USA Dev rider Devine has ride of life in TdG

After wearing the Best Young Rider’s Jersey for one stage at the Tour de Georgia, John Devine (Dixon, Ill./VMG Racing) turned in another strong performance for the USA Cycling National Development Team with an eighth-place finish in the event’s signature stage, the 172-kilometre stage five from Dalton to the top of Brasstown Bald in Towns County.

The result signifies one of the best performances of his young career given the world-class field of international competitors racing at the Tour de Georgia.

Devine finished just 1:30 off the pace of stage winner Levi Leipheimer (Santa Rosa, Calif./Discovery Channel), who made his winning move on the final ascent to the mountaintop finish. Devine’s eighth-place finish was the best of any rider eligible for the Best Young Rider classification and vaulted him from 61st to 29th in the general classification.

In July, Devine, 21, will join Leipheimer and Brajkovic on the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team’s roster as the latest in a long line of USA Cycling National Development Team graduates to compete for a UCI ProTour squad, the highest level of professional cycling in the world.