Mathias Frank takes Stage 2 of the Pro-Am circuit
Aug 20th
Mathias Fränk of BMC Racing Team Claims Stage 2 of the 2013 USA Pro Challenge After Rigorous Day in the Mountains
Lachlan David Morton of Colorado-Based Team Garmin-Sharp Takes the Overall Lead Heading into Third Day of Racing
Breckenridge, CO (Aug. 20, 2013) – Stage 2 of the 2013 USA Pro Challenge professional cycling race took riders to extraordinary heights on the route from Aspen to Breckenridge. At 126.1 miles, the stage, which was punctuated by three Nissan King of the Mountains (KOM) competitions and two Clif Bar sprint lines, tested the riders’ strength and endurance in the mountains of Colorado. An impressive turnout of fans welcomed and cheered on the cyclists as they hit the streets of Breckenridge, where Mathias Fränk (SUI) of BMC Racing Team ultimately took home the win.
“The level of racing that we saw during today’s stage of the 2013 USA Pro Challenge shows that these guys are here to win,” said Shawn Hunter, CEO of the USA Pro Challenge. “The crowds lining the route from Aspen to Breckenridge were amazing, and the enthusiasm and support up on the mountain passes is truly a sight to see.”
Following two neutral laps around the City of Aspen under bright blue skies, the riders were off for Stage 2 of the 2013 USA Pro Challenge, which would provide a harsh introduction to the mountainous terrain of Colorado with three big Nissan King of the Mountains (KOM) competitions. After a series of unsuccessful initial attacks, Michael Schär (SUI) of BMC Racing Team finally launched one that stuck. He was soon joined by Matt Cooke (USA) of Jamis-Hagens Berman p/b Sutter Home and Luis Lemus (MEX) of Jelly Belly p/b Kenda.
The gap continued to grow as the riders climbed the familiar battleground of Independence Pass, which at 12,000 ft. is the highest point reached in any professional cycling race. The well-known, epic climb drew fans from all around the world to cheer on the riders as they suffered to the top. With enthusiastic costumed fans running alongside, Schär crested the pass first, followed by Cooke and Lemus.
Leading into the approach to the Feed Zone, hitting speeds of more than 35 mph, David Millar (GBR) of Team Garmin-Sharp and Kanstantin Siutsou (BLR) of Sky Procycling pulled away from the peloton to start the chase and eventually reached the three out front to form a break of five riders. As they zoomed through Buena Vista and crossed the first Clif Bar sprint line of the day, Lemus hit the line first, then Schär and Millar.
David Morton is the overall leader
A little more than three hours into the race, as the course prepared to turn back uphill, the peloton hit the gas and with RadioShack Nissan Trek and Cannondale Pro Cycling leading the way, they began to close the gap, eventually swallowing up the break. Soon after though a new break was formed with 13 riders pulling away.
“We just had to have representation in the breakaway because it’s always better to be in front than to be chasing,” said Morton. “We put two in it, which took the pressure off the other guys.”
As the break approached the second and final sprint of the day in Fairplay, Van Avermaet attacked and crossed the line first, followed by Schleck and Beyer. With two more climbs and 26 miles to go to the finish in Breckenridge, it was still anybody’s stage.
On the climb up to the next Nissan KOM competition of the day at Hoosier Pass, riders began to drop off the break. Morton however saw an opportunity and started pulling away to take the maximum KOM points, followed by Fränk and Craddock. Taking the descent at speeds around 50 mph, the three riders grouped together with a few members of the original break following behind and the peloton still on the chase.
Reaching the final Nissan KOM of the day at Boreas Pass, Fränk rode through the sea of fans to crest the summit first, followed by Morton and Craddock. Now, with only 2.5 miles to go, the pressure was really on. Knowing it was now or never, Peter Sagan (SVK) of Cannondale Pro Cycling, Tejay van Garderen (USA) of BMC Racing Team, Tom Danielson (USA) of Team Garmin-Sharp and Darwin Atapuma (COL) of COLOMBIA made a move out of the peloton to catch the break. And in a sprint through Breckenridge, Fränk took the stage win, followed close behind by Morton and Sagan.
“I really had one shot, and today I knew that I could make it there on the short, steep climb,” said Fränk. “I definitely had the plan to go for the stage win today. The altitude here really got to me. I really had to go super deep there at the finish. Now I have a stage win here and I’m really happy with that.”
In the race for the jerseys, Morton claimed the Smashburger Leader Jersey and the Colorado State University Best Young Rider Jersey. Sagan held onto the Clif Bar Sprint Jersey, as did Cooke to the Nissan King of the Mountains Jersey. TheFirstBank Most Courageous Rider Jersey went to Fränk for his impressive racing.
Sagan wins Stage 1 of USA Pro Challenge in Aspen
Aug 19th
The USA Pro Challenge got off to an amazing start today with a circuit race through Aspen/Snowmass. Consisting of three 22-mile laps, 66 miles total, Stage 1 packed in a challenging 3,080 ft. of climbing per lap. Huge crowds cheered 2013 Tour de France Sprint Winner Peter Sagan across the finish line first, followed closely by the rest of the riders. See attached and below for full results.
GC Standings
- First – Peter Sagan (SVK) of Cannondale
- Second – Greg Van Avermaet (BEL) of BMC Racing Team
- Third – Kiel Reijnen (USA) of UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
Stage Standings
- First – Peter Sagan (SVK) of Cannondale
- Second – Greg Van Avermaet (BEL) of BMC Racing Team
- Third – Kiel Reijnen (USA) of UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
Jersey Winners
- Smashburger Leader Jersey – Peter Sagan (SVK) of Cannondale
- Clif Bar Sprint Jersey – Peter Sagan (SVK) of Cannondale
- Nissan King of the Mountains Jersey – Matt Cooke (USA) of Jamis-Hagens Berman p/b Sutter Home
- FirstBank Most Courageous Rider Jersey – Craig Lewis (USA) of Champion System Pro Cycling Team
- Colorado State University Best Young Rider Jersey – Peter Sagan (SVK) of Cannondale
NICOLE OKONESKI | ROGERS & COWAN
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CU Buff women blast Lazio All-Stars
Aug 19th
ROME – Colorado head coach Linda Lappe was anticipating the opportunity to give her four new freshman valuable playing time during the team’s trip to Italy. She is getting exactly what she was hoping for, and possibly more.
Zoe Beard-Fails had 14 points and Bri Watts grabbed double-digit rebounds for the second straight game as Colorado blasted the Lazio All-Stars 96-22 Sunday at the Stella Azzurra.
Zoe Beard-Fails had a double double and led all scorers with 14 points.
All 12 Buffaloes scored with four in double-digits. Jen Reese, Brittany Wilson and Jamee Swan had 12 points apiece. Watts had a game-high 10 rebounds to go with five points and four assists.
Not to be outdone, freshman guard Desiree Harris had seven points and seven rebounds while classmate Haley Smith pitched in six points, three rebounds and three assists.
“(The freshmen) are doing a really nice job fitting in to what we are doing,” Lappe said. “They are getting a lot of minutes and they are capitalizing on that. We’ve seen some really good things from everybody and the freshmen are no different.”
Beard-Fails filled out her stat line nicely with five rebounds, four steals and three of assists while making 7-of-10 from the field.
“We had confidence and cohesiveness,” Beard-Fails said. “We have been spending a lot of time together (on this trip) on and off the court and it’s beginning to show.”
Sunday’s game was over quickly. Colorado scored the first 13 points and led 29-4 after the first 10-minute quarter. Wilson hit her first of three 3-pointers during CU’s opening run, setting the tone for the contest.
“We tried to set the tone to be quicker, and that carried through the game,” Wilson said
The Buffaloes hit 58 percent in the first quarter (11-of-19). Lazio managed just six field goal attempts hitting two, and had 14 turnovers in the first quarter alone.
Colorado built its lead to 49-4 at the half, and didn’t allow more than seven points in any one quarter. The Buffaloes final margin of 74 was its largest. Lazio was 6-of-44 from the field (14 percent) and it took a late 3-pointer by Sbolci to allow the all-stars to break 20 points. Lazio hit 9-of-16 from the foul line.
Colorado scored 64 of its points in the paint, many of them in transition, and scored 45 points of 32 Lazio turnovers.
The Buffaloes made 54 percent from the field. Swan and Reese each hit 6-of-8 from the field.
“We had a few goals for tonight and one of them was to be much sharper,” Lappe said. “We did a fantastic job defensively and that really spurred our offense, that allowed us to get stops, and we did a much better job converting in transition.”
Wilson echoed Lappe’s pregame plan of focus…”Our mindset was to come out more sharp and that took care of everything else. We were more aggressive on defense…we came out more intense and ready to play.”
Colorado will play its third off four games Monday at 7 p.m. local time, 11 a.m. MT, against Latina.
Troy Andre
Assistant SID/Internet Managing Editor
University of Colorado
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