Matthew Busche bursts to USA Cycling men's road race title

Matthew Busche riding for Trek Factory Racing takes the win on Monday May 25, 2015, during the 2015 Volkswagen USA Cycling Pro Road & Time Trial National Championships in Chattanooga.
Matthew Busche riding for Trek Factory Racing takes the win on Monday May 25, 2015, during the 2015 Volkswagen USA Cycling Pro Road & Time Trial National Championships in Chattanooga.

A rainy late afternoon caused a small amount of chaos in the USA Cycling Professional Championships men's road race Monday, but a strong move made the final stretch into a victory parade for Matthew Busche.

Busche pulled away from a group of about 10 riders late in the race to win his second national road title. He was five seconds faster than Joseph Dombrowski in front of a rain-soaked but enthusiastic crowd in downtown Chattanooga.

Busche, the only Trek Factory Racing Team member in the race, finished the 111.4-mile race - with four climbs over Lookout Mountain and 11 up the steep Kent Street hill in North Chattanooga - in 4 hours, 35 minutes, 21 seconds.

"I told myself before the race that it was going to be one against a lot," he said. "If I was going to win, it was going to have to be all in probably one time. You never know which (attack) is going to go, but when Joe and I got away that was a little bit surprising to me. It's just one of those things - it's a long race and it only takes a small gap that the others can't close, and then it's over.

"That's just how a championship race is."

Cannondale-Garmin rider Andrew Talansky, the winner of Saturday's time trial national title, led the field on a long breakaway ride. He led by more than three minutes at times, and looked like his break could have been the winning move, much as he had done last June to win the prestigious Critérium du Dauphiné in France on the final day of the weeklong stage race.

"I think the third lap up Lookout Mountain, Andrew put a lot of time into us," said Dombrowski, who also rides for Cannondale-Garmin. "With the composition of the group behind, I actually didn't really think it was going to come back.

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"It didn't seem like anyone was too motivated to chase, and I was just kind of on the back watching. There wasn't really any good organization, so I thought he had a chance to stay away."

Busche also thought that he had missed his chance, especially as a solo rider with no teammates, but he got help from others to reel Talansky back as rain began to fall late in the afternoon.

"When that break went I, like a lot of guys, probably thought it was over and was really frustrated that I'd missed it," Busche said. "But then I got some luck. Being out there by myself, I have to rely on some other guys to do some work. Thankfully other people wanted to win, and at the end things came together.

"Being able to come into the line knowing I was alone and realizing I was going to win was special. I kind of wish I'd slowed down a little bit and enjoyed it, but I didn't know how fast (Dombrowski) was coming."

Perhaps the most frustrating yet most inspiring ride of the day came from Kiel Reijnen. The UnitedHealthcare rider was in position to go for the win in the final circuits, but he suffered a flat tire at the start-finish line with one lap to go and lost several seconds to the lead group with very few miles remaining.

Instead of cruising to the finish or just quitting the race, Reijnen got a new tire and rode hard and with reckless abandon to a surprising third-place finish - 19 seconds behind Busche.

"I knew that if I just rode steady, they'd keep accelerating and fading," Reijnen said. "Kent Street was when I actually tacked back on because I just went full gas up it while everyone else was watching each other. Also it was wet, so I took a lot of risks in the corners because I had nothing to lose at that point."

"I've been third (at nationals) four times here now, and I think I know what it takes to win. I just need a little luck."

But on Monday the luck went to Busche, who got to celebrate his national title with his wife and family watching as he held his young son, Noah, on the awards stand.

"It's unbelievable," he said. "You see other guys take their kids up on the podium, and it's fun. To have my whole family here and to have Noah, even though he's just 5 months old and doesn't know what's happening it's just going to be very memorable."

Contact Jim Tanner at JFTanner@bellsouth.net. Follow him at twitter.com/JFTanner.

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