Luke Lamperti takes surprise victory in crash-marred criterium at US Pro Road Championships

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Luke Lamperti (Trinity Racing) took a surprise victory in the men's criterium at the USA Pro Road Championships. Lamperti was crowned the new national criterium champion after he won a crash-marred sprint ahead of Elevate-Webiplex Pro Cycling teammates Sam Bassetti and Eric Young.

"I'm super stoked," said Lamperti, who is 18 years old and a member of the under-23 US national team. "A lot was going on and everyone knew that L39ION were going to do what they do, and a good lead-out like always. Everyone wants to try something different because we raced at Tulsa  Tough and if you followed them then you weren't going to come around. I was fighting  for it. Those last three corners were crazy and there was a crash. I was able to navigate back up to Sam Bassetti's wheel,  who was a hometown guy, and I was able to jump  out of the last corner."

The big favourites from teams L39ION of Los Angeles, Aevolo, Wildlife Generation, Best Buddies Racing fought for the front of the peloton as they raced through the bell lap. A crash disrupted the final through the third to last corner, just as the sprint started up the final pitch, taking down the front end of the field.  

Lamperti emerged onto the final straightaway with a clear lead as he crossed the finish line with victory and the national title.

"I definitely wanted to win," Lamperti said. "I knew that I was capable. A lot can go on in a criterium. It's not always about who's the best - you never know in a crit."

Bassetti said he was disappointed to be so close to the win for his team to finish second and third on the podium.

“It’s pretty heartbreaking to get second place in national championships, again. I’ve gone second twice,” Bassetti said, while his teammate Young has been second three times. 

“At the end of the day, all we can do is execute on our plan and we did that perfectly. Luke just rolled us out of the corner. I’ve been riding with Luke since he was just a little kid and so it’s super special for me to be on the podium with him. He’s going to go on to be a very good bike racer.”

How it unfolded

Following the women’s pro criterium, 129 men lined up on the same 1.7km course in downtown Knoxville for 80 minutes of racing for stars-and-stripes glory, the setting sun casting long shadows on the Great Smoky Mountains in the distance. 

Now in its third year for the US Pro Criterium in Knoxville, the decisive section of the course is the climb on Clinch Avenue with a right, then left, then final left-hand turn onto a downhill finish on Gay Street. 

After 15 minutes of racing, a few riders tried to create the first separation from the main field including Gage Hecht (Aevolo), George Simpson (Project Echelon). That attempt failed, and Cory Greenberg (Dauner-Akkon Pro Cycling) then gave it a go for a short time.

All early attempts were reigned back into the peloton by the seven riders on L39ION of LA, who rode together at a unit at the front of the peloton.

Thirty minutes in, Aidan McNeil (Aevolo) and Evan Hartig (Project Echelon) gave it a go at the front for two laps, but this was also pulled back by L39ION of LA, now with five of the seven out front. 

Next up to attack were Stephen Vogel (Project Echelon) and Hecht. On the next lap, 35 minutes into the race, the pair was joined by John Harris (ButcherBox Cycling) to put a bigger dent into attack.

Half-way into the contest, the disruption in the peloton began with more attacks. Eric Brunner (Aevolo) working with Tanner Ward (First Internet Bank Cycling) had a four-second gap over the peloton, but it did not last long. 

On the next lap on Gay Street, Hecht was back out front for Aevolo and joined by defending champion McCabe, but like the other guest appearances, this one also lasted a single lap before L39ION of LA swept them up. 

With 10 laps to go, another one-lap surge was taken by McNeil of Aevolo, this time joined by Tyler Locke (BSCG/Support Clean Sport/Guttenplan Coaching).

All was back together with nine laps to go, and for the next two laps L39GION kept the pace high with six riders at the front. Quinn Simmons, the lone rider for Trek-Segafredo, was in the mix with Aevolo, L39ION, and Best Buddies.

With five laps to go, Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling took control at the front of the single-file peloton, upping the pace, but soon L39ION was back in control.

With two to go, the lime green jerseys of Best Buddies was setting the pace in front of L39ION and Aevolo, and Eric Young of Elevate-Webiplex Pro Cycling being seen in the mix.

L39ION came back to the front with one lap to go, but could not contain attacks by Sam Bassetti (Elevate-Webiplex Pro Cycling), his teammate Eric Young and Michael Hernandez (Best Buddies Racing). 

But a crash before the final corner took out McCabe and Cory Williams, who hit the deck hard and were slow to get up. A long list of contenders were then held up and completely out of contention, with the sprint wide open for Lamperti of Trinity Racing.

From the L39ION squad, only Tyler Williams was able to avoid the crash and he finished 30th, while six of his teammates did not finish. All three riders from Best Buddies Racing, as well as two riders each from Aevolo and Wildlife Generation were also DNFs.