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UCI Men’s Results

UCI Men Press Release Day 4

Bickmore, Project Echelon repeat at crit, Røed keeps lead headed into final day at Tour of the Gila

Project Echelon Racing won the Tour of the Gila Stage 4 Silver City Downtown Criterium Saturday for the second consecutive year in a row, launching Cade Bickmore to victory and into the green sprint leader’s jersey.

Torbjørn Røed (Above and Beyond Cancer Cycling Team) retained his overall race lead at 47 seconds after he and his closest rival Drake Deuel (CS Velo Racing) finished with the pack.

“We wanted to get at least two of the intermediates and the race win today, so that’s what we set out to do,” Bickmore said. “With Tyler [Stites] winning last year, there was definitely a precedent to follow-up on. I asked him what the tricks were, and he told me just trust the teammates, follow the lead out, we have the best team to do it.”

Teams lined up on Bullard Street surrounded by onlookers and fans ready for fireworks, and with primes, points and time bonuses up for grabs, that’s exactly what they got.

Brayan Sánchez (Team Medellín – EPM), tied with Ignacio “Nacho” de Jesús Prado Juárez (Canel’s – ZEROUNO) for the green sprint leader’s jersey and only two points up from Bickmore, looked to take the lead and take over the jersey. But Bickmore and Echelon had other ideas.

The team set the pace for the majority of the race, dominating the front and often stringing out the field. A few breaks were able to get away as riders looked to pick up cash prizes on prime laps and sprint points. Sánchez picked up some initial points and later finished third on the day for more.

A break of Conn McDunphy (SoCalCycling.com), Cormac McGeough (Canel’s – ZEROUNO), Anthony Hilligoss (Kelly Benefit Strategies Cycling) and Garin Kelley (Team California) opened up a 20-second lead, only to get reeled in by the Echelon train, who swept the second round of bonus sprint points, effectively shutting out Sánchez.

Robigzon Oyola (Team Medellín – EPM) emerged from the pack and went out solo until the third bonus sprint when Echelon took over again, and Bickmore picked up even more points to become the virtual sprint leader.

With about 10 laps to go, Xander White (Aevolo Cycling) snagged a prime and initiated another break with McDunphy and McGeough. The three expanded their lead to 20 seconds, and Echelon lost control of the front of the field.

As the lap counter dropped to two laps to go, McDunphy decided to go it alone. The SoCalCycling.com rider made it through the line with one to go but was caught with half a lap remaining.

“I just rode really hard to try and keep the gap, and then I was on my own, and then I had to just put the head down and keep going,” McDunphy said. “I thought I would have it with a lap to go. I had a good gap, but on the second corner I took a bad line, and I lost all my speed coming into the hill. I tried to get it back up, but at that point on the last lap I knew I was getting caught … I really like these American crits; they’re really fast and really kind of suit a powerful rider like me who can’t necessarily sprint. You can get away with it, so I had to try and roll the dice.”

It was then that Bickmore said it was left up to him to get the W for the team.

“We definitely had to use more guys than we were hoping to to bring McDunphy back,” Bickmore said. “So then I was left to fight for myself the last half lap. I had no teammates left with me, which was a little tricky. Last year I did that a lot, I’m used to floating wheels and fighting scrappy, so I was able to finish the job.”

Now Bickmore has a sizable lead in the green sprint leader’s jersey competition, 43 points to Sánchez’s 31 with only two bonus sprints remaining on the final stage.

Tomorrow’s Gila Monster final stage, a 100.6-mile road race with 9,957 feet of elevation gain, kicks off at 9:45 a.m. Røed will have to defend his red leader’s jersey with Deuel, Óscar Sevilla (Team Medellín – EPM) and others in pursuit.

UCI Women Press Release Day 4

Ehrlich scores hat trick for Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24 at crit, cuts overall lead to 10 seconds heading into final day at Tour of the Gila

Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24 picked up a hat trick Saturday at Tour of the Gila Stage 4 Silver City Downtown Criterium with Emily Ehrlich outpowering her competitors for the win and closing the gap to the overall race lead.

With only 10 seconds now separating Erhlich and race leader Austin Killips (Amy D Foundation), TWENTY24 is gaining steam heading into the queen stage after wins on stages 2, 3 and 4.

“Our goal today was obviously to try to make up some time by getting away in a breakaway,” Ehrlich said. “But when that didn’t happen with about five to go we just switched to conserving for the sprint and tried to win.”

The green sprint leader’s jersey changed hands after the crit from Shayna Powless (DNA Pro Cycling) to Rylee McMullen (InstaFund Racing) after McMullen secured bonus sprint points and finished third.

“We pretty much played a really patient game and let the other teams do the work,” McMullen said. “The girls were awesome at bringing me up when the sprints were coming, and I just cut that last corner really hot and held on to the line for the first two sprints and then only managed third in the final but we’re really happy with today.”

Teams lined up on Bullard Street surrounded by onlookers and fans ready for fireworks, and with primes, points and time bonuses up for grabs, that’s exactly what they got.

Marlies Mejias (Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24) attacked early, wanting to entice others to chase and put Ehrlich in a good position for the win. But it was McMullen who had other plans; she snagged first place points on the first and second bonus sprints.

With 17 laps to go, Ehrlich and Olga Zabelinskaya (Tashkent City) duked it out for a cash prime and formed an initial break that included Killips, Maeghan Easler (Roxo Racing), Lorena Villamizar Varon and Valeria Leon Ordaz from PatoBike.

The race eventually came back together before Ehrlich and Zabelinskaya again broke away, bringing Killips, Mejias, and Sarah Van Dam (DNA Pro Cycling) with them until five to go.

Zabelinskaya picked up an estimated $300 in primes and five sprint points for her efforts on the day. Ehrlich secured a three-second time bonus on the third sprint, with Killips gaining a one-second time bonus.

PatoBike, hoping to do damage control, worked as a machine on the front of the field to close the gap. Once they brought the field back together Mejias and teammate Sofia Arreola Navarro controlled the lead out to drop Ehrlich off for the win.

Holly Breck (DNA Pro Cycling) slotted in on their train and held on for second, with McMullen in third, putting her six points ahead of Powless for the green sprint leader’s jersey. Two bonus sprints are in contention on Sunday.

That stage, the Gila Monster, is a 65.9-mile road race with 5,487 feet of elevation gain and kicks off at 10:05 a.m. Killips will have to defend her red leader’s jersey with Ehrlich, Nadia Gontova (Roxo Racing) and Marcela Prieto Castañeda (PatoBike) in pursuit.

Killips team director Julie Kuliecza said she tips her hat to Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24’s performance at the crit.

“It was a super hard race,” Kuliecza said. “Wow, so impressed with TWENTY24. They did exactly what they needed to do. They did a really solid job for Emily. She attacked a bunch. She was able to get 10 more seconds on us, so the GC is a little bit closer, so we’re going to be really attentive tomorrow just to make sure that there isn’t any more time acquired at any of the sprint points, and we just have to be super attentive, because ultimately our end goal is to have Austin in the jersey.”