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Megan Guarnier, seen here at the 2015 world championships, finished on the podium at Trofeo Alfredo Binda. Photo: Jim Fryer / BrakeThrough Media | brakethroughmedia.com
Welcome to this week’s edition of American’s Abroad, our weekly check-in with the American pros in the European peloton. VeloNews will publish these updates every Monday throughout the season.
Megan Guarnier’s Boels – Dolmans team continued its early-season dominance Sunday at the Trofeo Alfredo Binda race in Italy. Though Guarnier did not win, she played a pivotal role in the success of her teammate, current world champion and race winner Lizzie Armitstead.
Guarnier and Armitstead were among a select few riders to make the breakaway, along with Jolanda Neff of Servetto Footon. The escapees worked together for a while before Neff attacked and went off the front.
Neff had a lead of close to 30 seconds at one point, but Guarnier and Armitstead did not give in and they caught Neff late in the final lap. Armitstead came across the line in first place to successfully defend her Alfredo Binda crown from last year, while Guarnier finished one second behind. Neff rounded out the podium in third, four seconds behind Armitstead.
Axeon – Hagens Berman
In Portugal, the young American outfit won the teams classification at Volta ao Alentejo. “What I am most happy with was the attitude and toughness of the guys,” assistant director Jeff Louder said. Logan Owen finished 11th overall, William Barta was 33rd, Gregory Daniel placed 38th, and Tyler Williams took 50th. Owen was also fourth in the youth classification at the end of the five-stage race.
Mara Abbott (Wiggle – High5)
Abbott raced the Trofeo Alfredo Binda in Italy on Sunday. She finished 45th overall, 1:15 behind Armitstead.
Sean Bennett (An Post – Chain Reaction)
Volta ao Alentejo was the 19-year-old’s first race of the season, and he finished 26th overall.
Carter Jones (Giant – Alpecin)
Jones raced Tirreno-Adriatico and finished 146th overall.
Rally Cycling
Emerson Oronte, Danny Pate, Brad Huff, and Bjorn Selander raced Volta ao Alentejo and finished 13th, 55th, 111th, and 121st on GC, respectively. Oronte was also fifth in the mountains classification.
Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing)
Phinney and his BMC teammates finished first in the stage 1 team time trial at Tirreno-Adriatico. Phinney finished 155th overall and helped teammate Greg Van Avermaet to the victory.
Tibco – SVB
In Italy, four riders from Tibco raced Alfredo Binda: Lauren Hall, Lauren Komanski, Lauren Stephens, and Brianna Walle. Komanski and Stephens were the only finishers, taking 39th and 48th, respectively.
Twenty16 – Sho-Air
Twenty16 competed for the first time this year at Alfredo Binda, with Kaitlin Antonneau, Jessica Cerra, Allie Dragoo, and Leah Thomas. Antonneau finished 67th and Thomas finished 64th, while Dragoo and Cerra did not finish on the undulating course.
UnitedHealthcare
UHC had three riders in Italy: Coryn Rivera, Katie Hall, and Abigail Mickey. Rivera was 11th, Hall was 28th, and Mickey did not finish.
U.S. U23 team
USA Cycling’s under-23 national team was also racing in Portugal. Floridians Miguel Bryon and Michael Hernandez finished 71st and 115th overall. Ethan Reynolds was 128th. TJ Eisenhart and Zeke Mostov competed but did not finish the stage race.
Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing)
Van Garderen was the top American finisher at Tirreno-Adriatico, taking 25th overall.
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