On Monday, April 17^th, the national team lined up for the UCI 1.12 race Hageland. For this particular event, the team consisted of Matt Crane, Sheldon Deeny, Zach Bolian, Alex Welch, Caleb Fairley and I.

The race was 150km long and held on a mostly flat course. There were, however, a couple small climbs and crosswind sections that made things a bit difficult. The field was 130 riders strong and eager to start racing from the gun. After what seemed to be a longer than usual neutral section, the red flag was dropped and the racing began. Attacks immediately went and we national team riders moved to the front as quickly as possible.

Attacks came and went over the first 10km of the race before a decent-sized group snuck away. At this point I found myself next to teammate Matt Crane and asked him if he’d like to move up along the side of the field. He agreed and got on my wheel. I pulled Matt up to a small group that was dangling off the front of the field. Once we got their Matt wasted no time and followed an attack by another rider that would put him in the lead break for the rest of the race. As Matt and the other rider pulled away, I sat up and the small group I was in was swallowed up by the field. I spent the next 30km as close to the front of the field as I could. This is my first race here in Europe this year and I wanted to test my fitness by following attacks and riding aggressively early on.

After the first 50km of the race, I drifted back to conserve some energy and the rest of the national team members continued to ride near the front, covering attacks and bridging gaps. Up the road, Matt was in the lead group that was building a strong time advantage over the rest of the field.

In the last 50km of the race I began to feel my early efforts. I kept eating and drinking to make sure that I would have enough energy to finish the race. In the last 30km, a large group split from the field and both Caleb and Zach were able to make the move. Sheldon, Alex Welch, and I all stayed in the 60-man group that was the rest of the field.

Meanwhile, Matt was in the lead break and in the fight for a top-three finish. The other riders in the lead sensed Matt’s strength and attacked him in an attempt to put him on the ropes. Despite fighting hard at the front, Matt lost contact with the leaders in the closing kilometers. He was however able to limit his losses and managed to come across the line as the top finisher for the team. It was a long day for Matt but he still managed to have a great ride. Caleb and Zach finished in a group close behind the leaders and the rest of the team rode in a couple minutes down, with what was the left of the field.

All in all, it was a good day of racing. Everyone on the team was able to finish the race and get some good kilometers in the legs. On a personal note, finishing my first European race of the year was a good way to start things off.

The next couple weeks will be busy ones for the U23 National Team. Racing will take place in Belgium, France, and Italy over the course of the coming week. Stay tuned for more updates from the team. Thank you for reading and please wish us luck!

Alex Boyd

USA Cycling U23 Team member