DEVO: Sheehan Wins Tour L’Abitibi
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Riley Sheehan celebrates his win at the 2017 Le Tour de l'Abitibi
Le Tour de l’Abitibi
Sheehan finished in the top four of each of the first six stages of the seven-stage race en route to the overall victory. His time of 10 hours, 37 minutes and 51 seconds was 29 seconds faster than runner-up Fernando Islas Lopez of Mexico. Sheehan was aided in victory by teammates Matteo Jorgenson (Boise, Idaho/Hot Tubes Development Cycling Team), Sean Quinn (Sherman Oaks, Calif./LUX Cycling), Kendrick Boots (Centennial, Colo./Groove Subaru Excel Sports), Sean McElroy (Palmdale, Calif./Team Specialized Juniors) and Cole Davis (Folsom, Calif./Team Specialized Racing). Jorgenson was fifth in the general classification, while Quinn finished eighth and Boots was ninth.
Jorgenson, Quinn, Boots, and Davis are all graduates of USA Cycling’s Talent ID Camp program. A number of other American riders selected from the USA Cycling Talent ID Camps received invaluable experience racing at Le Tour de l’Abitibi. The top rider from the Talent ID Camps was Denzel Stephenson (Boulder, Colo./Boulder Junior Cycling) who finished 13th overall. Stephenson had four top-five stage finishes including a sprint victory in the final stage.
Complete Le Tour de l’Abitibi results available here.
Junior Tour of Ireland
Tour of Ireland racers L-R: Ian Chavez, Reed Williams, Thomas Fuller, Elias Lawson and Lance Heaton
Representing the United States from the New England camp were Kevin Goguen (Hopedale, Mass./Race CF), Wyatt Cote (Burlington, Conn./CCAP), Peter Kiernan (Burlington, Conn./Race CF), Nathanial Moser (Barto, Pa./Young Medalists) and Leo Kirkpatrick Baird (Bernardsville, N.J./KMS). Representing the U.S. from the West Coast camp were Eilas Lawson (Ashland, Ore.), Thomas Fuller (Redlands, Calif.), Reed Williams (Portola Valley, Calif.), Ian Chavez (Glendora, Calif.) and Lance Heaton (Bountiful, Utah/Velosport Racing/FFKR Architects Racing). It was the first time any of these riders competed overseas.
The five most qualified riders were selected by the USA Cycling Talent ID Camp coaches to race the Junior Tour, providing an excellent opportunity for these young riders to gain valuable experience and exposure to a completely different level and style of racing than normally seen in American domestic junior events.
“It was fantastic to see these young riders really come together as a team, both on and off the bike,” said New England Camp Manager and USAC East Team Director Kyle Wolfe of Brattleboro, Vt. “It really showed in the fantastic results they gained and the experience and overall success of the week for them as riders.”
Goguen scored a third-place finish on stage two and a pair of fourth places on stages three and six, while Moser finished 10th overall in the highly competitive “first-year junior” category. Kirkpatrick Baird finished 66th overall and Kiernan was 78th in very strong support roles during the race. Unfortunately, Cote was not able to finish the race.
Lawson was the highest placing finisher from the West Coast camp, placing 37th in the GC. Fuller finished 46th, Reed 62nd, Heaton 76th and Chavez 86th. The squad narrowly missed out on top 10 in the team category, placing 11th overall.
These 10 young riders returned home with a very high level of racing experience that they will bring with them to their own squads and hopefully return to racing overseas again soon with the knowledge and abilities learned from this amazing development trip.
Complete news, results and pictures from the 2017 Junior Tour of Ireland can be found here.
Coming Up
The U23 team will be in action July 26-30 at the Tour of Alsace in France.
The Juniors will race in the Aubel la Gleize in Belgium, Aug. 4-6.
The women’s team will next be in action at the Boels Rental Ladies Tour in Holland, Aug. 29-Sept. 3.
About USA Cycling’s National Development Programs
USA Cycling’s National Development Programs aim to achieve sustained success in international cycling competition for the United States by providing promising young athletes with a pathway to the top tier of the sport. Our athlete development programs begin with Talent ID Camps and move athletes all the way through to top international competition. Thanks to support from the United States Olympic Committee and to the generous support of our Foundation donors, we’re able to facilitate programs for junior and U23 cyclists in all five discipline of competitive cycling. If you want to help support the future of American cycling, click here to make a donation now.
This Article Updated July 29, 2017 @ 01:48 AM For more information contact:
