USA Cycling Professional Road Championships 2011: Road race

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January 1 - May 30, Greenville, Greenville, SC USA, Road - CN

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Welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of the USA Cycling Professional Road Championships, affectionately known as US Pro. We've got Kirsten Frattini on the ground in Greenville, South Carolina chatting with riders ahead of the kickoff, which takes place at 11am local time.

Today is a national holiday in the USA, Memorial Day honours the nation's war dead. Because everyone is off work, there are a lot of people out to watch the race.

The race kicks off with three short circuits through the downtown Greenville area, 6.5km each, and then the racers head out for the big loops that take them up over Paris Mountain.

Our defending national champion, Ben King (RadioShack) said goodbye to his stars and stripes yesterday. He's not allowed to wear it in the race today, but he does start the race with bib #1 as defending champion.

At the end of the first of the small laps, we had one rider off the front, but it's all come back together now. We're seeing the Kenda/5h Energy teams and Jelly Belly teams up front - probably because they have the most riders in the race! Ben King only has two teammates here, but Kenda/5h Energy has a massive team of 13. There are no limits to how many riders per team can start in the national championships.

The rider who was off the front was Robert Bush of the Chipotle Development Team. He had a slim lead, being chased by a group of four with riders from Jamis, Kenda, Jelly Belly and Bissell, but it's gruppo compatto.

It's a rapid start to the race today - 32mph on the short laps still! Those are criterium speeds, not 115 mile road race speeds. Lots of attacks by the domestic teams trying to get into the breakaway.

We have another small split - this time it's Timmy Duggan (Liquigas-Cannondale) and riders from Exergy, BMC and Kelly Benefit Strategies/OptumHealth ahead of the field with a slight advantage.

Whoops! The Shimano neutral service car stalled on the course and the mechanics are having to push it to the side of the road. Where's service for the service car?

I talked to Timmy Duggan in Claremont before the Mt. Baldy stage of Tour of California. He said he's been enjoying riding for Liquigas-Cannondale. "It's been good. Refreshing after spending my whole career on an American team. Doing things a little differently, seeing the ProTour from a different angle."

One has to remember that US Pro doesn't have the same dynamic as a stage of Tour of California or a typical one-day race. One factor is the strong teams often have fewer riders while the domestic pro teams have a billion guys. Another factor in Greenville is the insane heat. This is why we saw a guy from the early break - Ben King - win last year, among other factors.

That four-man move with Duggan was reduced to two - at the end of our opening circuits we have Duggan up the road with a rider from Kelly Benefit Strategies/OptumHealth.

Sorry for a mistake - it's Ted King of Liquigas-Cannondale, not Timmy Duggan up the road now. The situation was changing rapidly on the opening circuits. Hopefully things will settle in a bit on the first of the big laps.

We have a crash in the field - Jeremy Powers (Jelly Belly) hit the deck. We'll wait to hear if he rejoins the race. Looks like we have more riders joining the lead group - five or six still with only a slight advantage.

Powers is reportedly back up and riding on a neutral service bike. Still awaiting the composition of the break.

As the riders head out to Paris Mountain for the first time, we have seven riders up the road with a gap of 35 seconds and growing. Looks like this could be the one - but we'll see after the climb.

151km remaining from 185km

Looks like we have one from Bissell, Liquigas, Kenda, BMC, Kelly Benefit Strategies and one more...

The leaders are heading up Paris Mountain and the jerseys are unzipped in the heat. We have riders from Jelly Belly, Jamis-Sutter Home, Kelly Benefit Strategies, Kenda/5H Energy, Bissell and Liquigas-Cannondale in this group of six.

The lead group is hurtling down Paris Mountain back toward downtown Greenville, and it seems the leaders were caught by more riders from behind.

Looks like we didn't have either the legs or the motivation in that breakaway to stay clear and the peloton is back together for the end of the first lap.

At Tour of California we had the domestic teams complaining about the formulaic racing - the big teams would let a break go by forming a blockade at the front. Here - it's everything and anything goes! It's been a heated, aggressive race. The break that goes will be established by force.

One rider, James Stemper (Kenda/5H Energy) is trying to get clear on the way back to town.

138km remaining from 185km

We've got another group at the front: looks like Stemper was joined by Jason McCartney - we also have a BMC and Liquigas rider up there.

The leading group of now 8 riders has passed through the feed zone with a gap of 45 seconds over the chase. Looks like we have a Chipotle rider in there, too, but still awaiting any confirmation on riders names. Despite being a US team, the Garmin-Cervelo ProTeam did not field any riders today - they've left it up to their development squad to fly the flag here in Greenville.

Our USA Cycling official says the gap is 2:10 to the field as they pass through downtown Greenville at the end of the first big lap.

Looks like Jesse Anthony emerged from his fight for the King of the Mountains jersey at Tour of California with some good form. Bookwalter is a powerful motor for this group, having demonstrated his form in the time trial on Saturday.

Jason McCartney is another strong man in the break - he spent the large part of Tour of California setting pace for Chris Horner. The RadioShack man will be motivated to drive the pace as he only has two teammates.

124km remaining from 185km

One important bit of information: Jelly Belly DS Danny Van Haute confirmed Jeremy Powers has abandoned the race with broken ribs.

Another bit of information: Quinn Keogh (Exergy) is not related to the huge clan of cycling Keoughs from Massachusetts.

Trivia: It's the sixth year that US Pro has been a American-only event in Greenville. Previously it was part of an International race held in Philadelphia, where the top American would receive the jersey. Can you name the rider who has won the US Pro in both Greenville and Philly? 

The breakaway is at the base of Paris Mountain and we have some corrections: It's Timmy Duggan, not Ted King, and Sam Johnson and not Quinn Keogh. Race radio has now confirmed.

Our leaders: Sam Johnson (Team Exergy), David Williams (Bissell), Jason McCartney (RadioShack), Jesse Anthony (Kelly Benefit Strategies/Optum Health), Brent Bookwalter (BMC), Phillip Gaimon (Kenda/5-hour Energy), Timmy Duggan (Liquigas-Cannondale), Robert Bush (Chipotle Development Team)

The lead group is heading up Paris Mountain for the second time - looks like Bush and Williams have been popped from the lead group on the climb. Six riders left in the lead.

The leaders are sticking together on Paris Mountain - there's still a long way to go and they'll need each other to hold the gap. It's come down to 2:25 now.

To answer my own trivia: George Hincapie of Greenville, South Carolina is the only rider to have won US Pro in both Greenville and Philly.

The break is on its way down the mountain back toward Greenville. Back in the caravan riders are trying to chase back on after the climb - it's hot and there is a lot of feeding going on as well.

110km remaining from 185km

Will this breakaway stick? Well, last year at the end of lap 2 the leaders had 14 minutes. Here, only two and change. It was equally hot last year, but coming in May instead of September we've got a lot more riders peaking for this race.

Kirsten Frattini spoke with Brent Bookwalter after Tour of California about his ambitions for this race.

Jason McCartney is leading the break as they head into town - Bookwalter headed back to his team car to get bottles. The temperatures are on the rise and it's hotter in town than on Paris Mountain.

There are only 3 RadioShack riders here today: J-Mac, in the break, defending champ Ben King and super-domestique Matthew Busche. After watching Busche in Tour of California, we're pretty sure he's got the legs for the decisive trip up Paris Mountain. Chris Horner and Levi Leipheimer decided to curtail travel in order to rest up for the Tour de France.

Correction to our correction - we were right the first time! It's Quinn Keough, not Sam Johnson in the break. Sorry for the confusion, race radio isn't always right.

95km remaining from 185km

There are two more big laps then three more short circuits before the finish, and the leaders aren't pulling out their advantage at all. It's hovering at two minutes thanks to work by UnitedHealthcare and Jamis-Sutter Home who missed the move. HTC-Highroad is sitting right behind but not contributing: they only have three riders in the race, Danny Pate, Tejay Van Garderen and Caleb Fairly.

I spoke with Danny Pate during the Tour of California, and he said he was focusing on the road race. He's never worn the US Pro champion's jersey and would dearly love to take it back to Europe with him.

Questions? Comments? Email us!

95km remaining from 185km

Correction to our correction - we were right the first time! It's Quinn Keogh, not Sam Johnson in the break. Sorry for the confusion, race radio isn't always right.

Just to remind you, and apologize to Quinn for misspelling his last name: It's Quinn Keogh of Team Exergy in the break. He's not related to the Keough (note the U) clan from MA. UHC is currently chasing in hopes of setting up Jake Keough for the sprint win.

The leaders are heading toward Paris Mountain and the gap is falling! It's back under two minutes as Jesse Anthony sits out a pull - wisely as he might need some legs to go with any counter-attack that might come on the climb.

The leaders are heading toward Paris Mountain and the gap is falling! It's back under two minutes as Jesse Anthony sits out a pull - wisely as he might need some legs to go with any counter-attack that might come on the climb.

The leaders are heading toward Paris Mountain and the gap is falling! It's back under two minutes as Jesse Anthony sits out a pull - wisely as he might need some legs to go with any counter-attack that might come on the climb.

The field is hauling at 29mph as we head into the climb for the third and penultimate trip up Paris Mountain. Expect some attacks from the field this time.

Tom Zirbel is leading the chase for Jamis-Sutter Home, which could be the reason the gap has come down. He showed in the time trial that he hasn't lost form since he served his truncated doping suspension.

Thanks for the notes about our distances - we're always confused when things are in miles as our system prefers kilometers! We're past the halfway point of the 115 mile/185km race.

We have a few readers who think Danny Pate can finally take his first national championship. You can read what he had to say here.

Duggan is setting the tempo up the climb, looking smooth as he's followed by Anthony, McCartney and Bookwalter. Looks like we've lost Gaimon.

Keogh is also swinging on the back with Gaimon.

McCartney is really driving the pace on the steepest part of the climb. Duggan grabbed a bottle from the side of the road to pour on himself.

Duggan and Bookwalter have a little gap over the others as they crest the climb and head down.

The four leaders are back together on the descent - the attacks from the peloton did not come this time - but if the gap stays this small the final trip up will be pure madness.

Gaimon and Keogh are in between the break and field, the region known as "no man's land", the peloton is only 1:35 behind, having whittled down the gap by nearly half a minute on that trip up Paris Mountain.

Everyone seems to be contributing in the breakaway, but the gap has fallen even more to 1:20 now as they are midway through the penultimate large lap. The KBS car is coming forward to give bottles to Jesse Anthony in the break.

We have an attack from the field - it's no other than Roman Kilun (Kenda/5h Energy). Kilun, who lives in Northern California, now has a 2:20 gap to close after the peloton sat up to get refreshments from the team cars.

The leaders will have 55km to go when they head through the line in Greenville - one big lap including Paris Mountain and three small laps that will be fast and furious.

Frank Pipp just had a wheel change and is back in the peloton. He is in good form, having won the Joe Martin Stage Race overall prior to ATOC.

There is still quite a bit of firepower back in the field - you have hometown favorite George Hincapie and last year's time trial champ Taylor Phinney, defending champ Ben King, ATOC mountains winner Pat McCarty as well as ATOC best young rider Tejay Van Garderen and teammate Danny Pate.

The peloton is focusing now on getting bottles as it is so hot and humid. They won't be able to feed with 20km left to go and once they hit the circuits it would be too crazy to feed if they could.

Another rider who is often overlooked but shouldn't be, as he's been close to the win here is Alex Candelario. Kirsten Frattini spoke with him - you can read it here.

More meaningless trivia: in Tour of California, there was at least one cyclo-cross racer in the breakaway every day. Good to see the mud-lovers are continuing the tradition here, with Jesse Anthony representing in the break. He was suffering from a little achilles tendonitis after ATOC, but he appears to have recovered. The break is at 2:00 now.

Jason Donald (Kelly Benefit Strategies) had a flat tire back in the field. 

Bookwalter and Duggan took some big pulls in the break, trying to hold the two minute lead. McCartney went back for a bottle, but is now on the front in a time trial tuck, pulling the break through town.

Kirsten Frattini spoke with RadioShack's Matthew Busche after the time trial and he said that he would like to win today. But he said Ben King, being defending champ, deserves support and they would all try and be in the break. None of them would work against each other, but Busche said if he had a chance he would take it.

55km remaining from 185km

The gap to our four leaders is 1:45 now - it's been falling steadily since the start of this final large lap. The peloton appears to have topped off the drinks and have gotten back down to work. Up front, Bookwalter is setting the pace followed by McCartney, Duggan and Anthony.

Who could win from this break? Jason McCartney has been an unsung domestique for most of his career, but he's had two chances to shine: One brilliant stage win in the 2007 Vuelta where he solo'd to victory, and another solo move in the Tour de Georgia in Dahlonega - I'll never forget his "two guns" victory salute.

Bookwalter has risen through the ranks of the BMC program as it has grown from a domestic team to ProTour. He had a superb prologue in the Giro d'Italia last year where he placed second.

50km remaining from 185km

The gap is down to 1:30 as Anthony took some time to get a bottle from the team car. Now the BMC car is up alongside the breakaway for Bookwalter.

Despite their best efforts, the four leaders can't keep the gap from falling. It's down to 1:20 and not looking great for the quartet.

There have been a number of abandons already in the race - the air is hot and stifling - not even a hint of a breeze... at least they don't have to fight a headwind!

The four leaders are at the base of Paris Mountain for the final trip and are dangling just a minute ahead of the much reduced peloton.

Interesting to note the difference in the race tactics this year as opposed to last. When the race was held last September, the Continental teams didn't want to contribute to the chase, because they expected the ProTour guys to do the work. Today it's different and we've seen the domestic teams who've missed the move helping to control the race. Could there be a bunch sprint today?

Phinney showed he's not bad in the bunch sprints, taking a couple top 10s in California. Then there's guys like Candelario, Keough, Huff, Pipp...

Paris Mountain action! The break is being caught but Anthony is persevering.

Looks like Busche and Van Garderen have bridged across to the leaders.

And our local hero George Hincapie also bridged across. Anthony has 15 seconds on the chase of six.

Hincapie attacks the break.

We're not sure what's left of the field, but it seems the ProTeams have decided they don't want a bunch sprint today.

Anthony has been caught and passed by the group of six.

35km remaining from 185km

Actually, Anthony hasn't been caught, but Hincapie is on the front, out of the saddle over the top to chase him down.

Hincapie is leading on the descent - which he knows like the back of his hand having ridden it for years and years. Van Garderen is right on his wheel.

It seems three more riders have made it across to the leaders, but they're bombing down the hill so fast we can't get ID's yet.

Van Garderen has attacked on the descent.

To add to the confusion, McCartney has been replaced by Pat McCarty (Spidertech) in the lead group. That's our KOM winner from the Tour of California in case you've forgotten.

The peloton is now down to about 20 riders, with our leading seven holding a slim gap. Not sure who's left behind.

Correction, eight riders up front, McCartney and McCarty are both there.

Anthony has given up on the front group, but we have two chasers: Chase Pinkham (Bissell Cycling) and Tom Zirbel (Jamis - Sutter Home)
 

Nine, nine riders are in the break. Matthew Busche and Jason McCartney (Team RadioShack), Brent Bookwalter, Jeff Louder and George Hincapie (BMC Racing Team), Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Highroad), Timothy Duggan and Ted King (Liquigas-Cannondale), Pat McCarty (Team Spidertech Powered By C10)

15km remaining from 185km

20km remaining from 185km

15km remaining from 185km

20km remaining from 185km

It's Ted King, Van Garderen, Hincapie and Busche who are off the front.

For the second year in a row, there's the two Kings confusion: this year it's Ted King at the front, last year it was Ben.

This could be the move of the day - the four men up front have a minute on the chasers and plenty of corners and bends to stay out of sight.

17km remaining from 185km

Busche made a big impression at Tour of California. You can read about it here.

We know that Hincapie has a sprint - he's shown it with wins in races like Gent-Wevelgem, but he hasn't won anything since his national title here in 2009.

Van Garderen is an excellent time trialist, King a tough man but likely out-gunned in this move unless he can be clever.

The gap is holding steady and for now our four leaders are working together - no cat and mouse games yet. Gap at 1:05.

There is a third peloton out on the course, about 5 minutes back, but plenty have dropped out already. We heard Johnny Sundt was having a PBR up on Paris Mountain.

13km remaining from 185km

Hincapie is being well supported by his hometown crowd, who are letting out loud cheers as he blasts by with his three companions.

Ted King was on the front as the break headed through the line - two to go and all of them looking equally strong and determined.

RealCyclist.com is heading up the chase from the peloton, less than a minute back. There are only 15-20 riders left in this second group.

Only 104 riders started today, and of that there might be 40 left in total.

11km remaining from 185km

All of the riders today are covered in salt, having sweated out a lot of precious minerals from their bodies. Stragglers are coming in twos and threes just to finish.

Our four leaders are still working together - with the heat and exhaustion we'll probably have to wait until the final 5km to see a move.

Our four leaders are still working together - with the heat and exhaustion we'll probably have to wait until the final 5km to see a move.

Jeff Louder has attacked from the field. Leaders have 1 lap to go.

6km remaining from 185km

Lucas Euser (Spidertech) has gone with Louder.

The four leaders are still working hard together, but three riders are trying to go across.

Euser attacks Louder to try and bridge. He might have left it too late.

1:10 to the leaders, it's too far... who will break the truce in the breakaway?

The attacks from the chase group have only served to widen the four leaders' advantage.

The photographers are in place to get the finish shot - who will we see center frame?

1km remaining from 185km

1km remaining from 185km

1km remaining from 185km

It's going to be a sprint between busche and hincapie

That's so, so close, it's a photo finish. king third, van garderen 4th

And Busche gets it. He's the US road champion, Hincapie was second. What a race, what a close finish.

1 Matthew Busche (Team RadioShack)
2 George Hincapie (BMC Racing Team)
3 Ted King (Liquigas-Cannondale)
4 Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Highroad)

Here's the top five.

Thanks for joining us today. Report, results and news can be found here.

Comments? Questions? Email cyclingnews@cyclingnews.com

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