AUGUSTA, GA.— Hot and humid was the order for the day in Augusta, where over 375 racers took to the 24 km road race course to contest 9 championship titles.
The men’s 65-69 race took to the course first this morning, doing three laps of the course for a total of 72 km. After taking charge in lap two of the race, it came down to a sprint finish with David Hixson (Knoxville, Tenn./Micro Metals/Bike Zoo) taking the top stop of the podium. For the men’s 70-74 division, it was a bunch sprint, with Steven Lehman (Rock Hill, S.C./ Charlotte Cycling Consortium) eeking out the win. A trio of winner’s from yesterday’s time trial events took home gold again today. They are S. Durward Higgins (Chattanooga, Tenn./Village VW Chattanooga Cycling) in the men’s 75-79, David Ellefson (Banner Elk, N.C./360 Racing) in the men’s 80-84, and Frederic Schmid (Waco, Texas/Waco Bicycle Club) in the men’s 85+.
In the next wave of races, the men’s 55-59 and 60-64 did 4 laps of the course. In the men’s 55-59, we saw a break of 3 riders develop in the last lap, with Hunter East (Little Rock, Ark./DNA Racing) crossing the line first and taking home the stars-and-stripes. He narrowly bear out Brendan Sullivan (Atlanta, Ga./There’s A Train Coming), yesterday’s time trial champion in the same age group. In men’s 60-64 action, Matthew Robins (Richmond, Va.) went off the front with two laps to go, and maintained his lead until the finish, claim victory in the race.
The final races of the day did 5 laps of the course. Daniel Martin (Loomis, Calif./ Peet’s Coffee Racing) finish in a time of 3:02:44, a full minute and more ahead of the next racer, ensuring his victory in the men’s 45-49 road race. The men’s 50-54 road race, in the word’s of Dave Towle, was “grupo compacto” for most of the race, coming down to a field sprint of more than 30 riders. Lilburn Shaw (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Groove Subaru Excel Sports) sprinted past the line first, ensuring him gold medal. Craig Nunes (San Luis Obispo, Calif./Schnur Racing) was fractions of a second behind him, finishing second in the race.
Tomorrow racing continues at Fort Gordon for day two of the masters’ road races. For live updates from Masters Road Nationals, follow #RoadNats and @One2Go_Results on Twitter to keep you up to date on everything going on. . You can also see the links below for more information.
