Ryan Roth wins Winston-Salem Classic with a bike throw

Ryan Roth of Silber Pro Cycling took an emphatic win in the 177-km Winston-Salem Classic on May 30, edging out former American national champion Eric Marcotte in a sprint from a group of five. Evan Huffman of Rally Cycling finished third. Roth gauged his effort in the finale to perfection, saving enough energy on the climb to out sprint Marcotte.

The final laps were defined by a hectic pace with every rider in the reduced front group launching attacks. Bruno Langlois of Garneau-Quebecor had been in the original 14-man break along with Roth’s teammate Benjamin Perry but managed to break away on the penultimate lap briefly holding a 10-second lead. Launching a second attack in the final 5-km Langlois was the only rider whose moved looked like it might stick. However, Huffman’s Rally teammate and former American time trial champion Tom Zirbel was able to bring the gap to Langlois down enough that he was caught before the final climb.

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The 14-lap UCI 1.1 race is held on an urban circuit in Winstom-Salem, North Carolina and the run into the finish line features a grueling drag. When Roth launched his sprint, Marcotte hesitated before following with Roth taking the win by a wheel length.

On Silber’s Facebook page the team said that the win was special, “Roth’s our leader. He’s battled back from injury and is back on the top step.” Silber started their 2016 campaign on a tear. Matteo Dal-Cin took the overall win at Redlands Cycling Classic, Nigel Ellsay was second overall at the Joe Martin Stage Race and Alex Cataford finished second at the Tour of the Gila. Mike Sayers, USA Cycling’s elite and U23 programs director praised Silber on twitter writing, “They are the team of 2016.”

Wow, @SilberProTeam with an other big win. They are the team of 2016

— Michael Sayers (@Mickeyhavoc) May 31, 2016

After the race Roth credited a great team effort for the win, “Another great effort by the whole team yesterday. …Elliot [Doyle] handing out bottles after his race was cut short. Ben [Perry] making the main break of the day allowing us to be confident that if it stuck he would be one of the favourites for the win,” wrote Roth on Facebook.

Silber’s next race is the Philadelphia Cycling Classic on June 6.

In the women’s race on May 30, 22-year-old Italian Rossella Ratto of Cylance Pro Cycling took the teams first UCI victory soloing away on the final lap. Her teammate, Valentina Scandolara won the sprint for second place over Coryn Rivera (UnitedHealthcare).

Lex Albrecht of Bepink was the top Canadian finishing in 10th place.