'A team that bought in and believed' - Tyler Williams wins Valley of the Sun Stage Race for L39ION of LA while Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28 wins women's three stages and GC

Tyler Williams (L39ION of Los Angeles) delivered two stage podiums and Marjorie Rinaldo (Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28) dominated the opening time trial as the two took GC victories in the pro categories at the Valley of the Sun Stage Race in Arizona.

Both teams swept all three stage victories with individual performances. L39ION's Cory Lockwood, Tyler Williams and Cory Williams earned stage wins on the pro men's side while Ella Sabo won two stages for Virginia's Blue Ridge after Rinaldo won the first day.

The Phoenix-area stage race was held for a 34th year from February 13-15 for pros, amateurs and juniors, with a $14,000 cash purse split evenly among pro women and men for the overall top 20.

With a total of seven riders at the season opener for L39ION, Tyler Williams took to social media to thank his teammates for the "big shifts" on the two road stages. It was his first ride back with L39ION after two years away with three different teams. He was sixth overall at VOS last year.

"A winter of doing the training that I need to do. A team that bought in and believed. This feels and looks right. Happy to be back with the L39ION of Los Angeles squad and feeling good on the bike again," the 31-year-old California native said on Instagram.

Virginia's Blue Ridge has now won the women's overall title at VOS for a fifth straight year, the last four years Emily Ehrlich taking the top spot for an event record.

"It was such a privilege to race with Emmi [Gilbert], Ella [Sabo] and Kenna [Pfeiffer]. Everyone worked really hard to pull off the win and I couldn’t have asked for a better squad. It means a lot to me to win this stage race. I’ve been trying to win it for five years," pro women's overall winner Rinaldo said in a team statement.

L39ION dominates pro men's division

The L39ION of Los Angeles duo of Lockwood and Tyler Williams set the tone in the pro men's race going one-two in the Hiser Burggraff Curtis Time Trial, the start in Buckeye leading to the finish in Phoenix. Lockwood stopped the clock at 19:03 on the 9.9-mile (16km) course. Williams was five seconds back and Albert Taylor (TaG Cycling Race Team) tied for third with Jack Diemar (Kelly Benefits Cycling) another three seconds back.

Stage 2 was the Silverhawk Private Wealth-Grand Canyon State Road Race, using a 16-mile course with multiple circuits. Tyler Williams secured the stage win in a bunch sprint of 38 riders on the 94-mile contest, crossing the line in Casa Grande ahead of Alejandro Che (Kelly Benefits Cycling) and Logan Unger (Speedblock p/b Terun). Lockwood was in the front group at the end, but with bonus time by Williams, the 37-year-old new addition to L39ION moved to second in GC.

Day 3 featured the Trilogy Veterinary Medical Center Criterium on a technical figure-eight course in Phoenix. After 60 minutes of racing for the pro men, L39ION of Los Angeles dominated the sprint finish with brothers Cory Williams in first and Justin Williams in second. The 20-year-old Che, a former US junior criterium champion, finished third.

Tyler Williams retained the leader's jersey finishing in the same time in 13th position. Lockwood held on to second overall while Diemar secured third. Taylor finished fourth on GC with Frank Tiburzi (Visit Pittsburgh) in fifth.

Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28 riders sweep all three days

The pro women's GC took shape in the 9.9-mile time trial just like the pro men's race, with Rinaldo and Pfeiffer going one-two, Rinaldo winning in 21:22. Pfeiffer completed the first time trial of her career and finished 33 seconds back. Ellexi Snover (SpeedBlock-Terún) finished third, another five seconds back.

Two Monarch Racing riders, Annie Gilbert and Claudia Ferreira, completed the top 5 for the women, with Sabo 49 seconds off her teammate's pace for sixth.

Sabo would go on to sweep the next two stages, starting on Saturday by taking the field sprint against closest competitors Cara O'Neill (Team S&M CX) and Minori Minagawa (Speedblock p/b Terun) on stage 2's 62-mile (99.8km) road test. The 20-year-old, who won the USPro women's U23 road race last season, moved up four spots to third on GC when her teammate Pfeiffer crashed on the final straightaway.

Pfeiffer, riding in second overall, said the stage 2 sprint "got a bit messy" and did not finish when she went down with less than 300 metres to go.

On Sunday, Sabo outdistanced L39ION of Los Angeles duo Holly Breck and Skylar Schneider for the victory on the one-mile course around the state capitol. Riding across the line in 10th place among the remaining peloton of 34 riders, Rinaldo held on for the GC victory.

Sabo used her top finish to dart ahead of Snover in the overall standings, securing second overall by a three-second advantage. Monarch's Gilbert and Ferreira rounded out the top five in the overall for pro women.

"I was beyond excited to take the win in my first race wearing the U23 stars and stripes," Sabo said about winning stage 2.

"Winning the crit and finishing second on GC behind Marj was the perfect way to cap off the weekend! Emmi worked tirelessly for the team, and Marj controlled the race perfectly, setting me up to sprint for the win. I’m so proud of our small but mighty squad for winning every stage and taking 1-2 GC together."

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