Carson Mattern continues to impress in the early season in Arizona. After a big win at the Valley of the Sun in Phoenix, the TaG Cycling rider finished second at the Tucson Bicycle Classic. The stage race consisted of four events—a 7 km time trial, Eddy Merckx-style, a criterium, and two road races.
Other Canadian highlights included Jonas Walton placing second in the time trial, Mattern’s teammate Campbell Parrish finishing third in the road race, and TaG’s Mairen Lawson taking sixth overall in the women’s race.
Eddy Merckx-style TT
The time trial—ridden without time trial bikes or extension bars—was something Mattern hadn’t done much of before.
“Yes, I was happy with the TT. It’s hard to get it right sometimes with prologues, but I think it was a good performance given I hadn’t done any specific prep,” he said. “I haven’t done too many Merckx-style time trials, so it was another variable in the mix.”
As for the rest of the Tucson Bicycle Classic, he said it was chaotic.
Shorter, hairier stages
“The stages were a lot shorter than the Valley of the Sun, which made it a lot harder to take control. Managing effort and risk—especially in a very sketchy criterium—was key,” he said. “There was a lot of shuffling around in the final stage, which was a super-fast and aggressive circuit race. The GC was so tight, and with so many moves coming and going, bonuses on the line, crashes and splits opening, it was necessary to fight to stay right at the front the whole time. It all shook out to me finishing second overall and as the top under-23.”
Up next: Redlands
Mattern will remain in Tucson for an additional week with his TaG team to train before heading to Spain. His next race is the Redlands Bicycle Classic, a major goal for the 21-year-old Olympian.
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