USA Pro Road Championships: Lucas Bourgoyne sprints into stars-and-stripes at elite men's criterium

Lucas Bourgoyne (Team Cadence Cyclery p/b Encore Wire) came out on top in a big sprint battle to claim the elite men's criterium title at the US Pro Road Championships.

The Texan beat Scott McGill (Project Echelon Racing) and Colby Simmons (EF Education-EasyPost) to the line to round out 90 minutes of racing in Charleston, West Virginia, getting the best of a chaotic final to the event.

"I knew we needed to stay relaxed, we knew Echelon would ride early. I had my boys with me, and we were testing the line in the back to see how fast we could take the corners without crashing. I guess it paid off a little bit," Bourgoyne said after his win.

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"We would like to coin ourselves as America's team right now since we've got both jerseys. If we could stop the year right here, this weekend makes it all...we love West Virginia, and we can't wait to be back.

"It all came together...this is what we do all year long. We came here to show everyone we are the best criterium team in the country, and we did exactly that."

49 riders lined up to start the race on Friday night. Project Echelon Racing, boasting the largest team in the peloton, sought to control the situation early on, even if a small group, including Daniel Uhranowsky (Visit Pittsburgh), Robin Carpenter (L39ion of Los Angeles), and Fergus Arthur (Foundation Cycling New York) jumped away after five minutes of racing.

Project Echelon kept them close, while other riders tried solo moves to try and make it clear. The eight riders of Project Echelon shut down moves with a high pace, including an attempt by Brody McDonald (Golden State Blazers), though Carpenter, Liam Flanagan (Team Skyline), and Trevor August (Above + Beyond Cancer Cycling Team) jumped away after 23 minutes.

The trio would only get 10 seconds up the road, however, before being brought back 17 minutes later. More attacks followed, but none managed to stick as the race headed towards a spring finish, with Project Echelon once again organising at the front.

With four laps to go, disaster struck for some as a crash near the front of the peloton left just 20 riders in contention for the final. From there, the messy and chaotic run-in saw Bourgoyne work his way to the front after the last bend, delivering a winning sprint as McGill edged out Simmons to fill out the podium.

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