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Team USA Recap: Road Season Kicks Off with Powless Victory in France and Top-5 Placings in Australia; CX World Cup Season Winds Down

By: Anne Stein  January 30, 2023

We recap the latest in American bike racing from the past three weeks (January 9-30)

ROAD

Grand Prix Cycliste de Marseillaise: France

(January 29) Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) scored a stunning solo win at GP Marseillaise, the 167 kilometer opening race on the French pro road calendar. It was his first win of the season and the third in his pro career. Powless, who was the top American finisher at last year’s Tour de France, took off with 13k to go and came in 1:15 ahead of the bunch.

Complete results here

UCI World Tour: Santos Tour Down Under: Australia

(January 17-22)Magnus Sheffield (INEOS Grenadiers) took 4th overall in the World Tour opening race for men, and placed 1st among young riders to start his 2023 road season. The 20-year-old took 2nd in the prologue and 9th in Stage 5 of the race.

Complete results here

Vuelta a San Juan: San Juan, Argentina

(January 22-29)Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) started his season with a win on Stage 3 at the Vuelta a San Juan, a 7-stage race that begins and ends in San Juan, Argentina. A trio of American riders – Kevin Vermaerke (Team DSM), Simmons, and Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech) placed 9th, 10th and 11th on Stage 5.

At the end, Vermaerke placed 8th overall, Riccitello was 9th and Simmons was 10th on GC. Riccitello, age 20, and Simmons, age 21, took first and second in the Young Riders category.

Complete results here

UCI Women’s World Tour: Santos Tour Down Under: Australia

(January 15-17)Krista Doebel-Hickok (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) kicked off her 2023 road racing season with a strong start, placing 5th overall at the Women’s Santos Tour Down Under. The race made its debut on the Women’s World Tour calendar this year, with three stages crossing through South Australia.

Twenty-year-old Kaia Schmid (Human Powered Health) was 4th overall among young riders, with a 7th place finish in Stage 1.

Complete results here

UCI Women’s World Tour: Cadel Evans Great Ocean Race: Australia

(January 28)Krista Doebel-Hickok (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) scored another top-10 finish in Australia, placing 9th overall in the second major women’s road race of the season. The women traversed 143 kilometers starting in Geelong in the one-day race.

Complete results here

UCI World Tour: Cadel Evans Great Ocean Race: Australia

(January 29)Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost) placed 10th in the men’s version of the Cadel Evans road race, a 172 kilometer contest that started and ended in Geelong. Quinn, age 22, also placed 4th in the best young rider competition.

Complete results here

CYCLOCROSS

UCI Cyclocross World Cup: Benidorm, Spain

(January 22) – Young Americans continued a strong European CX season, with Andrew (AJ) August (Finkraft Junior Cycling) taking 4th in the men’s junior race and Andrew Strohmeyer (CX Hairs Devo: Trek Bikes) placing 8th in men’s U23 at UCI World Cup racing in Spain.

Complete results here

UCI Cyclocross World Cup: Besançon, France

(January 29) – In the final round of UCI CX World Cup racing, Andrew (AJ) August (Finkraft Junior Cycling) placed 9th and Daniel English (Bear CX) was one second back, placing 10th in the men’s junior race. Andrew Strohmeyer (CX Hairs Devo: Trek Bikes) took 9th in the men’s U23 race.

For the season, August ranked 7th overall in men’s junior World Cup classification points, while Vida Lopez de San Roman (Bear National Team) placed 10th among junior women. Strohmeyer placed 11th overall in men’s U23.

Cyclists return for the CX World Championships in Hoogerheide.

Complete results here