Flanders, Belgium (August, 23, 2009) – The USA Cycling National Development Team program fielded a team of six, 15-16 year-old junior riders in the West Vlaandaren Cycling Tour in Belgium, August 19-23. Through four of five stages the young American squad sits in second place in the team general classification.
Prologue:
Electing to use no time trial gear and instead rely on horse and brainpower, the USA Junior 15-16 team placed fifth out of 23 teams in the 6.7-kilometer morning prologue team trial with a time of 8:35. Andrew Dillman’s (Fairdale, Ky.) early puncture cost the team a bit of rhythm but the team rallied and really showed its resilience and team fiber to finish only 17 seconds behind winning team, Kon - Balen B.C.
Stage 1:
Seizing the key moments of the nine lap/60-kilometer race, David Kessler (Littleton, Colo.) nabbed both sprint bonuses and the final dash across the line to take the stage, the green jersey, and move up to second place in the general classification. Despite the many crashes and high average speed, the other five U.S. team members piloted their bikes well and finished solidly. After the first stage Erik Volotzky (Chatsworth, Calif.) held 20th at 11 seconds and sat fifth in the first-year category, while Matt Lipscomb (Scottsdale, Ariz.) was in 25th at 11 seconds, Neal Shepherd (Palm Coast, Fla.) 47th, Dillman 50th and Kyle Torres (Laguna Niguel) in115th.
Stage 2:
An untimely early puncture for Drew Dillman, some solid early support from Kyle Torres, and some good lead-out work from Matt Lipscomb, Erik Volotzky, and Neal Shepherd on behalf of Green Jersey leader David Kessler during the laps three and six sprint bonuses characterized Team USA's action. In addition, several breakaway attempts by GC leader Team Balen made for a tough almost 42-kph average. It all came down to the final uphill sprint with Kessler finishing 12th, Lipscomb 38th, Volotzky 46th, Shepherd 70th, Dillman 117th, and Torres 122nd. Kessler held the Green Jersey for another bouquet, Volotzky moved up to 6th in the White Jersey and the team held car #2 as the 2nd best team in the race.
Stage 3:
This stage held lots of turns, lots of speed bumps and lots of fast racing. Matt Lipscomb did the lion's share to bring back a mid-race break and things looked good for the American youngsters until a late crash took out Kessler and a few others. Fortunately, the crash was within the final three-kilometers so the Americans all finished with the same time and Volotzky grabbed 10th place in the final dash to the line. Kessler still holds 4th in the GC and moves down to fifth in the Green Jersey standings, Volotzky dropped one place to seventh in the White Jersey, and the team is still in 2nd place in the Team Standings.
The 68-kilometer finale is set for Sunday in Meulebeke.
