News: Quinn Wins More Gold for USA

USA won their second rainbow jersey as Quinn Simmons won the Junior Men’s Road Race ahead of Italy’s Alessio Martinelli and Simmons compatriot Magnus Sheffield – the GB team did themselves proud with an attacking ride and 7th for Alfie George

News: Quinn Wins More Gold for USA

USA won their second rainbow jersey and added another two medals to their Yorkshire2019 tally as Quinn Simmons won the Junior Men’s Road Race ahead of Italy’s Alessio Martinelli and Simmons compatriot Magnus Sheffield.

The USA team was active right from the start, along with the GB riders, and after thinning out the field and getting in a five up break with GB’s Lewis Askey, Quinn made his winning move on the first of three laps of the Harrogate circuit. The 18 year old sprung clear with 33km to go on the short, sharp Oak Beck climb and never looked back as he soloed to the biggest win of his fledgling career. Quinn triumphed by a 56-second winning margin, with solo pursuer Martinelli taking the silver medal before Sheffield outsprinted three rivals for third.

Once again, the weather gods played their part in the drama. Richmond was bathed in sunshine at the start of the day as huge crowds, including hundreds of local schoolchildren, packed Market Place to see the riders away.

The conditions deteriorated on the 106.6km trek to Harrogate as the peloton wound their way through Buckden, Burnsall and Blubberhouses. Over these tough Yorkshire climbs, the GB riders got stuck in, attacking off the front and making or getting in moves as the USA did a good job of controlling the race like no other nation. The Isle of Man’s Max Walker had most of the spot light on him from GB during these skermishes as he went solo for along period, forcing the other teams to chase him hard causing a lot of damage in the peloton.

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By the time the riders hit the Harrogate circuit with 41.5km still to go, the heavens had truly opened, but yet again, that didn’t stop thousands of fans lining the now-famous drag up to the finish line.

Not surprisingly, it was on that third and final lap where Simmons received his loudest cheer of the day, and the Coloradan even had time to snatch his national flag from family at the side of the road before celebrating his hard-fought victory. Alfie George led Great Britain home in seventh place meanwhile.

USA rider Quinn Simmons said: “It was always the plan to try and win solo and my training’s been aimed at that. Everything went perfectly today. The roads here are rolling and heavy, and that was a long distance for a junior race. Add the rain into that mix and it wore a lot of people down – which worked to our advantage. When the course was revealed I knew it’d suit me and it’s been my goal ever since. To win solo with a flag passed to me by my family is probably the coolest experience I’ll ever have in my life. The support here was crazy as well – the largest crowd I’ve ever experienced in a junior race. I loved it all and I’d definitely like to come back to Yorkshire in the future.”

Sam Watson said: “It was a tough route – up and down all day – and made even tougher by the wet conditions. I ride these roads all the time and I never knew you could actually ride them that quickly. Being local, there was quite a lot of pressure on me but I’m able to deal with that quite well. This whole Championships has been an amazing experience and even though I didn’t come away with the result I wanted, the crowds were absolutely fantastic and they definitely kept me going.”

Lewis Askey: “Left it all out on the road today & just ran out of steam in the winning break. “Support at the roadside was UNREAL! Hope I gave you all something to cheer for! That’s it, Junior done!”

Alfie George: “Crazy tough day out at the World Road Race Championships in Yorkshire, finished it off with 7th from the “bunch” kick”.

1. Quinn Simmons USA 03:38:04
2. Alessio Martinelli Italy @ 56
3. Magnus Sheffield USA @ 1:33
4. Enzo Leijnse Netherlands @ 1:33
5. Gianmarco Garofoli Italy @ 1:33
6. Vegard Stokke Norway @ 1:33
7. Alfie George Great Britain @ 1:45
8. Frederik Wandahl Denmark @ 1:45
9. Jakub Boucek Czech Republic @ 1:45
10. Milan Paulus Belgium @ 1:45

15. Leo Hayter Great Britain @ 1:45
22. Lewis Askey Great Britain @ 4:39
28. Sam Watson Great Britain @ 8:45
30. Max Walker Great Britain @ 9:18