Squire, Rathe 1-2 espoirs race for Chipotle

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Rob Squire (Chipotle Development) secured the biggest victory of his young career at the Under 23 US National Road Race Championships held on Saturday in Augusta, Georgia. He rode across the finish line with his teammate and late-race breakaway companion Jacob Rathe. Evan Huffman (California Giant-Specialized) won the chase group sprint for third place.

"The feeling is incredible and I am so glad to have won it," Squire told Cyclingnews. "I’ve had some mediocre results this year and I knew I had the strength, but it was just about believing in myself and really going for it today. With the teammates that I had and the work that we did, I had to go as hard as I could. I’m so excited that I will probably wear my jersey to bed tonight."

Squire and Rathe broke away together over a small ascent just before the start of the last lap. The pair gained a one minute lead over the next 10 kilometres. Their lead continued to increase to a maximum of two minutes ahead of the next chase group before the finish.

"Every time we got a time check it was more incentive to keep pushing as hard as we could," Squire said. "We did more than a lap trading off turns and going as hard as we could. We put it all on the line. Jacob and I raced together before and when he got third at U23 Paris-Roubaix, I like to think that I helped him with that and this was a little pay back I guess. We crossed the line together and I screamed with my arms in the air for probably 20 minutes."

The high quality Under 23 men’s field lined up under warm summer temperatures to contest seven laps of an undulating 23.5 kms circuit for a total of 168 kms. Each lap boasted 1421ft of elevation gain and suited riders who could best deal with the attrition. "It was a very selective and undulating course," Rathe said. "It was also very hot and I think that put a lot of stress on the riders."

A break of roughly 25 riders emerged on the second lap to included several riders from both Chipotle Development and Trek-Livestrong. "We had three riders in that big group and Trek-Livestrong had three," Rathe said. "We worked pretty well and other riders came across to the move later on. We sort of stopped working because the main peloton was really far back, I guess we were kind of the main peloton at that point."

Trek-Livestrong worked hard to form a selective breakaway with the right combination of riders. The team also showed its strength in holding the main bunch together if the mix of riders in the breakaways was not as advantageous.

The previous day’s criterium winner, Rob Bush (Chipotle Development) attacked the group and gained over one minute. He was off the front for one and half laps, some 40 kms before being reeled back in by a selective chase group with three laps to go. "Rob Bush put a lot of pressure on Trek-Livestrong because it allowed us to just sit in the group," Rathe said. "The group got even smaller after that."

Squire attacked on the circuit’s some-what decisive ascent before the start-finish line with one lap to go. Simultaneously, Rathe attacked on the other side of the road and the pair joined forces to establish a sizable lead of two minutes ahead of the chase group.

"I’ve been having a good season and I had placed third at the U23 Paris-Roubaix and won a stage in South America already," Rathe said. "I’m happy for Rob, he was stronger than me in the breakaway and I felt like he deserved it. We crossed the line together celebrating. Our team has been racing well this year and on this type of a hard selective race we excel."