DEVO: Barta 10th, Bennett KOM at Tour de Bretagne

  
  


The U23 men's team rode the Tour de Bretagne with Chad Young on their minds
The U23 men's team rode the Tour de Bretagne with Chad Young on their minds.
(May 2, 2017) – It was an emotional yet rewarding week for the U23 men as they tackled the seven-stage Tour de Bretagne Cycliste in France. Weighing heavily on their minds as they began the race last Tuesday was the condition of former U23 rider Chad Young, who was critically injured in a crash at the Tour of the Gila two days earlier. Sadly, Young would succumb to his injuries on Friday.

Four of Young’s teammates on the Axeon Hagens Berman team raced the Tour de Bretagne, including Will Barta (Boise, Idaho), Ian Garrison (Decatur, Ga.), Logan Owen (Bremerton, Wash.) and Neilson Powless (Roseville, Calif.). Barta would finish 10th in the general classification for the highest U.S. placement, while Owen, 33rd overall, would race to a third-place finish on stage 6, after which he posted the following tribute to Young on his Twitter page:
Barta’s overall time was 1:51 back of race winner Flavien Dassonville of France. Sean Bennett (El Cerrito, Calif./Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) put himself in the KOM jersey on the second stage, lost it the following day, but earned it back on the seventh and final stage on Monday. He would finish 56th, while Garrison was 61st. Also contesting the race for Team USA was Gavin Hoover (Manhattan Beach, Calif./VL Technics-Experza-Abutriek Cycling Team).

Full Tour de Bretagne Cycliste results.

JUNIOR WOMEN – Gracia Orlova stage race

Team USA’s junior women were the only junior racers to compete in the five-stage Gracia Orlova in the Czech Republic as they completed their block of European racing last week.

Snow at the start and rain all day made for a cold opening stage on April 27. Summer Moak (Phoenix, Ariz./TWENTY20 Pro Cycling/Sho-Air TWENTY20 Development) finished in the main peloton, 64th overall, while teammates Kira Payer (Housatonic, Mass./KMS Cycling-Killington Mountain School), Paige Shumskas (Pipersville, Pa./Fearless Femme Racing) and Alijah Beatty (Washington, Iowa/NorthStar Development) all finished in a trailing group.

Stage 2, a mountain day, was also cold and rainy and the course had to be altered due to snow at the top of the biggest climb. All four U.S. riders were within the time cut to qualify for the following day’s time trial.

Saturday’s individual time trial was followed by a same-day 64km stage. Moak finished 19th in the time trial, 1:01 behind, while Beatty was 57th (+2:00) and Payer finished 61st (+2:10).

Sunday’s final stage was a 101km circuit race. Unfortunately, Payer did not start after becoming ill overnight and Moak was dropped on the second lap and pulled from the race four laps in. That left Beatty as the lone Team USA rider and she gave it a gutsy effort, fighting on the back of the field for two laps before being dropped. However, Beatty fought on and finished the stage in 77th place (+7:49).

Also contesting the race was Moriah Swan (Alpine, Calif./Strive Racing), but she was unable to finish the opening stage.

“It was a good learning experience for the ladies to see an elite level UCI stage race,” said U.S. Coach Jack Seehafer. “All feel a bit more confident going back to the U.S. having learned things on the trip.”

Full Gracia Orlova results
 
COMING UP
 
The U23 men will race at the Pan American Road Championships, May 4-7, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, while the junior men take on the Course de la Paix in the Czech Republic, also May 4-7.

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This Article Updated May 2, 2017 @ 04:12 PM For more information contact: