The Cats Are Out Of The Bag | USA Hand Bike Circuit

Many years have passed since the United States has had two formidable MH5 kneelers that could hit pay dirt on a World Cup level. Alfredo De Los Santos and Oz Sanchez are a one two punch that could either win in a road race or time trial. It will be no surprise if both podium in the same race this year.

          Racing at the world level in the H5 category takes a certain style of training and race strategy the other long seat classes don’t deal with as much. H5 class road racing can almost be described as aging a fine wine. A World Cup H5 race will never be won in the first 30 minutes. The first selection of racers will no doubt be dictated by countless surges and pace but after the first storm passes the group knows a second storm is on the horizon and then maybe another after that. At any given point a breakaway that’s setup by a surge can quietly steal a race but more often than not a bunch sprint is what will decide the victor.

         H5 racing takes  strategy and race tactics to win. When you have two contenders in the same race the team has doubled their options for reaching the podium.  Having allies opens the door to every trick in the book to confuse and exhaust the competition before the finish line. Oz being the more experienced of the two will no doubt take the lead and partner with Alfredo (Freddie) the way that Alejandro Albor teamed with Oz in 2008 China Paralympic games.

      Oz and Freddie will square off at Nationals in a few weeks. They will duel it out in the team relay and individual time trial the following day. Each event has been deemed a qualifier for making the World Championship team. The combo will crush their standard but only one can be crowned the US Champion.