Succeeding his Team RadioShack team-mate Ben King as US champion, Matthew Busche spoiled the party for George Hincapie today when he edged out the BMC Racing Team rider in his hometown.
The 26 year old was quickest out of a group of four which fought it out for the win and the right to wear the coveted stars and stripes jersey. Also present in a move which went clear inside the final half hour of racing were Ted King (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Tejay Van Garderen (HTC Highroad), who took third and fourth in the gallop to the line.
The victory is the biggest success to date for Busche, who was third in last year’s Tour of Denmark and showed strong form in the recent Tour of California.
“I don’t know how I did this. I’m still trying to figure it out,” he said afterwards. “It still doesn’t seem real to me. I still can’t believe it. I don’t know when it will set in. Maybe sometime soon I will realize what this means.”
There were just three RadioShack riders in the race; Busche came through to win. “We had Jason McCartney in the long breakaway all day. Ben King and I were able to sit in the field and just conserve energy,” he said. “ As usual on the last time up that mountain the attacks went and Tejay Van Garderen went really hard there. George Hincapie and I were the only ones who could follow. We bridged up to the breakaway. Jason was still there. At that point he gave every last bit of energy that he had.
“Then, with about 300 meters to go, at the last corner, I attacked. George followed and came around me. I was able to get out of his wheel for the last drag to the line and was able to come back around. It was really a sprint right down to the finish and I had the better bike throw today. In theory you don’t want to go to the sprint with George but there wasn’t much else I could do, everybody was really strong. Trying to jump from far out was probably not a good idea. I don’t know what the best tactics were but today I won and I’m super happy.”
Hincapie will be disappointed not to land his fourth national title, particularly with the race being held in front of his friends and fans. He’s indicated that he may race again next year and so has one more chance to add to his wins in 1998, 2006 and 2009.
He said he was cramping near the end of the 185-kilometer race. "I was confident in the sprint, but I probably went a little bit too early," he said. "Matt did a good move and when he sat up, I thought he was finished. But he was able to come around me and get me at the end."
Affected by cramp at the finish, he said that he was satisfied with how his fellow BMC riders rode. There were just four of them in the race; Brent Bookwalter was part of a six-man breakaway and finished ninth while Jeff Louder was 14th. "The team was awesome,” he stated. “With Brent in the break, we put ourselves in a position where we didn't have to work from the beginning. I had also asked the guys to make the race hard. I wanted it to be a hard, aggressive race to increase our chances to win and they did that.”
The tactic almost worked; in the end, though, there was simply one rider who had a bit more speed in the finale.
How it played out:
Early attacks featured riders such as Robert Bush (Chipotle Development Team) and Ted King (Liquigas-Cannondale), then a larger six man move went clear inside the first 35 kilometres. A selection was made in the peloton on the first ascent of Paris Mountain and, when the dust settled, eight riders were clear heading back into Greenville at the end of that first big lap.
The group comprised Bush, Timmy Duggan (Liquigas-Cannondale), Jesse Anthony (Kelly Benefit Strategies - Optum Health), Brent Bookwalter (BMC Racing Team), Quinn Keogh (Team Exergy), David Williams (Bissell Cycling), Jason McCartney (Team RadioShack) and Phillip Gaimon (Kenda/5-hour Energy Pro Cycling presented by Geargrinder), and had a lead of over two minutes at the end of that lap. This would rise to over two and a half minutes.
One man missing from the move – and, indeed, the peloton - was Jeremy Powers, who crashed and was taken to hospital.
Bush and Williams were dropped the second time up Paris Mountain, but the other six persisted and had a two minute lead at the halfway point. The next time up the climb, time trial championships silver medallist Tom Zirbel (Jamis-Sutter Home) was driving the pace behind and making inroads into the lead.
With the pressure ramping up in the break due to the bunch’s chasing, Keogh and Gaimon were both dropped. Duggan and Bookwalter went over the top slightly ahead, but were joined by Anthony and McCartney on the descent.
The gap fell to just under a minute and a half with a lap and a half of the big circuits remaining. Roman Kilun (Kenda/5h Energy) decided to take a chance and attacked, but was unable to bridge. The gap starting the final big lap was one minute 45 seconds, and with 55 kilometres left to cover, it was clear that the break wasn’t sufficiently far ahead.
Starting the final climb of Paris Mountain, the quartet was just a minute clear. The peloton made inroads into that lead, prompting Anthony to jump off the front and try to hang on. Tejay Van Garderen (HTC Highroad) and Matthew Busche (Team RadioShack) jumped clear and bridged across to the others, as did former champion George Hincapie (BMC Racing Team).
The latter clipped away on the climb in pursuit of Anthony, then was joined by the others. Van Garderen tried to get clear on the descent, but was reeled in. Inside the final 30 kilometres a regrouping too place up front, with nine riders powering ahead. These were BMC Racing Team trio Hincapie, Bookwalter and Jeff Louder, Busche and Jason McCartney (Team RadioShack), Van Garderen (HTC-Highroad), Duggan and Ted King (Liquigas-Cannondale), as well as Pat McCarty (Team Spidertech Powered By C10).
With approximately 20 kilometres remaining King, Van Garderen, Hincapie and Busche clipped away and opened up a considerable lead over the others. They continued to cooperate and ensured that the title would be settled between them. Louder and Lucas Euser (Spidertech) tried to get across heading onto the final lap, but were unable to do so; instead, the leaders sprinted it out for the win, with Busche just pipping Hincapie to the line. King beat Van Garderen for the bronze medal, and Kyle Wamsley (Bissell) was best of the rest.
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US Pro road championships, Greenville:
1, Matthew Busche (Team RadioShack) 185 kilometres in 4 hours 28 mins 2 secs
2, George Hincapie (BMC Racing Team) same time
3, Ted King (Liquigas-Cannondale) at 2 secs
4, Tejay Van Garderen (HTC Highroad) at 7 secs
5, Kyle Wamsley (Bissell Cycling) at 1 min 29 secs
6, Alexander Candelario (Kelly Benefit Strategies - OptumHealth) at 1 min 30 secs
7, Kenneth Hanson (Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda)
8, Benjamin King (Team RadioShack)
9, Brent Bookwalter (BMC Racing Team) all same time
10, Chase Pinkham (Bissell Cycling) at 1 min 31 secs
11, Danny Pate (HTC Highroad)
12, Christopher Jones (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling)
13, Oscar Clark (Realcyclist.com Cycling Team)
14, Jeff Louder (BMC Racing Team) all same time
15, Lucas Euser (Team Spidertech Presented By C10) at 1 min 32 secs
16, Frank Pipp (Bissell Cycling) at 1 min 33 secs
17, Tyler Wren (Jamis/Sutter Home) same time
18, Matthew Cooke (Team Exergy) at 1 min 34 secs
19, Bernard Van Ulden (Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda)
20, Timothy Duggan (Liquigas-Cannondale) all same time
21, Sergio Hernandez (Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda) at 1 min 38 secs
22, Joshua Berry (Realcyclist.com Cycling Team) at 1 min 42 secs
23, Ian Burnett (Realcyclist.com Cycling Team) at 1 min 46 secs
24, Maxim Jenkins (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) at 1 min 47 secs
25, Nathan Brown (Trek Livestrong U23) at 1 min 55 secs
26, Andrew Bajadali (Kelly Benefit Strategies - OptumHealth)
27, Pat McCarty (Team Spidertech Presented By C10) at 2 mins
28, Tom Zirbel (Jamis/Sutter Home) at 2 mins 1 sec
29, Caleb Fairly (HTC Highroad) at 3 mins 15 secs
30, Michael Creed (Kelly Benefit Strategies - OptumHealth) at 4 mins 47 secs
31, Scottie Weiss (Kenda/5-hour Energy Pro Cycling p/b Geargrinder) at 9 mins 5 secs
32, Sean Mazich (Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda)
33, Robert Sweeting (Kenda/5-hour Energy Pro Cycling p/b Geargrinder)
34, Jacob Rytlewski (Kenda/5-hour Energy Pro Cycling p/b Geargrinder) all same time
35, Jason McCartney (Team RadioShack) at 9 mins 6 secs
36, Daniel Summerhill (Chipotle Development Team) same time
37, Alexander Hagman (Jelly Belly Presented By Kenda) at 9 mins 7 secs
38, Yosvany Falcon (Realcyclist.com Cycling Team)
39, Alex Howes (Chipotle Development Team)
40, Alfredo Cruz (Chipotle Development Team)
41, Taylor Shelden (V Australia) all same time
42, Evan Hyde (Realcyclist.com Cycling Team) at 9 mins 8 secs
43, Roman Kilun (Kenda/5-hour Energy Pro Cycling p/b Geargrinder)
44, Frank Travieso (Realcyclist.com Cycling Team) both same time