Near Solvang, Calif. — Team Type 1 scored its first victory of 2009 on Saturday when Ricardo Escuela out-sprinted teammate Moises Alape to win the Poor College Kids Road Race near Solvang, Calif.

 

Sergio Hernandez (Rock Racing) was third in the 68-mile race that served as the season-opener for a number of Southern California riders and teams.

 

Team Type 1 placed nine riders in the top 20 – and it would have been 10 had fifth-place finisher Valeriy Kobzarenko not been disqualified for a centerline violation.

 

Escuela is in his first year with the team that includes four riders who have Type 1 diabetes.

 

"I felt really confident," Escuela said. "We had two or three - or more - guys in every break today."

 

The 25-year-old Argentinian said the lead-out for the sprint was one the team had practiced earlier this week.

 

"Valeriy (Kobzarenko) and Jesse (Anthony) gave me a strong lead out and Moises was right there on my wheel to make sure no one came around," Escuela said.

 

Team Type 1 is holding its training camp in the Santa Ynez Valley as it prepares for the Amgen Tour of California. Sunday, it will send a team of nine racers to compete in the Mothballs Criterium in Santa Barbara.