Roderyck Asconeguy Diaz (MC Cycling Team) and Alexis Magner (L39ION of Los Angeles) won the elite men’s and elite women’s races at the Rock&Road Criterium in Newnan, Georgia.
Diaz won the men’s race, beating Sunny King Criterium winner Alfredo Rodriguez (Reign Storm Racing) to the finish line, while Lucas Bourgoyne (Austin Outlaws) took third place.
“The Colombian rider Bryan Gomez and his team [Reign Storm Racing] were very strong, and he was my reference in the peloton,” Diaz said. “Our team only had two, and they had a full team, so we were at a disadvantage. It made the race hard, but we were focused on them when they attacked.
“In the gambler prime, that was the winning move, in the sprint, it made a difference. After that prime, I tried to take it easy to recover, to sprint again and win.”
In the women’s criterium, Magner was the fastest in the final, crossing the line first ahead of Harriet Owen (DNA Pro Cycling) in second place and Ivanie Blondin (Team Goldman Sachs ETF’s Racing) in third.
“The winning move was the sprint for the gambler’s prime, and a gap opened to about four or five riders. I was following Kendall [Ryan] because she was going to be leading me out for the sprint. But she realised that it was a breakaway with two laps to go, and had to close that gap,” Magner said.
As we came through with one to go, she was kind of gassed but had to close the gap, and then she did the lead-out. She put in an amazing effort, but if she hadn’t done that, that breakaway might have stuck it to the end. She led me down the back straight away, took me to the final corners, and I sprinted.”
The event marked the second round of the USA Crits series, where Magner moved into the overall lead in the women’s rankings after finishing second place at the Sunny King Criterium and winning Rock&Road Criterium.
She now leads the series with 476 points, ahead of round one winner Kendall Ryan (L39ION of Los Angeles) who slipped to second overall with 470. Owen is positioned in third place in the ranking with a total of 456 points after finishing third place in round one and second place in round two.
In the men’s overall standings, Rodriguez maintained his overall lead with 513 points after finishing first and second in the first two rounds. Diaz is now in second place overall with 500 points after finishing third in the opening round and winning round two. Third place in the overall standings is Alberto Rafael Ramos Vargas (CRCA/Foundation), who now has 424 points.
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