, the last crash took out two of our three guys – they were our lead-out guys designated to get Josh across the line first. Without them, Josh did a hell of a job to finish where he did. Josh rode a very smart and impressive race.”

While the majority of the team competes in Sunday’s final stage of the Tour of Virginia, teammates Josh Thornton, Dominique Rollin and Jamiel Danesh will try their hand again in the second stop of the Southeast Criterium Championship Series, Sunday evening in Roswell, Georgia.