Roth, Ratto claim Winston-Salem titles

Canadian Ryan Roth won the third annual Winston-Salem Cycling Classic Monday in an exciting, five-man sprint.

Roth, who rides for Montreal-based Silber, was in the five-man breakaway group barreling toward the finish line as the race came to a close. Roth waited until the time was right — in the final 100 meters — to launch his sprint, and was able to hold off Eric Marcotte of Jamis and Evan Huffman of Rally for the win.

Marco Canola (UnitedHealthcare) and Rob Squire (Holowesko – Citadel) finished fourth and fifth.

The leading group of five formed with five laps to go on the heels of another breakaway group of 10 riders that was swallowed up on lap 9 of the 14-lap race in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. A large group assumed the controls at that point, but after several attacks the five aforementioned riders were situated at the sharp end of the race.

From there, the group desperately tried to hold off the charging riders behind them, who launched a series of attacks as they tried to close the gap.

Coming into the finish, the five riders were all together when Roth made his winning move.

Ratto wins women’s race

Italian Rossella Ratto of Cylance won the women’s event in solo fashion, riding away from the leading group of roughly 25 riders on the final lap.

A pack of 11 riders was 10 seconds behind, from which Cylance’s Valentina Scandolara edged UnitedHealthcare’s Coryn Rivera for second place.

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— WSCyclingClassic (@WSCycling) May 30, 2016