Routley wants medal at Commonwealth Games

Canada’s Will Routley has his sights set on a medal performance at the Commonwealth Games held from July 23 to Aug. 3 in Glasgow, Scotland. The former national road champion believes the challenging course suits his climbing strengths and opportunistic style of racing.

“I hear the Commonwealth Games is a nasty, tough and hilly course and I’d like to get a medal,” said Routley, who hopes to make the national team selection.

Routley will be racing with the Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies team during the 2014 season. He joined the U.S.-based continental team after racing with the professional continental outfit Accent Jobs – Wanty in Belgium. The team will compete in USA Cycling’s National Racing Calendar (NRC) and many of the UCI sanctioned events in North America.

“I’m pretty excited to ride with Optum,” Routley said. “The group of guys on the team is just fantastic, both riders and managers.

“I will have a lot of freedom to go for results in stage races on the hard days. I don’t know if I’m a mountain climber, but the hard, hilly days are always the kind I like. The team has such a strong sprinting group and it would be great if I could help those guys out from time to time, but I think they have a good handle on it. I’ll need to step up on the non-sprint days.”

Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies won the NRC’s overall team title this season. The 2014 team also includes Canada’s Ryan Anderson and Jesse Anthony, Alex Candelario, Jeremy Durrin, Mike Friedman, Bjorn Selander, Tom Soloday, Tom Zirbel, Scott Zwizanski, Eric Young, Brad Huff and Carter Jones.