Stetina, Villafañe prime riders in BWR Tripel Crown as USA Crits highway sequence heats up

Sweeping the three Belgian Waffle Ride occasions to start out 2024, Sofia Gomez Villafañe (Specialized Off-road) captured the professional ladies’s title for the Tripel Crown of Gravel whereas Peter Stetina (Canyon) checked off one among his season targets by securing the boys’s professional Tripel Crown with a fourth-place end at BWR California.

This yr BWR California served because the decisive spherical within the Tripel Crown of Gravel, grouped with Arizona and Utah occasions on a extra compact seven-week calendar. A sequence prize purse of $25,500 was cut up evenly between the highest 5 males and prime 5 ladies throughout the trio of waffle-distance races. 

For Villafañe, it was her first time competing on the signature BWR California occasion and he or she used a solo victory to seal the Tripel Crown prime prize. She stated it “lived as much as the hype” with diverse terrain throughout 120 miles that included 10,000 toes of climbing.

Australian Courtney Sherwell (Prova Cycles/QOM/Ekoi/Schwalbe/SRAM) held on to second general with the runner-up spot in California whereas Cecily Decker (Scuderia-Pinarello) secured third. Emily Newsom (PAS Racing) was fourth and Whitney Allison, who was second general on the 2023 Quadrupel Crown, took the ultimate Tripel podium spot in fifth.

Stetina used his win at BWR Utah to solidify the lead within the Tripel standings, holding off Torbjørn Røed (Trek Driftless), who was sixth place or higher in all three races. Lance Haidet (Specialized), Kyle Trudeau (Slow Twitch GoodLife Racing) and Griffin Easter (Canyon-Opicure Foundation) accomplished the five-rider podium.

Pair of youngsters win Lake Sonoma MTB

Vida Lopez de San Roman (Bear Development) and Matthew Marotto (Waite Endurance Development) received the Lake Sonoma MTB, situated outdoors Healdsburg, California. The 26-mile cross-country mountain bike race was a relentless day of climbing, throwing 5,400 toes of elevation achieve on the discipline of 200 riders. It was the third of 4 occasions within the 2024 Grasshopper Adventure sequence, and the one ‘correct’ Mountain bike occasion of the set.

A US junior cyclocross nationwide champion, Lopez de San Roman was dominant throughout the sequence of tight switchbacks and roller-coaster terrain, taking the victory by greater than 21 minutes over Avery Masri (King Factory Racing). Leslie Ethridge was one other two minutes again in third.

The males’s professional discipline was a drag race on the second loop of the course between two highschool seniors, Marotto breaking away for the win forward of Justin Peck (Los Gatos Bicycle Racing), who was one minute again. Griffin Hoppin (Flow Formulas/Spinergy) chased the duo and completed third.

The 2024 Grasshopper sequence concludes on May 11 on the Ukiah-Mendo Hopper, a mixed-terrain 80-mile hilly course in western Mendocino County. The occasion is the most recent addition to the Gravel Earth Series.

Harriet Owen and Alfredo Rodriguez lead USA Crits

Harriet Owen (DNA Pro Cycling) and Alfredo Rodriguez (REIGN Storm Racing) carry the person leads within the USA Crits sequence with two races remaining. 

Owen is with no win within the sequence to this point, however has completed on the rostrum on the first 4 races – Sunny King Criterium in Alabama, Rock&Road Criterium in Georgia, Spartanburg Criterium in South Carolina and Athens Twilight Criterium in Georgia.

The L39ION of Los Angeles duo of Alexis Magner and Kendall Ryan path Owen within the standings, with Magner trailing the highest spot by simply seven factors. Of the primary 4 races, Magner has received in Newnan and Athens whereas Ryan has received in Anniston and Spartanburg. 

The winner of the boys’s race in Newnan, Roderyck Asconeguy Diaz (MC Cycling Team) has a strong maintain on second place and is simply 14 factors behind Rodriguez. Finishing second in Athens, Danny Summerhill (REIGN Storm Racing) is in third place.

Race quantity 5 within the assortment of one-day races within the southern states of the US would be the La Grange Cycling Classic in Georgia on May 4. The USA Crits Finals shall be contested on the Winston-Salem Cycling Classic in North Carolina on May 25. All races are broadcast with a free reside stream on the USA Crits site.

Cyr, Muñoz amongst Miami Nights riders on new groups for Speed Week

Andrea Cyr and Paola Muñoz are again in motion at USA Speed Week this week after their Miami Nights workforce went out of enterprise 15 days in the past. Cyr was given a visitor experience with Texas Roadhouse and Muñoz took a spot with the Goldman Sachs ETFs Racing squad. Their former Nights’ teammate Brittany Parffrey was competing at Speed Week for Velocious Sport.

Jonny Clarke, Clever Martinez and Tyler Williams have been additionally a part of the Miami Nights squad and restarted their seasons on new groups at Speed Week, Clarke driving for the Austin Outlaws for the remainder of 2024, Martinez with Rockland Development Program and Williams with the Miami Blazers.

The duo of Muñoz and Cyr completed as the highest two ladies’s professional riders within the 2023 American Criterium Cup sequence, Muñoz edging her teammate within the prime place. Through the primary three races at Speed Week, which started in South Carolina on April 25 on the Greenville Cycling Classic p/b Prisma Health, Cyr led the sequence standings. Through the fourth occasion in Peachtree Corners, received by Coryn Labecki (EF Education-Cannondale). Cyr is now second general, Parffrey is twelfth within the sequence, whereas Muñoz is twenty first general.

Riders from the opposite NCL-owned groups, Denver Disruptors and Atlanta Rise, are additionally discovering new properties and have been noticed at Speed Week, together with Elizabeth Harden, now with the East Point Track Club and Noah Granigan, previously with the Disruptors, is racing for Miami Blazers.