The cold temperatures couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the riders at the Hincapie Development Team Training Camp this weekend. The team got together in Greenville for the first time this season. George Hincapie joined us for the activities, as he always takes an active role in the development of the riders on the team. George’s BMC teammate and former Hincapie Devo Team member, Chris Butler rode with the team as well.

The team did some training on some of George’s favorite roads around Greenville. Thanks to Ric and his fellow wrenches at The Great Escape bicycle shop, the team was rolling on their new BMC ProMachine bicycles. Everyone got comfortable on the new bikes, which were outfitted with Shimano Dura Ace components and Thomson stems and seat posts. These guys really are riding the best equipment in the world. Look for more photos and information on the team in upcoming posts.

George and Chris Butler setting a good tempo.

Hincapie Development Team Rider, Chris Butler has been making the most of his tour of Europe with the USA National Team.  Chris has shown his coaches and teammates that he has the talent to compete on the elite level and they have been giving him a chance to shine.  Most recently, he’s scored some great results in a couple Spanish stage races.
Chris’ forte is his climbing ability, and he had a chance to flex his muscle in the Vuelta Zamora and the Vuelta Palenca (U23).  Several mountain top finishes allowed him to prove his abilities against some stiff competition.  We’re proud to pass on his results.

Vuelta Zamora
16th in prologue
9th in mountainous stage
7th in mountaintop finish stage
6th GC overall
Best Young Rider Award

Vuelta Palenca (U23)
5th in mountaintop finish stage
2nd in mountaintop finish stage (One guy was off the front, so he may have won if he didn't have such a head start!!)
11th time trial
6th GC overall

Way to go Chris.  We’re proud of you.

Ty Magner coming at you fast and furious in the finish of the 17-18 National Championship Junior Road Race last week.

The Hincapie Development team did really well to affect all the races they competed in last week in Bend, OR.  Ty’s 4th place in the men's RR and Cinthia Lehner’s 4th place in the women’s 17-18 criterium garnered 2 podiums for the team.  Mentor, Steve Carpenter reports that the guys road really well as a team throughout the entire event.  They supported each other and really went for the gold.  We’re proud of the whole group.

Cinthia Lehner scored a 4th place finish in the women's 17-18 Junior National Championship Criterium.  She sent me the following photos of the podium ceremony.  Great job, Cinthia!

I’m very proud to announce that Hincapie Development Team strongman, Ty Magner placed 4th in the 17-18 men’s road race at the USA Cycling Junior National Championships yesterday.  The team rode well together in their first race in Bend, OR.  Early support from Stradford Helms and Aubrey Moore helped set up a selection that included Ty, Tyler Karnes and Blair Turner.  Blair worked hard to keep everything together, but three men eventually escaped off the front of the break on the challenging course.  In the end, Tyler led out Ty, who unleashed his impressive finishing speed to beat everyone left for 4th place.  It was a great effort by all and we’re very proud of them.

The result shows that the guys are on form and racing well together, especially Ty.  He comes to Nationals following a very impressive performance at the Tour de l’Abitibi in Canada, a UCI Junior Stage Race that attracts top junior teams from all over the world.  Ty’s results in Canada included two 4th place finishes, 9th place overall GC and 2nd in the point jersey competition.

Cinthia Lehner raced a strong race in the women’s 17-18 road race yesterday, placing 7th.  She is looking to repeat and even better her podium finish in last year’s TT.  We wish her the best of luck as she goes for the gold in the TT and the criterium.  Look for more great performances from Ty and the rest of the Hincapie Development Team this weekend.  The Time Trial is today and the Criterium is on Sunday.

Way to go team!

L-R: Steve Carpenter, Blair Turner, Tyler Karnes, Stradford Helms, Aubrey Moore

Today was a bright day for us.  We started with our 5 kids in a race that we knew we had good chances for success.  Our idea was to be patient and not let anything dangerous get up the road without us.  Very basic tactics, but this was a straight forward race as far as we were concerned.
 
The first 2 laps were of course hard, as it IS the National Championship, but it wasn't blazing.  We were able to ride into it.  Aubrey, Strad and Blair were not feeling on their best form today, so they communicated very well to Ty and Tyler.  They put forth big efforts in the first half to take the pressure off and thin out the group a bit.
 
Unfortunately, we were down to just 2 riders on the last 2 laps.  This was not really the best, but other teams thinned out as well and our boys were feeling it today.  This was pure and simple a race off attrition.
 
With 1 lap to go there was a group of 2 and then a single rider who slipped away.  Not in an obvious attack, but he rolled away and we missed it.  But our boys regrouped, made the best of the situation and took care of business.  With about 2K to go Ty was in the wind, so he reached out in front of him and pulled Tyler (with his hand) to the other side for a wind block. He asked Tyler to drive it and he closed a gap that was dangerous.  He deposited Ty off in the last corner with 250 meters to go and our boy did his job!
 
This was the best our kids have ridden together all year. They sold out for each other and communicated very well between themselves.  We are in high spirits tonight and looking forward to the next 2 races here.
 
Carp

Hincapie-Barkley Development Program
Associate coach www.kingdomsports.net

I think the dry western air is getting to Blair.  We told him to be friendly to the locals when he's passing through.  This isn't exactly what we meant.

The racing starts on Thursday.  Stay tuned.

Steve Carpenter is on his way to Bend, OR with the Hincapie Development Team for the Junior National Championships.  From where I'm sitting, Bend is just about as far away as you can get from Greenville, SC.  To save some money, he packed up his van, gathered Strad and Blair and headed west.  They sent us some pictures from the road.  It's a long trip, but they are stopping to ride a little along the way.  We'll keep you updated as we get news and images from Oregon.

Blair and Strad clown around, while Carpenter...uses his Blackberry...to work?  2-3 emails and you don't have to count it as vacation...ha ha.

Accommodations in WY can be a little "rustic".

Traveling in style in the Family Truckster!  Is that oil under that thing...or is that just Blair playing hide and seek?

I have to apologize for doing a terrible job of keeping you guys updated on the racing and traveling that's been going on lately.  As Tyler mentioned, both Chris Butler and myself are back in Europe doing some more racing for the National team.  But to go backwards a bit-the rest of my first trip to Europe went ok.  Cycling is a sport of up and downs, and there were highs and lows on that first trip.  Some stomach problems knocked me out of contention for GC at Vuelta Tarragona, but I did have three good stages in a row.  The 2nd stage I was able to make the lead split of only 15ish riders on the two climbs, although it ended up coming back together for a mid-sized bunch sprint.  The next two days were much more selective and I was able to place inside the top 30 both times, and well up in the young rider/u23 classification.  Another high point came a week later when I made the breakaway at a kermesse that was out front for 80k-we got caught near the end, but I was happy to be on the offensive in a flat race.  After that, I did a few more one day races, including a personal favorite, fleche ardennaisse. 

Fleche Ardenaisse is in the same hills as the great Monument Liege-Bastogne-Liege, and is a prestigious race for Belgian Continental Professionals and the best elite amateurs in Belgium, Holland, France, etc.  It was carried out in horrid rain and very cold temperatures.  After a small crash early on, I passed over 150 riders on the first two climbs to bridge up to the leading group on the road.  This group of under 30 riders road out front the rest of the race, before detonating on the finish circuit.  Even a place in the 20s at such a big race would have been nice, but here is where my trip began to spiral downhill.  I crashed again and had some problems with my knee that led me to pull out.  The last two races of my trip I was tired, sick, beat up and ready for a break, and didn't even finish.

While I was at Fleche Ardenaisse, Butler was having a great race in the alps, supporting a teammate into 2nd place at the Tour of Haut-Savoie and finishing near the top ten on GC himself.  Since then, we both enjoyed a nice (but short) break at home, and are now back in Europe.  We've been here just over a week, no spectacular results yet, mostly just getting back into the swing of things, getting over jet lag, etc.  Hopefully we have some good things to report soon.

So this year the Hincapie Development Team has been in full swing.  While u23 riders Christian Parrett and Chris Butler have been tearing it up overseas, the junior development squad has been making some waves in the states.

In May, the team headed to Johnson City, Tennessee, on the way to the Worlds Qualifiers.  The race was the Sanofi Aventis Omnium.  In the road race, we had many cards to play, considering it was a Cat 1/2/3 event.  A break went away early, and I set tempo early to bring it back.  While this was futile, we ended up setting up for the final climb. I rode tempo, making a select group on the climb.  Blair Turner ended up being our top finisher, in 11th.  Mentor Steve Carpenter led the team home with a win in the Masters division.  In the prologue time trial, AJ Meyer scored a solid result, reaching the podium in 3rd.  The crit went well for us as well.  In the Catagory 3 race, Blair Turner attacked from the gun, and was on a solo effort until another rider bridged.  They ended up staying away and Blair came in a close second, while Stradford Helms kept the field in check and grabbed 2nd in the field sprint for 4th overall.  In the Pro 1/2 Crit, the team rode perfectly, setting up AJ Meyer for the field sprint.  He ended up 2nd, within a wheel of the win.  Not bad for a downhill field sprint on junior gears.

After this weekend, the team headed to the Junior World Championship Trials in Nashville, Tennessee.  This was a very important event, with the winners earning a spot to represent the US at the world championships in Moscow, Russia.  The weekend started out with a time trial.  The distance was 16 miles, rolling. I led the team in 16th place.  In the RR, we had a full squad, thus more cards to play.  Right out of the neutral, Ty Magner attacked and quickly got a gap.  Just a few miles in his advantage was 3 minutes.  This inspired most teams to chase.  After a hot and miserable day, Blair Turner was our only finisher in a very select group.  

Determined to rebound, the team headed up to Fitchburg, Massachusets for the Fitchburg Longsjo Stage Race, one of the oldest races in America.  The race started with a time trial, with myself leading the team in 13th, followed by AJ and Blair in 14th and 15th respectively all just seconds shy of the top ten.  In stage 2, I suffered a mechanical.  The team was led in by Ty, grabbing a good result in the field sprint.  The stage 3 road race went better, with myself making a select chase group and finishing 11th, followed by Blair in 14th.  In the stage 4 criterium, AJ and Ty rounded out the week with solid results in the crit.

On to another elite junior event, the team drove to Lexington, Kentucky for the UCI Red River Gorge Stage Race.  This is a very prestigious event, with elite juniors from around america having to receive an invitation to race.  In the Stage 1 prologue, AJ Meyer and Ty Magner topped the team with 5th and 8th overall.  In the stage 2 road race, the team all finished together in the field after a very fast race.  Stage 3 was a longer time trial, 22.5km's.  I topped the leaderboard early on, until I was bested by Ty, where we finished 18th and 17th respectively.  Stage 4 was the queen stage, a tough point to point road race.  This was the worlds qualifier course last year, so it proved to be very selective.  Ty outlasted everybody, making the select front group, ending up 11th.  I followed closely in a chase group for 18th, followed by Blair and Strad in the field.  Aj had numerous bike problems, and made it home inside the time cut, as well as Aubrey Moore who was caught behind a crash.  Going into the final stage, the team had high hopes of pulling a result in the criterium, but crashes and tough tactics got the best of us.  Ty rounded out the week with a solid top 15 on GC.

Team members are in various places as we speak.  Chris and Christian have made the journey back over to europe with the under-23 national team, and will skip nationals in order to race some of the biggest espoir races in the world.  Ty and Aubrey are currently racing in Canada at the Tour of L'abitibi, a UCI Junior Nations Cup event.  Ty has been showing great form, pulling 4th in both road stages this week so far, and sits 10th on GC going into the closing stages.  I am currently in Bend, Oregon preparing for the Cascades Classic, which starts tomorrow.  The team will culminate next week for Junior Road Nationals in Bend, which will prove to be a great event for us.

Thats all for now, stay tuned for more updates as we progress through the next couple weeks.

Tyler Karnes

The team during the team presentation at the UCI Red River Gorge Stage Race in Kentucky (L-R) Director Steve Baker, Director Randall Maddox, Blair Turner, Tyler Karnes, Ty Magner, Stradford Helms, Aubrey Moore, AJ Meyer