Devo Wrap: Stellar weekend for American development riders

Contestants riding in USA Cycling's National Development Program recorded standout results worldwide. With an overall win in New Zealand, a stage win in the Dominican Republic and a strong showing in Uruguay, American riders flexed their muscles.

WOMEN
Women's Tour of New Zealand

Evelyn Stevens celebrates winning the 2012 Women's Tour of New Zealand. (Photo by Jackson Stewart)
Evelyn Stevens celebrates winning the 2012 Women's Tour of New Zealand. (Photo by Jackson Stewart)
For the second time in three years, a rider competing for USA Cycling won the Women's Tour of New Zealand. Following in Shelley Evans' footsteps in 2010, Evelyn Stevens (Dennis, Mass./Team Specialized-lululemon) won the five-stage race, edging Shara Gillow (AUS) by just one second.

"The team worked incredibly hard over the five stages to defend the yellow and it was incredible for us to win it," Stevens said. "It was close and we really demonstrated fantastic teamwork through the Tour."

Kristin Armstrong (Boise, Idaho/Exergy Twenty12), who won the opening stage time trial and led the general classification through the opening three stages, finished eighth overall. Carmen Small (Durango, Colo./Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) placed 17th, 8:27 behind Stevens. Ally Stacher (Asheville, N.C./Specialized-lululemon), who helped her HTC-Highroad teammate Judith Arndt win the 2011 edition of the race, finished 40th, 35:11 behind while 17-year-old Addyson Albershardt (Matthews, N.C./NOW and Novartis) finished in 58th.

Stevens finished 17 seconds behind Armstrong in the opening stage before finishing only one second behind in the second stage. Stevens remained in the hunt losing no time in the third stage before finding herself in the successful move late in the fourth stage to slip into the yellow jersey. The team successfully worked to protect Stevens in the fifth stage to secure the win.

Check out New Zealand television station 3News' story on Stevens' win.

U23 MEN
Rutas de América 2012

Ty Magner finished third in stage 8a at Rutas de América 2012 in Uruguay. (Photo by Gustavo Carillo)
Ty Magner finished third in stage 8a at Rutas de América 2012 in Uruguay. (Photo by Gustavo Carillo)
The Rutas de América 2012 in Uruguay was a race of attrition as 73 of the 155 starters finished the race that featured teams from Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil and the United States of America. Ty Magner (Athens, Ga./BMC-Hincapie Sportswear Development Team) and Rob Bush (Louisville, Ky./Chipotle-First Solar Development Team) fared well, representing well in field sprints throughout the contest. Magner was the lone American to finish the race, placing 14th, 2:27 behind the winner Jorge Soto Perera (URU). In the final results, Magner finished third among U23 riders, third in points, sixth in King of the Mountains and eighth in sprint points.

After finishing sixth in each of the opening two stages, Magner scored a spot on the podium in the race's sixth and final stage, placing third. Bush also registered a top-five finish, placing fifth in the 154.2-kilometer third stage.

Also competing for USA Cycling in Uruguay were:

Kit Karzen (Beverly Hills, Calif./Get Crackin'-MS Society)
Ian Moir (Long Beach, Calif./Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)
Zack Noonan (Kutztown, Pa./BikeReg.com-Cannondale)

Vuelta Independencia Nacional

A contingent of road and mountain bike riders from USA Cycling contested the Vuelta Independencia Nacional, a nine-stage race, in the Dominican Republic. Kerry Werner (Banner Elk, N.C./USA U23 BMC Development Team) registered the best overall results, placing 16th overall while Tanner Putt (Park City, Utah/BMC-Hincapie Sportswear Cycling Team) won a stage on the penultimate day of competition, en route to placing 24th. Russell Finsterwald (Colorado Springs, Colo./Front Rangers Junior Cycling) finished 39th while Jos Chalmers (Indian Harbour Beach, Fla./ZMotion Racing) placed 47th.

Among U23 riders, Werner placed fourth while Putt finished eighth in that group and seventh in the points classification.

Putt registered five top-10 stage finishes throughout the race, including winning the 115-kilometer road race comprising half of the eighth stage. About halfway through his victorious stage, Putt was in a breakaway with three Colombian riders. Those four riders were working well together, but were unable to gain more than a minute on the peloton. Putt launched an attack with approximately three kilometers remaining and won by one second over Jose Bone Leon (ECU).

COMING UP

The following group of women are slated to compete in a pair of one-day road races in Belgium beginning Wednesday, Feb. 29 with Le Samyn des Dames before contesting Omloop van het Hageland - Tielt-Winge on Sunday, March 4:

Jackie Crowell (Maitland, Fla./Exergy Twenty12)
Andrea Dvorak (Crozet, Va./Exergy Twenty12)
Robin Farina (Charlotte, N.C./NOW and Novartis for MS)
Megan Guarnier (Mountain View, Calif./TIBCO-To the Top)
Amanda Miller (Fort Collins, Colo./TIBCO-To the Top)
Alexis Ryan (Ventura, Calif./Team TIBCO II)
Samantha Schneider (Milwaukee, Wisc./Team TIBCO-To The Top)

USA Cycling's National Development Programs are supported by the USA Cycling Development Foundation. Support the future of American cycling with an online donation now.

About USA Cycling’s National Development Programs
One of USA Cycling’s dual missions is to achieve sustained success in international cycling competition. To that end, USA Cycling maintains development programs for all disciplines of competitive cycling, including men’s and women’s U25 and junior road; mountain bike; track (endurance and sprint) and BMX development programs. These programs provide a structured pathway to the top tier of the sport through athlete development that begins with Junior racing series, Regional Development Camps and racing and moves through to international competition. For more about USA Cycling’s Athlete Development Programs, click here.



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This Article Updated February 28, 2012 @ 08:07 PM For more information contact: