Lamperti wins in Portugal, GCN+ to show NCL, Maryland Classic - North American roundup

Two-time US pro criterium national champion Luke Lamperti won the opening stage of Volta ao Alentejo on Wednesday. It was the first road victory of the season for the California native as well as the first top result for the Trinity Racing team on the road.

His teammate, Briton Max Walker, also logged third place in the sprint finish of the 168.8km race that ended in Ourique, Portugal. It was the only flat day of racing at the five-day stage race, now in its 40th edition. 

Lamperti completed stage 2 in the bunch sprint and continued to wear the leader’s yellow jersey and lead both the points and young rider classifications. The 20-year-old is in his third year with Trinity Racing.

GCN+ named broadcaster for NCL Cup and Maryland Cycling Classic

GCN+ secured live streaming rights to broadcast five premier US races for an international audience in 2023, beginning April 8 with the National Cycling League’s Miami Beach Invitational. All four criterium stops in the NCL Cup will have live broadcasts for men’s and women’s races as well as the on-stage team qualifier events.

The three-year partnership with the fledgling series includes exclusive documentaries available as year-round content, with live racing coverage subject to ‘territory restrictions’. Access via the GCN app, all web browsers and streaming services will allow fans to interact with polls, quizzes, course previews and other content. Following Miami Beach, NCL Cup races this year will take place in Atlanta, Georgia (May 14), Denver, Colorado (August 13) and Washington, D.C. (September 17).

In addition, GCN+ will expand its broadcast coverage of the Maryland Cycling Classic, the only 1.Pro UCI men’s race in the United States. In a two-year deal, GCN+ will provide full race coverage of the one-day UCI race, expected to exceed five hours, up from last year’s two-hour broadcast.. The arrangement, which is exclusive for international live streaming, also includes highlights packages, Global Cycling Network’s free to air YouTube channel, while live streaming rights are non-exclusive for the US market.

This year’s Maryland Cycling Classic is scheduled for September 3, 2023. In the inaugural edition of the Maryland Cycling Classic last year, Belgium’s Sep Vanmarcke (Israel-Premier Tech) won the title ahead of Human Powered Health’s Nick Zukowsky and Neilson Powless of team EF Education-EasyPost.

Kate Courtney headlines XCO lineup at US Cup opener

Class 1 UCI XCO races take centre stage next month for the US Pro Cup presented by Orange Seal in Temecula, California on April 2, then the US Pro Cup presented by Walmart in Fayetteville, Arkansas from April 12-15. 

US Olympians Kate Courtney and Haley Batten as well as southern California standout Gwendalyn Gibson are among the top women in the field of the U.S. Cup opener. Courtney won her second off-road race in the CalIfornia-based Grasshopper adventure series, the wet and muddy Mendo Hopper on March 11, and is placed third overall.

“Having these U.S. Cup events so close to home and in the U.S. is really great.  It allows us to get some early season points and gain some race fitness before heading over to Europe to start the world cup season,” said Courtney, the 2018 XCO World Champion who won at Vail Lake when the races were last held there in 2019.

The Vail Lake resort opens these two rounds with a full schedule of six XCO races - men’s and women’s juniors, U23 and elites. This year’s UCI XCO course will be 4.8km with 125 metres of climbing per lap with a lot of punchy single track, tricky off-camber descents. Organisers noted that a dual jump line on the course will serve to ‘usher in a new era of cross-country style racing’.

The Tennessee National kicks off cross-country mountain bike races in the US at Windrock Bike Park in Oliver Springs on March 24-25, following Enduro and Enduro Electric races the weekend before. Class 3 cross-country short track divisions take place Saturday, followed by Sunday’s contests to decide e-MTB cross-country titles as well as Class 2 downhill and cross-country champions, with the XCO races for both elites and juniors.

UCI mountain bike races in North America opened the first weekend of March with the Puerto Rico MTB Cup. Gwendalyn Gibson (Trek Factory Racing) of the USA won the elite women’s cross-country Olympic race with Daniela Campuzano Chavez Peon of Mexico second and Hannah Otto (Pivot/DT Swiss) in fourth. Jose Gerardo Ulloa Arevalo (Massi) of Mexico was second in the men’s XCO race, just behind winner Martin Vidaurre Kossmann of Chile. Leandre Bouchard, six-time national champion of Canada, was fourth.

Stites and Payer win GC titles at Tucson Bicycle Classic

Tyler Stites won the pro men’s overall title and Kira Payer won the pro women’s GC after three days of racing in early March at the 36th annual Tucson Bicycle Classic. The USA Cycling-sanctioned event is one of the early-season testing grounds for North American teams located on the calendar amid team camps and geographically in the warm winter weather of Arizona.

Stites took control of the GC for a second year in a row, this time with a victory in the stage 1 time trial. His Project Echelon Racing teammate Richard Arnopol finished third overall. Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg of Denver Disruptors secured second overall, and his teammate Riley Sheehan, named best young rider, finished one second off the podium in fourth. Stites won all three stages and the GC in 2022.

Cardinal Classic Cycling scored the top two podium spots in the women’s division, Florence Howden 21 seconds off the winning pace of Payer. Mallory MaCrostie (United Cycling) was third overall. Anabelle Thomas of Primeau Velo Racing won best young rider honours among the women’s peloton. 

Having moved from DNA Pro Cycling from last year, Payer was on the podium in the time trial and road race, and finished in the main bunch of the finale circuit race. Emily Marcolini (Roxo Racing) held the GC lead after winning the opening stage for the women, but did not start the circuit race on Sunday.

McElveen and De Crescenzo repeat at The Mid South gravel

Payson McElveen won the Mid South gravel race in Stillwater, Oklahoma for a third time while Lauren De Crescenzo scored the women’s title for a second consecutive year. Both competed in the 100-mile gravel route on March 11.

McElveen outsprinted John Borstelmann to claim the victory in 4 hours, 34 minutes and three seconds. Kerry Werner was just two seconds back for third place. Innokenty Zavyalov then sprinted against Alex Howes to take fourth place, two minutes behind the podium group.

De Crescenzo finished 19th overall, and her victory was never challenged at all the checkpoints. She was 14 minutes faster than Caroline Wreszin, second in the women’s division. Heather Jackson finished 56 seconds behind Wreszin for the final spot on the podium, with Katie Kantzes and Emily Newsom completing the top five.