Carney happy with KBS/Medifast improvement

Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast team director Jonas Carney says he's delighted with the outfit's progress, after claiming four podiums in American races last week. The past week has been action-packed in the American racing scene, with team participating in the Tour of Gila, USA Crits Speedweek, USAF Cycling Classic and the Sunny King and Roswell Criteriums.

"Our guys are riding aggressively and we're only going to get stronger as the season continues," said Carney. "Crystal City was an interesting race. We made some last minute strategy shifts from Martin to Alex for the sprint. It almost gave us the win, but we're happy to be on the podium four times in the last week."

Alex Candelario took his third podium of the week at the Crystal City Classic in Arlington, Virginia. The result followed on from a win at the USA Crits Speedweek event in Greenwood and a third place at the Downtown Waterboro Criterium.

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"It is important that our team can react quickly and change up the plan at such critical points of the race," added Carney. "In competitive racing the field can change in a second so it's crucial to be able to respond rapidly. It's also a real mark of our team that our guys can start with a game plan, switch strategies and still end up on the podium."

Keven Lacombe's third place finish in the Beaufort Criterium was the team's fourth podium for the week. The team's next races will be Bank of America Wilmington, Delaware and the Mt. Hood Stage Race in Oregon the same week.

Several other American NRC teams enjoyed a successful, albeit busy, week. Colavita/Sutter Home's Tina Pic was one example, winning the Beaufort Memorial Cycling Classic on Tuesday, Uptown Greenwood Pro Cycling Challenge on Thursday, Steadman Hawkins Cycling Classic on Friday, Sunny King Criterium on Saturday and the Sandy Springs Cycling Challenge on Sunday.

(Additional research and assistance provided by Susan Westemeyer).