This release contains: 1 Related Document, 1 Photo
CRESTED BUTTE, Colorado - With three rated climbs in the USA Pro Challenge's stage 2 on Tuesday, altitude and tired legs near the end of a long cycling season might be coming into play for more than a few riders. But while a young gun took over the race lead, a veteran rider found himself in another long break on the 159.6km/99mi stage from Montrose to Crested Butte.
Newly re-signed rider Jens Voigt, 40, jumped right in the 15-man break again today, testing his legs and feeling strong even while riding at altitude. With a lead still over four minutes with only 15km to go, it looked like they might stay away, but once the break hit the last climb to Crested Butte, combined efforts fell away and attacks were fast and furious from the main field. BMC rider Mathias Frank responded to Colombian rider Camilo Castiblanco's (EPM-UNE) attack from the break and soared right past him inside 2km to go.
But it was all about setting up a stinging attack by teammate Tejay Van Garderen, 24, who launched his move under the 1km to go banner. Van Garderen held on for the line, winning just in front of Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Sharpe) on his wheel. RusVelo's Ivan Rovny followed six seconds later for third. For RSNT the best placed riders were Matthew Busche and Chris Horner in the group at 12-seconds back. Van Garderen took over the race lead too, tied on time with Vande Velde.
Horner: "Everybody was on the limit today. Another big group went were allowed to go away today and we see it as BMC's job to do the work. For our team we don't have anyone really fresh at this race. Everyone has done a lot of racing or if they took a break, they took it too close to this race to be good again. BMC keeps putting guys in the break and then they don't want to work. I don't see it that way. They brought Johann Tschopp here and he won the Tour of Utah last week. They brought Tejay who can time trial. They brought a former Tour de France champion in Cadel. It's common sense that it's their job to control the race."
Speaking of the course for stage 2, Horner continued: "Today was intense. All day we were pushing on the pedals. It's not like we're sitting on the back drinking Cokes and having a party. The last time going up the climb at altitude was tough - we were on the limit. Riders would try to put in an attack and then just die up the road."
Former US Pro champion and teammate Matthew Busche agreed, assessing the final climb with: "The last climb was fast and hard. I had lost position on the way in and had to fight a bit to get back to the front, but I was able to do that. Once the climb started I tried to follow some moves but ended up needing to stay within myself so I didn't lose too much time. I'm still hoping to find good legs in the upcoming days and do something special in this race."
Things didn't go so well for RSNT's other former US Pro champion, Ben King, who hit the asphalt at full speed with 37k to go. King: "I was just riding along in the bunch, feeling good, riding on a nice, wide road. I think maybe the road shoulder got a little narrower and then I heard someone crash behind me. Before I knew it, I felt arms around me and I was going down with him. My whole right side hurts. I wanted to finish today but will need to make a trip to the hospital to see if it's wise to continue. We'll see."
Tomorrow's stage 3 will require a big effort from King and from the entire peloton as well. The stage begins in Gunnison and ends in Aspen. It's the Queen Stage of climbing and includes the 23km/14mi dirt climb to the 3696m/12,126 ft summit of Cottonwood Pass, followed by another of the same up Independence Pass before a hair-raising descent into Aspen. At 210km/130.5mi it's the longest stage in the 2012 USA Pro Challenge.
Read more about RADIOSHACK NISSAN TREK racing at radioshacknissantrek.com.
# # #
Source: nissannews.com
No comments:
Post a Comment