The 2019 USA Cycling Amateur Road National Championships continued with the first of two days of road races. The first field to take the course were the Amateur men. A break of four was formed early in the almost 184 kilometer race but were caught with two laps to go. Halfway through the second to last lap, three riders including eventual winner Ben Schmutte (Noblesville, Ind.; First Internet Bank Cycling) working with teammate Ryan Knapp (Bloomington, Ind.; First Internet Bank Cycling) to eventually drop Matt McLoone (Philadelphia, Pa.; Total Civil Construction p/b Battley H-D). In the final kilometers Schmutte and Knapp were joined by teammate and the current Pro Road Tour individual leader, Stephen Bassett (Knoxville, Tenn.) and crossed the finish line together with First Internet Bank Cycling claiming all three medals.
Quote from Amateur Road National Champion Ben Schmutte:
“We had Paul Martin in the early break which helped us just sit in and save our matches for later in the race. I attacked on the feed zone climb with 1.5 laps to go. My teammate Ryan Knapp bridged up with Matt McLoone at the top of the feedzone climb shortly after I had attacked. We worked well together for about a lap then we started attacking Mcloone and were eventually both able to get clear of him. Then with about half a lap to go Knapp and I looked back and saw our teammate Stephen Bassett bridging up so we he hoped on board and helped us pick up the pace.
Coming into the race we knew we had a good shot at the win but we were not expecting to sweep the podium. That was a pretty cool feeling rolling in with the boys.”
The next race of the day was the U23 Men’s race where Aevolo cycling stayed in steady control placing Riley Sheehan (Boulder, Colo.; Aevolo Cycling) and then Cade Bickmore (Longmont, Colo.; Aevolo Cycling) into breakaways throughout the second half of the race after reeling in a four man break. With one lap to go a group of five including Sheehan, Cooper Willsey (Hinesburg, Vt.; CCB Racing), Cole Davis (Folsom, Calif. Hagens-Berman Axeon), Cameron Beard (Bend, Ore.; Team Defferdange-Geba) and eventual winner Lance Haidet (San Luis Obsipo, Calif; Aevolo Cycling) moved up the road establishing a break. With 4 kilometers to go, Haidet attacked up a climb and pulled away from the rest of the break riding solo to a victory. Willsey bested Beard in a sprint to the line to claim silver and bronze respectively.
Of the three years since Aevolo Cycling was established, this marks the second time an Aevolo rider has taken the top step in the U23 Road Race as Alex Hoehn claimed the jersey in 2018.
Quote from U23 National Champion, Lance Haidet:
“Being the U23 Cyclocross National Champion a few years ago was amazing so to do it again today on the road was awesome. I am so happy with how today turned out and how my teammates rode for me.
I knew on the climb with 4k to go was where I was going to make my move and I hit it as hard as I could. Heading into the last kilometer, I turned around and saw daylight and felt like I had the win.”
The final race of the day was the 15-16 Junior Men. Luca Scuriatti (Washington, D.C.; DC Velo Limited) took the win followed by Will Sharp (Katy, Tex.; Hot Tubes Development Team) and Christian DesChamps (Cypress, Tex.; Northwest Cycling Club).
Tomorrow will see the second day of road racing in Clear Springs Md. starting with the Junior 17-18 Women’s Race at 7am. To follow along with what is happening at the 2019 Amateur Road National Championships, follow us on @USACyclingLIVE on Twitter, @USACycling across all other platforms and the hashtag #RoadNats.
Visit USACycling.org for more information on the athletes, events and membership programs. For more information, please contact Kelly Fox at apalermo@usacycling.org
