U-23 alum finishes fifth at Sugar Mountain

USA Cycling Under-23 program graduate Nick Waite (Davis, W.V./Kelly Benefit Strategies) rode to his first NORBA National professional podium place on Saturday when he placed fifth at the NMBS#2 Showdown at the Sugar Mountain Resort, NC.

"[The U-23 program] always had us riding with the pros, but now that I'm not a U-23, there's a little more pressure on myself," Waite said. He signed with the Kelly Benefit Strategies professional team this April.

The top finisher for the current U-23 team was Sam Jurekovic, who placed 13th among the field of 96 pro riders - a personal best for Jurekovic. He completed the four laps of the 6.6-mile course in 2:20:10.

"It was hard, I just had my suffer face on all day," Jurekovic said. "I was riding really well, just got back from Europe so I had some good fitness from that, but I got some cramps and I just worked them out. Other than that - no problems. I've been waiting for a good race with no crashes or technical problems or anything like that and it finally happened."