Eric Marcotte (Jamis) claimed his first victory of the season in a chaotic bunch sprint on stage 4 of the Tour of the Gila, topping sprint leader Travis McCabe and Kris Dahl (Silber) in the 40-lap criterium.
The Jelly Belly-Maxxis team was well represented at the head of affairs to keep race leader Lachlan Morton out of trouble. Morton finished in the peloton safely behind the sprint, keeping a close eye on second placed Alex Cataford (Silber) and Rob Britton (Rally Cycling) who is third.
Marcotte, a former criterium and road race national champion joined the Jamis team this year, and has spent the majority of the season working for team leader Janier Acevedo, who wore the leader's jersey in three stage races this season, so he hasn't yet been able to show his prowess in the sprints. But when he and Argentinean sprinter Sebastian Haedo lost each other in the final few laps, it was every man for himself.
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"It was a good sprint for Travis McCabe, Kris Dahl of Silber and Haedo because it's such a fast run-in, and those guys are really good at high speeds," Marcotte said. "But Seba and I lost each other's wheels in the final laps, and I put a flyer out there and let him sit in with the lead-outs that were with Axeon, Silber and Hincapie (Holowesko-Citadel). He found a spot, and I think Travis and Dahl got him at the line, but he knew I won it, so it was good."
"This is only the second time I've done this [crit], it's a bit more difficult and the longer the race is, the better I do, and the more punchy and harder the crit is the better I have the chance of getting up there in the finish," he said. "It's really good to represent the team and come away with some positive results."
Morton's Jelly Belly crew kept close tabs on all of the attacks that went down in the stage, ensuring that no breakaway ever got firmly established. There were three time bonuses during the stage, but the only drama in those sprints came between two teammates - with Axeon's Tao Geoghegan Hart taking the second in one sprint and moving ahead of Neilson Powless in the best young rider classification.
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