Americans Abroad: Dombrowski attacks in Giro mountains

Welcome to “Americans Abroad,” our weekly check-in with Americans in the professional peloton. VeloNews will publish these updates every Monday throughout the season.

Racing in Italy at the Giro, Joe Dombrowski has spent most of the race riding for team leader Rigoberto Urán. However, on the mountainous stage 13, he was given the go-ahead to try to win the stage. He bridged up to the day’s breakaway, which included eventual winner Mikel Nieve of Team Sky. Dombrowski attacked on the penultimate climb, but cracked with less than 40 kilometers to the finish, eventually getting caught by the GC group.

“You just got to go for it,” he said. “If you don’t try, what are you doing here? Riding in the peloton doing nothing? If it doesn’t work out, you can at least go home happy you gave it everything.”

The next day, he made the breakaway again, and, though he didn’t win either stage, Dombrowski was happy to animate the race in Italy’s mountains. He was also eighth in Sunday’s uphill individual time trial and now is 34th in the overall.

Ian Boswell (Sky)

Boswell heads into the third and final week of the Giro d’Italia in 100th overall, after finishing stage 15’s uphill time trial in 15th place. He had been riding for Sky’s leader Mikel Landa, but the Spaniard withdrew from the race Tuesday.

Nathan Brown (Cannondale)

Brown is one of two American Cannondale men supporting Rigoberto Urán in Italy. Currently, he sits in 53rd place, 1:30:05 behind Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL – Jumbo), the race leader.

Chad Haga (Giant – Alpecin)

Haga currently sits in 83rd place after the first two weeks of racing in the Giro d’Italia. He was 12th in the first stage in Apeldoorn, an individual time trial, and 18th in stage 9’s ITT in Chianti. Read his journal from the Giro>>

Joey Rosskopf (BMC)

Rosskopf is in Italy and sits 104th overall after 15 stages. His best stage result so far has been 40th in stage 11.

Larry Warbasse (IAM Cycling)

Warbasse raced in Italy for the first six days, but he did not start stage 7 in Sulmona.

Tour of California

The largest race on the American cycling calendar, the Tour of California saw 34 American men and 43 U.S. women take the start line. The men raced for eight days, and the women four. Megan Guarnier (Boels – Dolmans) won the first stage of the women’s race and took the yellow jersey, which she held all the way to the end, taking the overall victory. On day two, Kristin Armstrong and her Twenty16 – Ridebiker team took a surprise victory in the team time trial. Guarnier also won the green sprinter’s jersey. Mara Abbott of Wiggle – High5 took the queen of the mountains jersey. Finally, 19-year-old Chloe Dygert (Twenty16 – Ridebiker) was the fastest young rider in the field and won the white jersey.

The men’s race was won by a Frenchman, Julian Alaphilippe, but Brent Bookwalter of BMC was third overall. The second stage saw Ben King and Evan Huffman survive a long breakaway to take first and second on the stage. King won the sprint to the line, but Huffman won the day’s climbs, taking the king of the mountains jersey. He would hold the polka dot jersey all the way to Sacramento and the end of the race. Another 19-year-old, Neilson Powless (Axeon Hagens Berman) won the white jersey for best young rider.