As a parent of two junior triathletes and bike racers I stress sportsmanship and fun over win-at-all-costs. A similar situation cost my daughter a national championship last year but I can’t tell you how proud I was of her for waiting up. It’s refreshing to see more of the same:
**Park City, Utah (June 23, 2005)—**The Park City Cycling Festival continued Thursday as Kimberly Geist (Emmaus, Pa.) sacrificed her shot at a national title in the junior women’s 17-18 race, instead opting for a classy display of sportsmanship towards her breakaway companion and eventual race winner Shannon Koch (Flower Mound, Texas).
After 53 miles of racing, Koch and Geist were together inside of the final mile calculating their strategies and preparing for a possible two-up sprint when Koch’s chain suddenly dislodged itself from the chainring – a move that should have ended her hopes right then and there. But instead of making a selfish dash to the finish line, Geist sat up and waited for Koch to get assistance from the caravan before continuing on.
From there, the two riders continued towards the finish where Koch barely outsprinted Geist to take the national championship and an automatic nomination to represent the United States at the junior world championships this August in Austria.
Factor in the fact that Koch also narrowly edged Geist by 13 seconds one day earlier to capture the junior women’s 17-18 time trial national title and Geist’s gesture becomes even more impressive.
“It was awesome that she waited for me because I was freaking out,” said Koch afterwards. Right before the roundabout, maybe like 3k to go, my chain fell off and I couldn’t get it back on without getting off my bike and Danny jumped out of the car and put it back on for me. It was really nice of her, because she really didn’t have to do that.”
*Stetina led the Team 5280 Magazine 1-2 punch (Photo: Casey B. Gibson)*By Koch’s estimation, she had a decent shot at taking home the stars and stripes jersey anyway given the nature of the final uphill finishing stretch. “I figured all day long I was leading up every single climb so I figured if I went on that last little pitch up to the finish that I’d probably have a little better chance that Kimberly. I just went as hard as I could and didn’t look back.”
Koch improved upon her third-place finish in 2004 as the 18-year-old competes in her final year of eligibility in the junior ranks.