Tour of California: USA Cycling national team provides opportunity
Opportunities for a breakout performance in big races can be hard to come by for young American riders, especially now that the Amgen Tour of California has jumped to the WorldTour and Continental teams are no longer eligible.
Enter USA Cycling, which is fielding a composite national team in the race for the first time since 2007, when a young unknown rider named Tejay van Garderen competed in the stars-and-stripes jersey before signing with the Rabobank Development team for 2008 and 2009.
“There was a time when maybe USA Cycling didn’t want to go down this road, but with the programs not having as much European racing, this opens it up and gives us another opportunity to allow these guys to show what they’ve got,” said Mike Sayers, who will direct the team along with Aevolo director Michael Creed.
“Most of these teams are going to be their future employers in a best-case scenario. There’s been a long list of guys like Carter Jones who have had good rides here, and the next thing you know they’re riding for a WorldTour team. We only want the best for them,” Sayers said.
“The under-23 program is a little bit down this year, so this is just another opportunity and maybe a different methodology to give them an opportunity to get some results, or not even results, but to get out there and show what they have under the hood."
Three of the seven riders are under 23, with Aevolo’s Michael Hernandez, Tyler Stites and Alex Hoehn all 21, while Keegan Swirbul (Floyd’s Pro Cycling) and Sam Boardman (Wildlife-Generation-Maxxis) are 23. Miguel Bryon (Arapahoe-Hincapie) is 24, and sprinter Travis McCabe is the experienced hand on the team at age 29.
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