Sean Quinn (EF Education Easy Post) wins the elite men’s road race at the National Cycling Road Championships in Charleston, West Virginia, beating Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) in a close finish over the line. I got it.
Neilson Powless (EF Education Easy Post) took three out of the lead group of three after repeatedly letting McNulty chase his attacks as he raced towards the line as teammate Quinn sat at the wheel and prepared for a sprint. I got into the rank.
“Brandon was so strong that he pulled us back over and over and over again, and around the last climb I started to realistically think he was looking pretty tired and sprinting. I really think we can win,” McNulty said in a post-race interview. “So Nielson hit him about 10 times and I was a little late throwing the bike and left it alone. I probably should have gone a little earlier…”
Quinn will be thrilled to win a national title after finishing at or close to the podium as a junior and under-23 player.
“I spent many years in junior [trying]. This was a big goal of mine, but it didn’t work out. So it feels great to be able to put on the jersey,” Quinn said. cycling news.
EF Education Easypost went into the race with just two riders and had McNulty firmly in its sights after the UAE Team Emirates rider dominated Wednesday’s time trial.
“Basically, our plan from the beginning of the day was to isolate Brandon with just the two of us and take turns. Neilson must have struck 50 times, and I had several strikes. But in the end, I was able to support my own attack.” Sprint.
“I started a little late, but before I knew it, there were only 100 meters left. [McNulty] I almost got it, but luckily I had done some work on bike throwing in the past. I’m really happy to be able to do this for my team and all my friends. ”
McNulty, who is already guaranteed a spot on Team USA for the Paris Olympics, showed his versatility with a tactically astute race.
“I’ve done everything,” McNulty said. “I cramped up pretty bad in the last hour, I had a little bit left in me.
”[The time trial] That was my goal for this week and this year in particular. So this was just like a bonus. ”
Powless missed March with a knee injury and only returned for the Eschborn-Frankfurt race at the beginning of the month, but showed he was back in top form with a constant series of movements during the race.
“You couldn’t choose between Sean and me. We knew that in order to beat Brandon, we both had to play for the win,” Powless said.
When the goal is near and everyone has reached the top together. I think we all knew when Brandon pulled me back after the final climb that Sean was going to have the stronger sprint of the two of us. So I used every bullet I had left to try and weaken Brandon’s legs for a sprint.
“At the very end, we did kind of a sprint trying to get Brandon to open early, but luckily Sean had good legs at the end and we were able to take it home. This is the best of the best. I think that was the case.” We are very proud. ”
how it unfolded
Temperatures soared at the elite men’s road race in Charleston, West Virginia, as 133 riders crossed the line for the hilly 212km U.S. National Championship, consisting of 10 laps around a 21.2km course.
Two important climbs, the first Bridge Road and the middle Welts Road, served as launching pads for multiple attacks.
The first attack came on the opening lap, with Scott McGill (Project Echelon) and Brennan Wirtz (Mosaic Cycling) sparking the action. Cole Kessler (Riddle Trek Future Racing), Anthony Hilligoss (Kelly Benefit Strategies) and Noah Granigan (Miami Blazers) crossed the bridge on the second lap, then Lucas Bourgoin (Austin Outlaws) and Luke Arens (Kelly Benefit Strategies) scrambled across.
A major split occurred in the peloton on the first climb of lap three, with World Tour riders Quinn, Powless and McNulty crushing the chasing group.
The breakaway race started to vary on the third lap, and when the breakaway race returned, Robin Carpenter (Los Angeles, L39ION) attacked and pushed McGill out. The remainder of the first half break was brought back into the field, which was reduced to just 40 riders.
At the start of the fourth lap, Colby Simmons (Visma Lease-A-Bike Under 23), Gabriel Shipley (Aevolo) and Sam Boardman (Project Echelon) attacked from the peloton, leaving the top two and He tried to close the gap by 30 seconds. Powless managed to catch them on the second climb just as they crossed the bridge.
Immediately Vermeulen, Stephen Bassett (Project Echelon), Under-23 champion Gavin Haredi and Grannigan emerged from the peloton chasing the Powless group, six seconds behind the leaders and 2 minutes 10 minutes ahead of the pack behind them. We entered the 5th lap seconds early.
On the first climb, McNulty attacked from pursuit with Quinn on the wheel. Kyle Murphy (L39ION) and Kieran Haug (CS Velo) stepped up and joined them in pursuit of the 10-man leader.
The three leading groups met up on the Welts Road climb, with McNulty providing the powerful engine. More than a dozen riders – Haug, Carpenter, McNulty, Vermeulen, Frady, Simmons, Quinn, McGill, Bassett, Murphy, Granigan and Powless – crossed the line with five laps remaining and 2 minutes and 30 seconds remaining.
The gap to the peloton continued to narrow, and at the start of the remaining three laps it was 6 minutes 32 seconds. Granigan attacked at the finish line, but boomeranged as the leaders approached the climb of Bridge Road.
Powless, Quinn, McNulty, McGill and Frady split from the rest of the group on the climb, with the Aevolo rider losing touch on the Welts Road climb, leaving the top four with two laps to go.
Powless attacked with a technical descent, and as McNulty sailed away to join him, Quinn opened up a gap, forcing McGill to burn some of the final few matches to close them out. It was a foreshadowing of what would happen on the final lap.
On the descent from the Bridge Road climb on the penultimate lap, Powless made a move, forcing McNulty to work on closing the gap, which he did before the next climb.
Frady and Vermeulen passed the four riders in the 34 second range, followed by Carpenter, Haug, and Simmons in 2 minutes 12 seconds.
Quinn attacked on the Bridge Road climb and appeared to put McNulty into trouble, but it was McGill who lost contact chasing the EF Education Easy Post rider. The pattern continued, with McNulty reeling in multiple moves to dictate the sprint.
result
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