Denver, Colo. – Sprinter Alessandro Bazzana captured Team UnitedHealthcare’s second podium and fourth top five finish of the 2013 USA Pro Challenge when he sprinted to 3rd place in Stage 7 on Sunday, August 25. Bazzana’s effort was outdone only by winner, Peter Sagan of Cannondale Pro Cycling (who captured his fourth stage win in this year’s Pro Challenge), and Ryan Anderson of Optum Pro Cycling p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies, who finished second.
BMC Racing Team’s Tejay van Garderen rode away as the champion of this year’s overall race while teammate Mathias Frank took 2nd place in the General Classification. Team Garmin-Sharp’s Tom Danielson, finished third on GC. Philip Deignan was the Team UnitedHealthcare’s highest placed rider on GC, finishing 10th overall.
Bazzana was able to make good on his statement a day earlier (following his 5th place finish in Stage 6), where he said he believed he had the legs to land on the podium in Stage 7. When asked about his podium finish after the final stanza of America’s Race, Bazzana credited his teammates.
“Today, we were able to get on the podium thanks to perfectly executed teamwork,” he said. “We put a guy (Lucas Euser) in the break and we sat on wheels all day back in the peloton. That kept us fresh for the final and we took responsibility as a team, leading the way into the last 5km.”
“I could follow the fastest line coming into the last turn and made up lots of ground on the other sprinters that beat me earlier this week. Being on the podium next to a rider like Sagan motivates me to work harder in the future. It also gets easier when you can rely on teammates and staff who are so committed like the ones we have here with this team,” Bazzana concluded.
Lucas Euser put in a Herculean effort to keep the pressure on the opposition throughout the Downtown Denver circuit race. Euser was part of a seven-man breakaway that would stick for most of the flat and fast 116.5km/72.4-mile race. Clearly a favorite on the day to earn “Most Aggressive Rider”, Euser did win the last Sprint Bar competition of the race before the finish in Denver, en route to finishing 15th overall in the General Classification.
General Manager and Team Director, Mike Tamayo said, “Execution was the name of the game for us today. Lucas was off the front putting pressure on teams and the boys laid it all on the line with 8km as a lead out. Bazzana finished the job and was able to repay his teammates effort with a solid podium finish.”
TEAM UNITEDHEALTHCARE ROSTER FOR 2013 USA PRO CHALLENGE:
Alessandro Bazzana (ITA)
Jonny Clarke (AUS)
Ben Day (AUS)
Phil Deignan (IRL)
Lucas Euser (USA)
Chris Jones (USA)
Jeff Louder (USA)
Kiel Reijnen (USA)
