On June 17th, “Break The Frame” track bike criterium took place at a go-kart circuit located in south Athens. It’s the second time that such a criterium takes place in Greece. 39 riders were present to race, among them one racer from outside of Greece who was also the big winner of the race, Vito Quinci from SCVDO Genova. With his win, Vito has qualified for “Break The Frame” finals at Le Castellet, France on October 28th.
Text: Panos Sinopoulos
Photography: Nassos Triantafyllou – The Cycling Journal
The race started at 18.00 and was composed of a 30-minute warm up session, qualification Heats with elimination format, Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Final race; all with timing & scoring.
The course was a 700m circuit with a total of 7 turns.
Heavy rainfall occurred during almost all the race making riders more cautious but still fast! Special attention required to the big chicane couple of turns before start finish line.
Riders were equally divided in ten Heat groups depending on their potentials.
Average course speed was 40-45km/h with sketchy wet turns.
The fastest 23 qualified to Quarterfinals where we had six groups followed by two groups of Semifinals and the Final race. Groups were 4 riders each.
Vito Quinci
“I have been riding track bikes in the streets since 2011 and raced many alleycats in harsh weather conditions. The race format was one of the best of my life. I very much enjoyed the race, rain was pure fun and I managed to get some grip! Furthermore, riding among very strong, skilled riders and good friends created the perfect mix and I hope to see races like this in the future!”
Nicholas Vlachakis
“I am very excited that an event like this took place after so many years and I had the opportunity to participate. We faced very strong competition, riders were of high level and I really enjoyed the race! Despite heavy rainfall, the conditions of the course were in good levels and we had to pay extra attention to the tricky chicane a couple of turns before finish. Other than that, it was a great Crit and I hope more races like this happen in the future in Greece!”
Top 4
1. Vito Quinci – SCDVO Genova
2. Nicholas Vlachakis – Team World of Bike
3. John Karagiorgos
4. George Papidas
