Magner wins US Pro Criterium Championships in Knoxville

Image 1 of 17

Ty Magner capped a dominant performance by Rally Cycling Friday at the US Pro Criterium Championships in Knoxville, Tennessee, winning the bunch kick ahead of teammate Eric Young in a one-two finish for the Pro Continental team. Sam Bassetti (Elevate-KHS) was third.

Rally held the field together throughout the 90-minute race, then delivered Magner and Young into the final corners, where Young, who won the criterium title in 2011 and 2013, was the team's second option behind his younger teammate.

Magner took care of business, however, attacking on a final uphill with about 400 metres to go and closing the door on Holowesko-Citadel's John Murphy and Miguel Bryon in the last corner, allowing Young to slip past and cutting off the Holowesko riders' momentum.

"Murph was definitely kind of mad at me," Magner told Cyclingnews in the finishing straight. "We're good friends, and I told him he would have done the same thing. It's only 100 metres to the line out of that last corner, so the race is into those last two corners. It's a hard thing to do, but I think it was pretty fair."

Throughout the day, Rally's Robin Carpenter infiltrated or shut down nearly every move that went up the road. Kyle Muprhy helped Carpenter weld everything back together, and then Huff and Young took over in the finale to usher Magner to the front.

Magner said the team was "everything" in his win.

"You can't do it on your own," he said. "You have to have a strong team. We had two of our best climbers out there controlling the race, and seeing guys like that work for you, that just gives you all the more confidence to try and make something special out of it."

While Magner was praising his team, his teammates were returning the accolades.

"It was a good race the whole time, but we were waiting for that last half lap because we knew that's where the race was," Young told Cyclingnews. "Ty was awesome all day. He really earned this win. He went all the way from the bridge there and just totally owned the race the last half lap."

Rally's Brad Huff, a former criterium champion himself, also heaped praise on Magner.

"It was just an amazing ride for Ty," Huff said. "He's been working so hard this year. I'm just so happy for him. He's the consummate teammate. He's just a great human being and I'm so happy to see him win."

How it unfolded

The men's criterium took place on a 1.8km course in downtown Knoxville. Six corners and some gentle climbs dotted the course, but the wide-open roads and slightly downhill finish made for fast racing that shut down most breakaway attempts after less than a lap out front.

The rain that came down for most of the women's race stopped by the time the men started, only adding to the speed the peloton was able to unleash on the course.

While attacks were frequent and went on almost every lap, nothing could stick. Ben Schmutte (1st Internet Bank) attacked with 10 laps to go and held his slight advantage for two laps, but he was soon back in the fold as well.

With five to go a group of about eight riders dangled off the front, but the bunch was back together on the next lap. Aevolo's Tyler Stites tried a move with four to go, but that was also shortlived. A different group was off the front with three to go, but the field was back together as thy crossed the start finish with two laps remaining.

From there, it was all about the bunch kick as Carpenter went to the front and set a pace that had the field lined out down most of the finishing straight.

Eric Marcotte (UnitedHealthcare) attacked hard into the final lap and led until Huff came over the top of him and led into the final few corners, where the Holowesko riders and Magner overtook him. Magner then launched with about 400 metres to go, jumping in front of the Holowesko riders while Young sat behind them, pouncing when they got shut down in the final turn.

"Eric was just smart and savvy, realising what was going on in the last corner and positioning himself so he wouldn't go into the barriers with them," Huff said. "Eric has been around awhile and he took the opportunity. One-two is incredible and it rarely happens for a team, especially at criterium nationals."

Magner had a huge gap coming out of the final turn and Young was coming up quickly behind him, getting close enough to his teammate to salute Magner as they crossed the line for first and second.

"I was really just taking my hat off to him," Young said of his salute. "He totally earned it. I wasn't going to catch him."

Magner appreciated the gesture.

"You can't beat that," he said. "That's awesome."

Full Results