June 1/15 18:17 pm - Winston-Salem Cycling Classic

Posted by Editoress on 06/1/15
 

Europeans Dominate UCI Road Races at Winston-Salem Cycling Classic

Latvian Toms Skujins, riding for the Hincapie Racing Team, and Belarus racer Alena Amialiusik of the Velocio-SRAM squad, were the best in the field of international stars at the 2015 Winston-Salem Cycling Classic road races. Skujins won the men’s road race at Winston-Salem, going solo on the next-to-last lap, while Amialiusik made her move on the final circuit to take the women’s title.

Men
Breakaway groups formed and tried to get away in the opening hour of the men’s 112-mile (180 km) race, 14 laps on an eight-mile road course, but none were able make their breaks stick. Then on lap four, three riders pulled away and stayed out front. Evan Huffman (USA) of Team SmartStop, Mackenzie Brennan (USA) of the Hincapie team and Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies rider Tom Zirbel (USA) opened a gap of more than one minute and 30 seconds.

At the halfway point of the race, with seven laps down and seven to go, the group of three saw their lead reduced to 45 seconds. Logan Loader (USA) of the Amore & Vita - Selle SMP then closed the gap to join the leaders.

Riders bridged from the bunch, then fell back, until a leading group of five formed with three laps to go. Hincapie teammates Skujins and Robin Carpenter (USA) and Airgas-Safeway’s Connor McCutcheon (USA) joined Loader and Huffman up front. Skujins gave it full gas right before the start of the decisive climb up the Brookstown Avenue KOM (King of the Mountain) 10% grade … and he was gone. With one lap to go, Skujins held a 23-second lead over the four chasers, and he was never challenged again.

Skujins, a winner earlier this month in Stage 3 of the Amgen Tour of California, hung on for a 12-second win in the Winston-Salem Cycling Classic men’s road race. SmartStop rider Jure Kocjan (Slo) comes through to claim second, with Skujins’ Hincapie teammate Joe Lewis (Aus) in third. Skujins made his winning move with one eye on his rivals. “Once you attack you for sure know who's got the legs and who does not,” Skujins said. “So when I went, nobody followed. I just kept it going.”

Skujins won a long way from his Latvian home, but for Hincapie chief sports director Thomas Craven, this victory was a homecoming. “I do consider Winston-Salem my home town, so we wanted to win one for the team, for myself and for everybody else,” Craven said. “I grew up racing here, and racing on these roads, so it's great to bring this victory home for us.”

Craven’s Hincapie team won all three contested titles today, with Skujins winning the road race, and Brennan taking both the sprint and KOM victories.


Women
The final climb made the difference in the 64-mile (102.99 km) women’s race, after seven laps of cat-and-mouse chasing on the eight-mile course.

On the third of eight laps, with the heat and humidity reducing the lead pack from the 130 starters to just 30 riders, a group of eight tried to break away from the main field, but they were brought back into the bunch. Lap after lap, small groups got together and tried to escape, but none were able to make a break stick. On lap six, Velocio-SRAM rider Lauren Rowney (AUS) rode solo off the front, gapping the field by nearly a minute, before she was shut down, too.

Finally, as the riders began their next-to-last lap, two riders managed to pull away from the pack and establish a break. Amialiusik and Amber Neben (USA) of the Visit Dallas Cycling p/b Noice4Good team pulled away together and opened an advantage of one minute and15 seconds as they began the bell lap. On the final ascent of the Brookstown climb, with the main field closing fast, Amialiusik made her move, dropping Neben and powering over the top of the climb.

Amialiusik rode away to win the Winston-Salem Cycling Classic women’s road race. Neben held on for second, six second back, with Winston-Salem’s own Lauren Komanski (USA), riding for Team TWENTY16 p/b Sho-Air, another six seconds back in third. The QOM (Queen of the Mountain) win went to Amialiusik, with Hitec Products rider Kirsten Wild (Ned) taking the sprint competition.

Amialiusik, the current national road race and time trail champion of Belarus, made her winning move on the final climb, but she had an alternate plan, too. “I tried and it was a good, successful attack, and if not, I know I'm stronger in the sprint,” she said. Amialiusik gave full credit to her teammates for setting up her win. “I have a wonderful team. Strong teammates. We had really good tactics. We worked together yesterday and today.”

How will the Velocio-SRAM team celebrate Amialiusik’s win? “A barbeque with our favorite family where we stay now. It’s a really great family. We feel like at home.”

For Winston-Salem’s Komanski, the feeling of success at home was unmatched. “This is my hometown,” Komanski said. “My family's here, my husband's here, a bunch of my friends are here. Everyone was all over the course. Lots of familiar faces and familiar roads, so this is incredible. It was a lot of fun.”

Sunday’s road races capped two days of professional bicycle racing in Winston-Salem, with crowds in excess of 15,000 on hand for the weekend action.