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Reijnen wins Thompson Bucks County road race

September 11, 2013
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Thompson Bucks County ClassicOn Saturday, Kiel Reijnen (UnitedHealthcare) won the 165-km Thompson Bucks County road race in Doylestown, Pa. Reijnen out sprinted two others, Joe Lewis (Hincapie Sportswear) and Matthew Cooke (Jamis-Hagens Berman), who finished second and third in the UCI 1.2-ranked road race. The top Canadian finisher was Anton Varabei (Jet Fuel-Norco) who crossed the line in 19th place, 2:39 behind the winner.

The winning move evolved from the initial 16-rider early breakaway. The course’s technical and hilly parcours suited aggressive racing as smaller groups and breakaways had an advantage. Knowing that teams would be unable to get organized, UnitedHealthcare was sure to place three riders in the early move, Lucas Euser, Danny Summerhill and the day’s winner Reijnen. In the final 15 km, there were only nine riders remaining of the original 16 because of the hard riding by Jamis-Hagens Berman’s two riders in the move, Ben Jacques-Maynes and Matthew Cooke. With more than 60 km remaining, they were launching attacks trying to reduce the group. These efforts were to no avail; even though Matthew Cooke was a part of the winning trio, he was unable to take the win.

Back in the peloton, the challenges were slightly different as tactical racing ensued. “There was way too much firepower up the road and too little organization and strength in the field,” said Anton Varabei after the race. “The winning breakaway formed from the first attacks of the race. I had the perfect opportunity to follow them as I was cresting over the hill (that forced the selection) right with the best of them. I chose to be tactical with the expectation that the rest of the field would respond.”

Strength was not the deciding factor of the day as many of the pre-race favourites who decided to wait for an opportune moment were left behind. Full results can be found on the race website.