Team Exergy
Merco Cycling Classic - Stage 3
In a confused and raucous finish, Logan Loader pulled himself out of the crowd and into a third-place finish in today’s Downtown Grand Prix. A big crowd turned out to watch the racers tear up the streets of downtown Merced and attack the 40 laps of a 1.5km circuit.
Bissell Pro Cycling’s Patrick Bevin took first today with a time of 78 minutes, putting him back in the yellow jersey. Second place went to Optum Pro Cycling’s Ken Hanson who crossed the line half a bike length behind Bevin in a photo finish with Loader. Former national U-23 crit champion Justin Williams came in fourth.
Team California Giant/Specialized controlled the race for the first 27 laps as they worked to protect their man in yellow, Evan Huffman. Bissell took over for the last 13 laps in a successful bid to get Bevin back into the GC lead. Huffman was ultimately dropped with about five laps to go.
Slower speeds in the final three laps of the race meant that riders started to swarm a bit, leading to confusion and bumping in the field. Bevin, Hanson and Williams boxed Logan in on the final stretch, but Logan was able to get outside and move up enough to gain his place on the podium.
Logan’s third-place finish earned him a 4-second time bonus, which puts him and teammate Serge Tvetcov just 23 seconds behind Bevin for the overall lead. Serge sits in third place overall, Logan in fourth. Optum Pro Cycling’s Tom Zirbel is in second place with 22 seconds needed to bridge the gap.
With two riders in the race for GC, Team Exergy is ready to take on tomorrow’s final stage of the Merco Cycling Classic, a 200k road race. Tvetcov will wear the Best Young Rider jersey and Loader will sport the Points jersey for the final stage.
Merco Cycling Classic - Stage 3
In a confused and raucous finish, Logan Loader pulled himself out of the crowd and into a third-place finish in today’s Downtown Grand Prix. A big crowd turned out to watch the racers tear up the streets of downtown Merced and attack the 40 laps of a 1.5km circuit.
Bissell Pro Cycling’s Patrick Bevin took first today with a time of 78 minutes, putting him back in the yellow jersey. Second place went to Optum Pro Cycling’s Ken Hanson who crossed the line half a bike length behind Bevin in a photo finish with Loader. Former national U-23 crit champion Justin Williams came in fourth.
Team California Giant/Specialized controlled the race for the first 27 laps as they worked to protect their man in yellow, Evan Huffman. Bissell took over for the last 13 laps in a successful bid to get Bevin back into the GC lead. Huffman was ultimately dropped with about five laps to go.
Slower speeds in the final three laps of the race meant that riders started to swarm a bit, leading to confusion and bumping in the field. Bevin, Hanson and Williams boxed Logan in on the final stretch, but Logan was able to get outside and move up enough to gain his place on the podium.
Logan’s third-place finish earned him a 4-second time bonus, which puts him and teammate Serge Tvetcov just 23 seconds behind Bevin for the overall lead. Serge sits in third place overall, Logan in fourth. Optum Pro Cycling’s Tom Zirbel is in second place with 22 seconds needed to bridge the gap.
With two riders in the race for GC, Team Exergy is ready to take on tomorrow’s final stage of the Merco Cycling Classic, a 200k road race. Tvetcov will wear the Best Young Rider jersey and Loader will sport the Points jersey for the final stage.