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By USA Cycling
Americans returned from the 38th Tour de l’Abitibi this weekend where some of the nation’s best junior cyclists claimed three stage wins and fifth place overall. One of the most prestigious junior stage races in the world, the 2.HC rated UCI event is the only North American junior race on the UCI Calendar and is often referred to as the “Tour de France for juniors.”
More than 160 junior cyclists, including 54 Americans, from seven countries lined up for eight stages in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of northern Quebec.
U.S. National Team rider Kevin Soller (Breckenridge, Colorado) claimed the first stage win for Americans in Thursday’s stage 4. Soller, who finished fourth in the time trial at the USA Cycling Junior Road National Championships, posted a 21.35 in the 14.5km time test to best Canadian Eric Smith by 20 seconds. His win put him in fifth place overall, a position he held onto for the remainder of the event.
As the day progressed, another American claimed a stage win. Cole House (Oneida, Wisconsin) took the top honor in stage 5 on Thursday night. The Baraboo Sharks rider edged out Frenchman Nicolas Vaillant and Lars Andersson of Sweden in the 51km criterium to make it a highly successful day for American juniors.
The Tour’s seventh stage, a 94.4km trek from Preissac to Val d’Or ended with another American stage victory. Ben Barsi-Rhyne (Los Gatos, California) of Team Arizona won the bunch sprint just ahead of Canadian Mark Hinnen and Belgian Thomas Chamon.
As the race closed out on Sunday, stage five winner Soller was the highest-ranked American in the overall classification in fifth place. Matthew Brandt was the second-best placed American in 11th. The U.S. National Team finished the event fourth in the overall team classification and stage-4 winner House ranked fourth in both the points competition and the King of the Mountains classification.