A large peloton finished in 3:21:25 on the first day of the Tour of Chongming Island and Alison Tetrick was part of it. Tetrick finished 71st in the 81-woman peloton. It wasn’t such a good day for Erica Zaveta who finished 100th and 21:06 back. The race was 86.9 miles on day one, the longest of the competition, and drops to 70.1 miles on Saturday for stage two.
Previous UCI Women’s World Tour Coverage:
Tour of Chongming Island Preview
The BMX Supercross World Cup will reach the halfway point after stopping in Papendal, Netherlands this weekend. Thirteen Americans are set to participate this weekend with top contenders on both the men’s and women’s side. While Connor Fields is still out on the men’s side after injuring his wrist before the stop in Manchester but Santiago winner Corben Sharrah gives the US a threat to win it all. Sharrah will be looking to rebound after finishing last in the final in Manchester. Sharrah and Nicholas Long, in the final in both of the first two stops but yet to medal, are guaranteed spots in the 1/8 finals and will be seeded based on Saturday’s time trials while the other eight Americans, including Santiago semifinalist Jeffrey Upshaw, will compete in qualifying for one of the 48 other spots in the 1/8 finals.
The two top threats on the women’s side are Brooke Crain and Alise Post, both of whom have made the final in the first two events. Post is yet to medal but Crain grabbed the bronze in Manchester. Crain and Post both are in the time trials and guaranteed quarterfinal spots while Shealen Reno, in her first appearance of the year, will be in qualifying.
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Manchester Recap
One of the three grand tours of the UCI season starts Friday, the Giro d’Italia. Featuring 21 stages and over 2,000 miles of riding this is a big one. Only six Americans are entered in the field and while none of them have a top 25 finish this year Nathan Brown has come the closest with his 29th place finish in the recently completed Tour de Romandie. Joe Dombrowski and Larry Warbasse both have top 40 finishes from when the finished 37th and 38th in the Volta a Cataluyna earlier this season. The other three in the field are Chad Haga, a season high 69th in the Tour de Romandie, and Ian Boswell and Joey Rosskopf. Boswell has not raced on the tour since he did not finish the Volta a Cataluyna. Things start off in the Netherlands (where else did you expect it to start?) on Friday with a 6 mile time trial.
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Tour de Romandie Recap
Only two Americans will be taking part in the Tour of Chongming Island in China this weekend. The three day event held in Shanghai on, you guessed it, Chongming Island will feature three stages. Alison Tetrick and Erica Zaveta will be in the field for the US. Zaveta will be in her first Women’s World Tour event of the year while Tetrick has a season best finish of 66th in the Tour of Flanders.
Previous UCI Women’s World Tour Coverage:
La Fleche Wallonne Recap
It seemed likely that the final day of the Tour de Romandie wouldn’t provide much separation on Sunday and that was certainly the case. There were 78 riders who finished in the peloton and the top 11 for the overall standings were all part of that. That meant Tejay Van Garderen stayed in tenth place for the tour despite being 55th across the line. It was the second top ten finish of the year for Van Garderen who ended up 1:27 behind winner Nairo Quintana of Colombia.
Nathan Brown (64th), Chad Haga (68th), Peter Stetina (69th), and Joe Dombrowski (70th) also finished in the peloton. Brown finished a solid 29th overall while Dombrowski (44th) and Stetina (46th) both jumped into the top 50 on the final day. Despite dropping 2:47 in time for finishing next after the 78-man peloton Brent Bookwalter still finished 35th overall. Both Brown and Bookwalter’s overall finish was their highest of the year.
Also posting season best finishes were Alexey Vermeulen in 65th, Chad Haga in 69th, and Andrew Talansky in 105th (a DNF in his only previous event). The UCI World Tour will continue with the Tour of Italy from May 6th through the 29th.
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Tour de Romandie Preview
Day 1 Update
Day 2 Update
Day 3 Update
Day 4 Update
Day 5 Update
Tejay Van Garderen continued his strong Tour de Romandie showing on Saturday in the final mountain stage. Van Garderen finish ninth and only was nine seconds back of the winner, Christopher Froome of Great Britain. In the overall standings Van Garderen slipped ever so slightly to tenth and should have a good chance to finish in the top ten for the second time this year with a good finish on Sunday.
Three other Americans finished in the top 50, Nathan Brown rebounded from being 79th in the time trial on Friday to finishing 38th on Saturday, 12:11 back. Brent Bookwalter was 46th and Peter Stetina was 47th, both about 13 minutes back. Both Bookwalter (34th) and Brown (38th) are still in the top 50 for the full event.
The Tour de Romandie wraps up on Sunday with a 110.2 mile flat stage.
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Tour de Romandie Preview
Day 1 Update
Day 2 Update
Day 3 Update
Day 4 Update
In the third stage of the Tour de Romandie, a quick 9.4 mile time trial, Tejay Van Garderen posted the 11th best time, 25 seconds back, and was able to move into the top ten for the overall standings where he now is ninth, 1:22 behind leader Nairo Quintana of Colombia. Three other Americans finished in the top 50 on Friday, Brent Bookwalter in 26th, 46 seconds back, Chad Haga just inside a minute back at 59 seconds in 35th, and Andrew Talansky in 40th 1:01 back. Bookwalter moved up to 24th in the overall standings while Nathan Brown stayed in the top 50 at 36th despite finishing 79th on Friday.
The Tour de Romandie has its final mountain stage on Saturday, a 107.3 mile stretch that will probably determine the winner.
Previous UCI World Tour Coverage:
Tour de Romandie Preview
Day 1 Update
Day 2 Update
Day 3 Update
The US competitors as a group were all strong on Thursday at the Tour de Romandie as all eight finished in the top 100 including three in the top 50. Tejay Van Garderen stayed the top American after a 20th place finish 1:01 back that dropped him to 16th overall. Brent Bookwalter was the second American in the top 50 with a 32nd place finish 2:29 back and is now in 31st overall. The third American to finish in the top 50 was Nathan Brown in 33rd. Brown made a big move in the overall standings when jumped from 98th to 37th.
The Tour de Romandie has just a 9.4 mile time trial on Friday.
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Tour de Romandie Preview
Day 1 Update
Day 2 Update
The first stage of the Tour de Romandie on Wednesday had to be reduced in length and ended up a bit easier for the peloton to stick together. Stick together they did as 109 riders finished with the top time including six Americans. Brent Bookwalter was the first one in 47th with Tejay Van Garderen finishing 55th. Those two both moved up slightly in the overall standings with Van Garderen now eighth and Bookwalter 23rd. Also still in the top 50 is Joe Dombrowski who moved up to 39th after finishing 93rd (how weird does that sound?).
The Tour de Romandie continues with a 108.1 mile mountain stage on Thursday.
Previous UCI World Tour Coverage:
Tour de Romandie Preview
Day 1 Update
The Tour de Romandie kicked off on Tuesday with a simple 2.5 mile time trial and eight Americans in the field. Originally that was to include Alex Howes, top American in two of the last three UCI World Tour events, but he did not start the race while Nathan Brown did.
The top American on Tuesday was Tejay Van Garderen, racing on the tour in the first time in almost a month, who finished ninth. Two other Americans were in the top 50: Brent Bookwalter in 26th and Joe Dombrowski in 42nd. The three are 11 seconds, 18 seconds, and 23 seconds behind the leader.
The Tour de Romandie continues with a 103.7 mile flat stage on Wednesday.
Previous UCI World Tour Coverage:
Tour de Romandie Preview