San Dimas, California - The Hagens Berman Axeon Cycling Team’s Thomas Revard capped off three days of racing at the San Dimas Stage Race by placing second in the stage as well as finishing in second place in the general classification, a mere two seconds behind overall race winner Cory Lockwood (Project Echelon Racing).
Lockwood was the rider responsible for the breakaway after the stage’s first time bonus. Revard, the 20-year-old Indiana native, was quick to cover the move and later instructed to ride the break as long as he could.
“Thomas made a smart move by following the Elevate riders and Lockwood,” said sport director Jeff Louder. “With Thomas behind Lockwood it was more about making the other teams work so that our guys could prepare for the sprint to try to get those critical last seconds to move Blevins up [in the GC].”
Entering today’s final stage criterium, Revard was 22 seconds back from GC leader Jordan Cheyne (Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling). That didn’t deter the current Under 23 crit national champion from going for it when Louder told him the peloton wasn’t going to bring them back, he needed to win the sprint or drop Lockwood.
“I attacked on the last lap up the hill and he had a tiny gap coming on to the home stretch but unfortunately I got nicked at the line by the Elevate rider [Sam Bassetti] that was with us.”
When asked if he felt any pressure going into the last few laps as a crit national champion, Revard responded that it didn’t even register. “I was focused on trying to bring home the yellow jersey, but it did feel awesome to rep the Stars and Stripes,” he said. “It was a little disappointing to to miss the win by two seconds, but that’s racing. In the end, Cory rode like a boss and deserved the win.”
Blevins finished the stage in seventh place and swapped positions with Revard in the GC for fourth. Edward Anderson was the third rider in the top 10 in the GC and Zeke Mostov claimed the KOM jersey.
“It was an exciting and tactical race and the guys did all they could to improve on their already amazing results this weekend,” said Louder. “Everyone contributed and I think we can be very proud of the victory in stage 2, a podium in the GC and the other two stages, as well as Zeke’s KOM jersey.”
This year’s lean squad worked well together throughout the three days of racing despite it being the first time the four riders had raced together as teammates. Newcomers Revard and Mostov were right at home with veterans Blevins and Anderson, both in their now second year with the team.
“I thought that we raced very cohesively the entire weekend, which is a great sign when it’s your first race together as a team,” said Anderson. “Our communication was strong and frequent, which helped us all stay on the same page, and race with purpose. Most importantly, we all raced our hearts out with passion. It makes me eager for more, and I can’t wait for more races with these guys.”
(Header photo of Thomas Revard by Davey Wilson.)
