Keough sprints to three stage victories during 10-day race
CASABLANCA, Morocco – After 10 days of grueling racing in hot and windy Morocco, the UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling team celebrated three stage victories from Luke Keough and second place overall from Chris Jones. Tanner Putt also visited the podium on stage 1 after a chaotic fight for second.
Before stage one from Benslimane to Kènitra, UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling’s plan simple: representation in the break then with 30 km remaining, decide the next course of action.
Wind played a huge factor during the 148.7km stage, but Putt still made it off the front with six others while Daniel Eaton and Keough slotted into the chase group.
With 40 kilometers to go, the leaders were caught and the race reset. Again, Putt made it into the new breakaway.
“In the front, Tanner reacted on every move. In the chase group, Luke got a cramp,” Team Director Hendrik Redant said. “ So at that moment I decided to play the card of Tanner Putt. With 1.8 km to go, a rider from ‘Baku-team’ attacked and got free hand. Tanner couldn’t close the gap and sprinted to second place.”
The next stage from Kènitra to Larache was relatively the same distance and design. Again, wind played a decisive role, but UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling came out on top with a win by Keough.
“The team tried a few times to split the field, but everything came back together again,” Redant said. “When six riders went off in a break, we stayed calm. The team started chasing with 18 km to go. It was a piece of cake for Adrian Hegyvary and Chris Jones to bring the break back. Daniel Eaton, Danny Summerhill and Putt did a great job setting up the sprint and Keough finished it off with his fast legs.
Windy conditions dominated the Tour of Morocco, but stage 3 was another level. The blustery conditions blew riders off the road and caused several riders to crash, including Summerhill and Hegyvary. However like the day before, the race came together in the closing kilometers and Keough easily won the race for the second time. Putt finished in fourth place.
Chris Jones took third place on stage 4 after more than five and a half hours of hard racing. His result bumped him up into second place on GC, where he stayed comfortably for the remainder of the race.
The UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling team stayed out of trouble until the penultimate stage, where despite some confusion with the finish km markers, Keough shot to another sprint victory – his third at the Tour of Morocco.
“Today was a day we wanted to win and control the race,” Keough said. “Adrian Hevygary and Danny Summerhill rode the front all day to control the race against all odds. They brought the break away back in the final kms and with a mislabeling of the final kilometers; the sprint was a hectic uphill. We rode well and with everyone’s help I hit out at 500meters to go and made it to the front in the last 100meters and held it to the finish.”
Team Morocco’s Anass Ait El Abdia took overall victory.
Next up on the calendar for the UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling men and women is the Tour of the Gila. The five-day UCI stage race starts on April 19 in Silver City, N.M.
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