The Alto presented by SeaSucker team kicked off the 2015 campaign today at the San Dimas Stage Race (https://www.sdsr.bike/). The stage race starts with an uphill time trial on the infamous Glendora Mountain, and our own Emerson Oronte came home with the victory over second place Gregory Brenes (Jamis Hagens Bermen) by an 11 second margin.
We caught up with Emerson, fresh off of receiving the yellow jersey, to ask about his preparation and what it took to win the prestigious race. "This off season was probably my most productive to date," said Oronte. "I had a solid build up in Colorado through Thanksgiving, and then several productive weeks in Tucson, AZ. I really made it a point to focus, take my time, and do everything right without rushing it. You just have to be confident in your training path and I've been diligent in sticking to my plan. Today was proof of that."
This is Emerson's first year with a new team that includes a lot of new teammates and equipment. It can be a big transition, but Emerson has obviously transitioned perfectly into the program. "My off season was bolstered by the motivation of being part of the new Alto p/b SeaSucker team for 2015. It's a solid group of guys and the support across the board is top notch. Whether it be Alto wheels, SeaSucker racks, Felt bikes, Pearl Izumi clothing, Pioneer power meters, Thomson components, etc, I don't think there is a team in America that can match the performance benefits that we get from our sponsors.
Emerson is joined in San Dimas by Elite National Criterium Champion, Dan Holloway, as well as seasoned professionals Taylor Shelden and Mac Cassin. They will face a challenging road race in tomorrow's stage 2, and a technical criterium on Sunday. "It's definitely a hard race to defend on," Oronte says of stage 2, "but I'm confident and the guys are motivated. We're going to give it hell and if someone is going to take this jersey from us you can be damn sure they're going to work for it."
Bobby Sweeting
Author