There were no surprises in the 110-kilometer final stage of the USA Pro Challenge from Golden to Denver. The fast course was destined for a bunch sprint and the high speeds had the last relics of the breakaway back in the fold with 14-kilometers remaining; finally, after a week of hilly racing, the pure sprinters had their chance.
John Murphy (UnitedHealthcare) sprinted to the stage seven victory, and Trek Factory Racing’s Fabio Silvestre – surviving a tough week of high-altitude mountain climbs - at last had the opportunity to contest a speedy finish and came away with a solid fifth place.
“I think we had 46km/h for the whole stage today,” said director Kim Andersen. “It was a hard climb at the beginning and it split things up, but guys came back. Fabio passed the climb and when he did we went all-in for him."
Silvestre agreed: “I was suffering all week in the mountains so today I was very motivated to get over the first climb and I passed it with the front group,” said Silvestre. “In the circuits I made sure that I was in the front and fought to stay in good position the whole time.
“The sprint was difficult because BMC and UnitedHealthcare were in the front and they caused a split in the last kilometer. I waited for another guy to come by and I grabbed his wheel and was able to come around to make fifth.”
Julien Bernard arrived safely with the peloton to wrap up his biggest - and first - weeks of racing in the pro ranks between the Tour of Utah and USA Pro Challenge, and notched one of his best results in his budding career with a 10th place overall.
“Today was very difficult, it was so fast, a very high-speed the whole race,” gasped Julien Bernard. “The last laps were so hard with all the corners, and Matthew [Busche] did a very good job in the three last laps to help me, he was very strong. I am very happy to finish in the top 10 of the USA Pro Challenge.
“This was a good experience for me. I think I made a step up after the two weeks of racing, with climbing, endurance, tactics, just everything in my cycling. I am very happy with my 10th – I can’t wait to go home, it’s been a long time on the road and I am already hungry for my next race.”
Director Kim Andersen heaped praise on the young French rider and summed up the week of racing:
“I think it’s Julien’s first big international race and it was really impressive that he could finish up there. He has a lot of potential, he has not been in cycling for long and he has a lot going for him to being a very good rider.
"I did not know what to expect coming here, but it was a nice race and we had a lot of fun the whole week. It was good to work with the stagiaires and they did a fantastic job. We had some days where we performed a little under par, but for our two stagiaires – chapeau – hats off for them. Nice job.”
29.03: La Route Adélie de VItré |
30.03: The Bueng Si Fai |
30.03: Gran Premio Miguel Indurain |
30.03: Volta Limburg Classic |
31.03: Ronde van Vlaanderen |
31.03: Ronde van Vlaanderen |
29.03 - 01.04: Ster van Zuid Limburg |
01.04: Gran Premio del Perdono |
01.04: Giro del Belvedere |
01.04: Ronde de Mouscron |
Bjorn HOEBEN 44 years | today |
Salvatore COMMESSO 49 years | today |
Rachel MERCER 35 years | today |
Jon ABERASTURI IZAGA 35 years | today |
Muhamad Nur FATONI 32 years | today |
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