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Phinney wins Time Trial National Title; King Take Road Race Title |
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Taylor Phinney (Boulder, Colo./Trek-Livestrong) became only the second athlete to win a USA Cycling professional time trial championship national title on Saturday. In what was the most exciting finish in the five year history of this event, Phinney edged Levi Leipheimer (Santa Rosa, Calif./Team RadioShack) by only 14 hundredths of a second.
“This is probably one of the biggest wins of my career,” stated Phinney after the finish. “I get to wear the jersey for the next full year – my first as a pro.”
Phinney completed the 20.7-mile powerful, rolling course with a winning time of 41:02.51, just ahead of the surging Leipheimer who finished in 41:02.65. Bernard Vanulden (Jelly Belly p/b Kenda/Belmont, Calif.) grabbed the bronze in 42.14.97.
Benjamin King (North Garden, Va./Trek-Livestrong) pulled off one of the most dramatic wins in the 25-year history of the USA Cycling Professional Road Race Championship. The 21-year-old held an early race break to win the 115-mile Greenville Hospital System USA Cycling Professional Road Race Championship and become the youngest rider to win the event against some of the sport’s top pros.
“We were going pretty hard at the beginning there,” said King. “Once I was solo I had nine minutes; I was thinking about a lot of motivators. I was praying pretty hard after Paris Mountain and my prayers got answered.”
Alex Candelario (Reno, Nev./Kelly Benefit Strategies) and Kiel Reijnen (Boulder, Colo./Jelly Belly p/b Kenda) outsprinted the 12-man chase group 1:34 minutes later to grab the silver and bronze medals respectively.
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