Young US rider Ashlin Barry stole the show in France this weekend at Tour du Bocage et de l’Ernée, winning the opening stage and GC title across the three stages. It was the first UCI stage race in Europe for Barry, part of the five-rider squad for Team USA Juniors.
After taking the GC lead in a sprint against a breakaway companion on stage 1, Barry scored top 10s in a stage doubleheader on Sunday, the individual time trial and stage 3 road race, to secure the overall victory. He also secured the young rider classification.
Barry, a 16-year-old who rides for the EF Education-ONTO development team, suffered crashes on both the road races. On Sunday final stage, he needed a bike change and help across 45 minutes from teammate Noah Streif to rejoin the lead group and hold his overall lead with a fourth-place finish. Streif was the next highest-placed US rider, finishing 27th overall.
The duo were part of the Team USA National squad, one of 14 international teams in the race alongside 21 French teams which brought 174 riders to the start on Saturday. Also racing for Team USA were Enzo Edmonds, Benjamin Juracich and Otis Engle.
Barry won the 120.3km opening stage of Tour du Bocage et de l’Ernée on Saturday, a rain-soaked affair that team director Rusty Miller called “a gutsy ride” for his first stage win.
Stage 1 began with a large circuit from St Ellier du Maine and then a final circuit of 8.18km completed three times for the finish in Pontmain. The team worked to chase down a solo breakaway, Senna Remijn (ACROG Tormans), who was caught with 49km to go.
“I tried to stay pretty calm. [The race was] definitely sketchy. A lot of the roads were really twisty and it was pouring rain the whole time and windy. But as the group got smaller and the race went on, it felt a bit safer. I did crash early on, so it was definitely sketchy,” Barry said with a broad smile afterwards.
Over the next 20km more riders had tries at solo flyers, including Axel Bouquet (Lepelley Electricite U19) who began losing his 15-second advantage nearing the final finishing lap.
With 10km to go, Barry made inroads on Bouquet and the two began the final circuit together. After the final corner with 500 metres to go, Barry launched his sprint and won the uphill sprint easily in front of his breakaway companion. His teammate Streif finished 12th.
“I felt really good today. I…
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