Larry Warbasse ended the Giro d'Italia with a final hit out in the stage 20 breakaway, hoping he could use his hard-earned form at the US national road race championships in Charleston, West Virginia, on June 21. Warbasse won the stars-and-stripes national champion's jersey in Knoxville in 2017.
The Tudor rider worked hard for team leader and GC rider Michael Storer and Mathys Rondel between Bulgaria and Rome, and rightly celebrated their seventh and eleventh places in the final GC of the Corsa Rosa.
Warbasse was also given opportunities to target stages on specific days and went in the break of the day on stage 11 to Verbania when Alberto Bettiol won, and again on stage 20 to Piancavallo.
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"I felt really strong through this whole Giro. I really tried to measure my efforts and just recover as well as possible each day. I slept as much as I could, and I think it actually really paid off," Warbasse told Cyclingnews.
"I also tried to stay healthy. My roommate Robin Froidevaux and I were the only two guys on the team who stayed healthy the entire Giro. Everyone else got small colds, but we stayed healthy."
Warbasse rode the 2025 Giro and was quickly selected for the Tour de Suisse. He is not part of the Tudor team's Tour de France squad, and so this year he has other plans and other goals for late June.
"Hopefully the nationals are my next goal, that's next on the list," Warbasse said, knowing that team rosters can change due to illness and injuries.
"I'm really looking forward to that. I'm looking forward to going home for a bit, enjoying some time in the US and maybe eating a burger. I think I've earned a burger and a shot at the US national title."
This year's national championships elite men's road race will be held on Sunday, June 21, in Charleston, West Virginia. The 198.6 km is based on the Haddad Riverfront Park, with two climbs on each of the 21.2km circuits.
Warbasse was part of a 189 km attack on stage 11 and spent 175 km out front on stage 20, much of it trying to cross to the first attack. He made it and was part of the final selection with Jack Haig (Netcompany Ineos) and Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility), but then the GC riders closed the gap, and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) went on to win the stage.
"Our Giro goal was to be top 10 and win a stage, and my goal was also to win a stage, so I really still wanted to give it a go," Warbasse said of his stage 20 attack.
"I knew it was a long shot, but I thought, why not? It was good to have a good hit out. I felt really good, which somewhat surprised me. I was one of the stronger guys in the break, but then we were super surprised when all the GC guys showed up behind us."
