American Continental and development team Axeon Hagens Berman is enjoying its most successful season yet since entering the peloton nine years ago, with Colin Joyce the eighth and latest rider to taste success in 2016.
The 22-year-old, who was second in the Tour of Utah opener, was late to the day's breakaway, but when it counted he was first over the line in Lethbridge, narrowly beating Cannondale-Drapac's Alex Howes to secure the first leader's jersey of the Tour of Alberta.
"Alex Howes was coming up on my wheel pretty fast, so that was kind of scary," said Joyce of his first professional victory. "But then I saw him beat his handlebars and I thought that meant I held on."
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Up against the likes of fare more experienced riders such as Howes, Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), Francisco Mancebo (Skydive Dubai) and Antoine Duchesne (Direct Energie), who all have ridden the Tour de France, Joyce explained how he won the stage.
"Part of me actually thought it was going to be a late breakaway that stuck," he said. "So I was kind of coming around and waiting for a lull to maybe take my own shot at a break. The big one was by Daniel Eaton (UnitedHealthcare) and then Mollema just decided to drill it. I hopped on his wheel and he kept drilling it. He took it to 800 meters and that is when I realized it was going to come down to a little sprint. So I tried to position myself as best as possible. I put my head down and suffered the last 200 meters."
Having taken the leader's jersey, team director Axel Merckx explained the team will decide on its tactics for the remaining three stages and its ambitions for the overall.
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