Rally Cycling’s Colin Joyce finished fourth on the demanding final stage of Vuelta Castilla y Leon in northern Spain yesterday. The result launched him into fourth on the final general classification. After a week of hard work in the mountains of northern Spain, the team was rewarded with a victory in the Team Classification.
After a string of top tens in Europe this season, including ninth on stage one and tenth on stage two at Castilla y Leon, Joyce continues on the path to success in Europe.
“It feels great,” said Joyce. “It’s not a win, but still a nice result. I keep making steps in the right direction so I’m excited to be mixing it up over here more and more. Robin Carpenter was smashing it all day in the break and Brandon McNulty had a good dig over the top of the last main climb that almost stayed away. It helped relieve some pressure on Ryan Anderson and I as we prepared for the finish.”
Starting in the town of Segovia and finishing in Avila, the final stage featured four categorized climbs over 165 km, concluding with an uphill drag to the finish. Carpenter was not to be denied the breakaway and covered moves until one finally stuck. Building up an advantage of a few minutes, the race reshuffled over the day’s final climb with Ruben Plaza, the sole survivor of the day’s breakaway making it to win the stage.
With the team’s upgrade to Pro Continental status in 2018, racing in Europe has been a necessary step for the program’s future development.
“I’m very happy with how the guys have been progressing this season in terms of their ability to follow through,” said Team Director Pay McCarty. “I keep telling them they are strong enough to race here. Now they are getting the skills and confidence to do it.”
Upcoming races include the Tour de Yorkshire, May 3rd – 6th, and the Tour of California, May 13th – 19th.
Stage 3 Results
1 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy 4:01:34
2 Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Muria 0:00:46
3 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Movistar Team
4 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally Cycling 0:00:49
5 Mario Gonzalez Salas (Spa) Sporting-Tavira 0:00:51
Final General Classification
1 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy 12:51:07
2 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:35
3 Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:00:42
4 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally Cycling 0:00:55
5 Diego Rubio Hernandez (Spa) Burgos BH
Final Team Classification
1 Rally Cycling 38:36:26
2 Burgos-BH 0:02
3 Caja Rural – Seguros RGA 0:04
