While the Hincapie Racing team was celebrating the most recent win for Toms Skujins at the Winston-Salem Cycling Classic, officials were disqualifying his teammate Robin Carpenter for irregular riding that took place when Skujins launched his race-winning escape on the final circuit.
Both Skujins and Carpenter were in the final selection on the final lap in a group that included Team SmartStop's Evan Huffman. With SmartStop's Jure Kocjan trying to bridge to the leaders, however, Huffman sat in the group and would not pull through. Carpenter evidently took exception to the SmartStop tactics and maneuvered to pin Huffman to the railing as Skujins jumped away.
Carpenter commented on the disqualification on Twitter, writing, “Apparently I was disqualified for an 'abrupt movement.' What a joke.” Carpenter went on to admit that he “took Huffman to the side because he had been sitting on.”
Carpenter's reaction on Twitter drew a response from Huffman, who replied, “You can't do that, man. I understand you were frustrated with me sitting on, but that's no excuse.” In a subsequent post, Huffman admitted that Carpenter's move likely didn't affect the final outcome.
Kocjan finished second in the race, leading in a group of five riders who finished 12 seconds behind Skujins. Huffman finished eighth, 1:32 behind Skujins.
Robin Carpenter goes on the attack. (Jonathan Devich)
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Silber Pro Cycling's Matteo Dal-Cin wins Canada's Grand Prix Saguenay
The 24-year-old Canadian took the overall crown by six seconds over teammate Ryan Roth and by eight seconds over Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies' Guillaume Boivin, who was racing again after a serious crash during the final stage at the Tour of California.
“It was a really cool experience getting to be in the race lead and having the team there day in and out riding full pin to keep it,” Dal-Cin wrote in a Facebook post. “I think the extra strength of the Yellow jersey that you hear commentators talk about probably stems from having that kind of support around you. It was really awesome to have experienced it.”
Dal-Cin won the first stage and then held onto the overall lead for the next three days.
Garneau-Quebecor's Bruno Langlois won the second and fourth stages, while Optum's Pierrick Naud took the stage 3 criterium. Boivin finished third during the stage.
“To race here in Quebec with such a great sprinter’s team is very exciting,” Naud said. “The guys made it hard for other teams for the entire race and lined up perfectly to get Guillaume and I in position for the finish. Our strategy was executed to perfection. You couldn’t ask for more.”
Costa wins second consecutive Pays de Vaud
USA Cycling junior national team rider Adrien Costa claimed the overall win and two stages last week at the Tour du Pays de Vaud in Switzerland, finishing the four-day race 1:15 better than second-placed Gino Mader of Switzerland and 2:25 ahead of Anton Charmig of Denmark.
Costa repeated his 2014 win in the Nations Cup race and kept alive the Pays Vaud winning streak by US riders, which dates back to the 2012 win by Taylor Eisenhart. Geoffrey Curran won the race in 2013.
Costa asserted himself as the early favourite, finishing third during Stage 1, winning Stage 2a solo by 1:07, then taking the Stage 2b individual time trial by 13 seconds to increase his GC lead to 1:15.
US rider Chris Blevins finished 14th in the GC at 8:20:07 thanks to a third-place finish during Stage 2a and a 12th-place result during Stage 1.
Costa, who is still 17, finished third overall earlier this year at the Redlands Bicycle Classic in California.
Pays Vaud winner Adrien Costa is targeting a top result at the World Championships in Richmond.
USA Cycling names roster for BMX Worlds
USA Cycling today announced the 19 athletes who will represent the US this summer at the 2015 UCI BMX World Championships.
Ten elite men, five elite women, three junior men and one junior woman will make up the Team USA roster at the three-day championships, which are scheduled for July 23-25 in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium.
Four men and three women earned automatic bids via 2014 UCI rankings, while five riders earned Team USA automatic bids based on USA Cycling selection criteria.
Team USA roster:
Elite Men Steven Cisar (Altadena, Calif./Bombshell Parts-Avent Cycles-Nama-Vee Tire Co.) Connor Fields (Henderson, Nev./Chase-Monster)* Sean Gaian (Santee, Calif.) Jared Garcia (Victorville, Calif./BOX Components)* David Herman (Wheat Ridge, Colo./Free Agent Bikes)* Nic Long (Haro Bikes/Lakeside, Calif.)^ Barry Nobles (Sun City, Calif./DK Bicycles) Justin Posey (Winston-Salem, N.C.) Corben Sharrah (Tucson, Ariz.)* Tommy Zula (New Carlisle, Ohio/DK Bicycles)
Elite Women Brooke Crain (Visalia, Calif.)* Dani George (Riverside, Calif.) Alise Post (Chula Vista, Calif.)* Shealen Reno (Plano, Texas) Felicia Stancil (Chula Vista, Calif./GT Bicycles)*
Junior Men Walker Finch (Fort Collins, Colo.)^ Collin Hudson (Longmont, Colo.)^ Ryan Pettigrew (Watsonville, Calif.)^
