Devo Wrap: Dombrowski's BYR jersey tops strong week

The USA Cycling National Development Program collected another jersey for its expansive closet. Joseph Dombrowski added a Best Young Rider's jersey to the collection after a stellar performance at the U23 Giro Ciclisto della Valle d'Aosta in Italy. Additionally, NDP juniors contested two single-day races in Belgium and a group of U23 and junior mountain bike riders tested their mettle in Switzerland.

U23 Giro Ciclisto della Valle d'Aosta

As a part of USA Cycling's five-rider contingent, Joe Dombrowski (Marshall, Va./Trek Livestrong U23) put forth a stellar effort to win the Best Young Rider jersey and was one rider away from earning several awards at Valle d'Aosta in Mont Blanc, Italy.

The USA Cycling contingent placed third in the team general classification while Dombrowski finished second overall.

In addition to being second overall, the 20-year-old Dombrowski won Saturday's 162.4-kilometer fifth stage, placed second in the third stage, and finished second in the King of the Mountains and points.

Ian Boswell (Bend, Ore./Hot Tubes Development), who blogged about the early stages of the event, finished sixth in the Best Young Rider and sprint points while finishing 37th overall.

Rob Squire (Sandy, Utah/Chipotle Development Team) started the event strong for the squad, placing third in the opening stage before ultimately placing ninth in points and 12th in the GC.

Gavin Mannion (Dedham, Mass./Trek Livestrong U23) and Larry Warbasse (Traverse City, Mich./BMC Racing) also contested the race for USA Cycling.

Check out a photo gallery from this event.

JUNIORS

After a few weeks of successful racing where a group of junior riders posted strong results in kermesses in Belgium, they turned it up a notch with two UCI races. The group first contested the 140-kilometer Mandel Leie Schelde in Meulebeke and Omloop der Vlaamse Gewesten in Wuustwezel, Belgium.

Mandel Leie Schelde is a mini Tour of Flanders that goes over some of the same climbs as the professional version: the cobbled Paterberg, Kluisberg and Kwaremont among others. The climbs along with small sections of cobblestones and windy, wet conditions splintered the field into small groups. After the race settled down Daniel Eaton (Mesa, Ariz./Strada Racing Club) rode across the gap to Alex Darville's (Santa Barbara, Calif./Echelon Santa Barbara) lead group, but eventually wound up in the chase group. In the final results, Darville finished 19th while Eaton finished 23rd. Colby Wait-Molyneux (Vancouver, Wash./Hammer Nutrition-CMG Racing Team) and Alexey Vermeulen (Pinckney, Mich./ProChain-Team Turner) were 66th and 69th, respectively while Tyler Williams (Shafter, Calif./All Sport-Team Swift) finished 70th.

The next day, the same group of riders contested the Omloop der Vlaamse Gewesten, a 125-kilometer flat race north of Antwerp designed by former Tour of Flanders winner Edwig Van Hooydonck. A simple 12.5-kilometer course was complicated by varying weather and wind. Darville made the front group of six riders after bridging with another rider. The last 20 kilometers became a race of survival for the leaders as the chase group was charging hard. Darville led the chase group that caught the leaders with less than a kilometer remaining in the race to finish eighth in the final results.

Darrel Kohli (Rapid River, Mich./Team Geargrinder) also contested the races with this group.

MOUNTAIN BIKE

A large contingent of junior riders, several of whom were preparing for Mountain Bike World Championships beginning on Aug. 31, contested the Muttenz Swiss Racer Bikes Cup near Basel, Switzerland.

Howard Grotts (Durango, Colo./Durango Devo) posted the squad's best results, placing third in the Junior Men 17-18 contest. Grotts finished only 17 seconds behind the winner Lars Forster (SUI). Keegan Swenson (Park City, Utah/Whole Athlete-Specialized) also contested that race.

In the Junior Women 17-18 race, Grace Alexander (Boise, Idaho/BYRDS) finished fourth, 2:36.6 behind the winner Linda Indergand (SUI).

In the Men's U23 race, Kerry Werner (Banner Elk, N.C./BMC MTB Development) finished 30th, while Russell Finsterwald (Boulder, Colo./Subaru-Trek) placed 37th and Jack Hinkens (Eden Prairie, Minn./BMC MTB Development) was 46th.

Jill Behlen (Boulder, Colo./University of Wyoming) contested the Women's U23 race, but crashed.

In the Junior Men's 15-16 race, Lucas Newcomb (Nicasio, Calif./Whole Athlete-Specialized) posted the best result of the five riders, placing 18th. Zach Carlson (Plano, Texas/Matrix-RBM) finished 20th, while Keegan Swirbul (Carbondale, Calif.) was 23rd. Luke Allen (Abilene, Texas/Matrix-RBM) was 26th and Joe Christiansen (Lyons, Colo./Redstone Cyclery) finished 31st.

COMING UP

The following group of U23 riders will contest the Tour de l'Avenir in France from Sept. 4-11:

Ian Boswell (Bend, Ore./Hot Tubes Development)
Nathan Brown (Covington, Tenn./Trek Livestrong U23)
Robert Bush (Louisville, Ky./Chipotle Development Team)
Joe Dombrowski (Marshall, Va./Trek Livestrong U23)
Rob Squire (Sandy, Utah/Chipotle Development Team)
Larry Warbasse (Traverse City, Mich./BMC Racing)

The following group of juniors will contest the GP Ruebliland in Switzerland from Sept. 2-4:
Alex Darville (Santa Barbara, Calif./Echelon Santa Barbara)
Daniel Eaton (Mesa, Ariz./Strada Racing Club)
Darrel Kohli (Rapid River, Mich./Team Geargrinder)
Alexey Vermeulen (Pinckney, Mich./ProChain-Team Turner)
Colby Wait-Molyneux (Vancouver, Wash./Hammer Nutrition-CMG Racing Team)
Tyler Williams (Shafter, Calif./All Sport-Team Swift)

PHOTOS

Joe Dombrowski's strong performance helped the team finish third at the Giro Ciclistico della Valle d'Aosta. (Courtesy photo)

The group of junior riders that contested the Mandel Leie Schelde: Nick Salerno (Mechanic), Daniel Eaton, Darrell Kholi, Alex Darville, Alexey Vermeulen, Viggo Christiansen (Soigneur), Colby Wait-Molyneux, Tyler Williams and William Innes (DS).

Grace Alexander finished fourth in the junior women 17-18 contest at Muttenz Swiss Racer Bikes Cup. (Photo by Marc Gullickson)

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