Powers makes history at USA Cycling Professional Road Championships
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Mike Creed and Eric Marcotte have a talk before leaving on the ride.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Eric Marcotte (SmartStop) wins the US Pro championships(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Alison Powers (UnitedHealthcare) sits in the new VW GTI she won(Image credit: Jonathan Devich/CN)
Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin - Sharp) moved into the top ten(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
North American bike racing continued with exciting performances at the USA Cycling Professional Time Trial and Road Championships on Memorial Day weekend. Check out a few of the other highlights from the peloton last week and a peek at what's to come including the Glencoe Grand Prix and the Philadelphia Cycling Classic.
Powers makes stars-and-stripes history and donates championship prize to teammate UnitedHealthcare's Alison Powers won the road race title at the USA Cycling Professional Championships on Monday. Adding the road title to her time trial victory on Saturday and her criterium title won last summer, she became the first US cyclist to simultaneously hold all three titles in one year. She is set to defend her criterium title in August.
Powers won the time trial ahead of Specialized-lululemon teammates Carmen Small and Evelyn Stevens. She went on to secure a solo win in the road race ahead of Megan Guarnier (Boels-Dolmans) and Stevens. Race organizers presented her with the keys to a brand new Volkswagen GTI, of which the car dealer would provide a one-year lease.
Powers graciously and thoughtfully donated it her teammate Jackie Crowell, who was diagnosed with brain cancer earlier this year. "Today was amazing and really special," Powers said. "To make history and win a car for Jackie is a dream come true."
SmartStop underdogs triumph at USA Cycling Professional Road Championship Team SmartStop's Eric Marcotte and Travis McCabe took first and second, and teammate Julian Kyer fifth, in the men's race at the USA Cycling Professional Road Championships. The results left cycling fans, up-and-coming riders and even members of the professional peloton inspired that a seemingly underdog team could pull off the prestigious win.
"Obviously it gives our team that exposure that we want to make it to the next level and keep developing, and getting a bigger budget to do more and more across the world," Marcotte said. "As far as the other smaller budget teams, it gives us hope. You'll say, ‘Oh, I've raced against this guy; how did he finish this off?' You can do it. You have to believe in yourself in that moment and not look back. I may never get the chance to race this race again, and in those final kilometers, I was never going to let it go any differently."
Following the race, team's director Mike Creed tweeted, "To all the riders, teams and races who turned their nose up at us. Let me repeat myself. Hi, we're team SmartStop and we came to race." Watch Creed's emotional reaction when he first learned that his riders took first and second in the championship race.
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Hesjedal fights for stage win on Val Martello Former Giro d'Italia winner Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) moved into the top 10 of this year's Grand Tour, so far, following his two-up battle for the Stage 16 win atop Val Martello. The Canadian responded to an attack from Nairo Quintana (Movistar) on the final climb, under cold and snowy weather conditions, but was later dropped on the way to the finish line. Quintana won the stage by eight seconds ahead of Hesjedal and is now leading the overall classification.
Phinney and others sidelined with broken bones Taylor Phinney's dream of competing in his first Tour de France might not happen after he suffered a broken lower leg during a crash in the road race at the USA Cycling Professional Championships. BMC Racing tweeted that the newly crowned US time trial champion was "undergoing surgery for lower left leg fracture and injury to his knee after crash at #uspro."
Bissell Development riders Ryan Eastman and James Oram are recovering from injuries suffered in a crash during Tour of California's third stage, as they approached Mt. Diablo. Both riders finished the stage, however, Eastman was later diagnosed with a broken collarbone and Oram suffered fractures to his wrist and elbow. The two riders are scheduled to return to racing in July.
De Maar loses Tour of Norway title by three seconds US-based professional continental team UnitedHealthcare was on a roll at the Tour of Norway after its Curaçao rider Marc de Maar won the second stage and took over the race lead. He wore the yellow jersey through the following three stages until losing it by three seconds to Maciej Paterski (CCC Polsat) upon the conclusion of the fifth and final stage on Sunday.
Allar and Alexander win Tour of Somerville This year's Tour of Somerville was held on the same day as the USA Cycling Professional Championships but that didn't stop a series of talented criterium racers from choosing to participate in the NCC event. Adam Alexander (CRCA/Foundation) won the men's race ahead of Benjamin Renkema (Stan's No Tubes p/b Proferrin) and Randal Perez. Although Deivi Capellan (Montecci Cycling) "won" the final sprint, he was two laps down and finished in last place in the results. Carlos Alzate (UnitedHealthcare) is currently leading the men's NCC standings. Erica
Allar (Colavita-Fine Cooking) won the women's race and increased her lead in the NCC standings. She outpaced UnitedHealthcare teammates Coryn Rivera and Hannah Barnes.
NCC continues at the Glencoe Grand Prix Criterium specialists will reunite at the Glencoe Grand Prix in Chicago on Saturday, May 31 for the next round of the NCC series. They will compete on an undulating two-kilometer circuit that has 10-corners each lap. "I love the race course because it's technical and challenging," said Allar, the defending champion. "I'm always impressed with the amount of spectators and the amount of stuff going on to keep people interested and excited about the race."
Cyclists prepare to climb "The Wall" in Philadelphia Cyclists from around the world are gearing up to climb the "The Wall" at the Philadelphia Cycling Classic, UCI 1.1 men's and women's events held on June 1 in Pennsylvania. Last year's winners Evelyn Stevens (Specialized-lululemon) and Kiel Reijnen (UnitedHealthcare) will be on the start line to defend their titles.The field will race along a 19.2km circuit that starts and finishes at the top of Manayunk Wall with the women completing five laps and the men 10 laps. They will be racing for equal prize payout of $31,000 for each field, and $5,000 each for the KOM and the QOM competitions.
Women's Bicycle Association to host meet-and-greet with top female pros on the eve of the Philadelphia Cycling Classic
For those interested in learning more about women's racing, Robin Farina and the Women's Bicycle Association along with the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia's Women's Bike PHL are hosting a meet-and-greet with some of the top female cyclists competing at the Philadelphia Cycling Classic. There will be a paneled discussion with the pro women along with special guest speaker, Lisa Nutter. The event will take place on Saturday, May 31 from 11:30am to 1:00pm at Cadence Cycling and Multisport. The event is sponsored by Fuji Bikes.
Stay tuned to Cyclingnewsnext Tuesday for our next weekly edition of race recaps and previews of what's ahead in the North American road racing scene.
Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.
Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.
She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.
