April 29, 2013 (Waitsburg, WA) – Garrett McLeod won the general classification (GC) at this past weekend’s Tour of Walla Walla in Southeastern Washington, USA. McLeod narrowly edged out Team Hagens Berman rider, Ian Crane by one second. Garrett’s win wouldn’t have been possible without the outstanding team effort by Kyle Buckosky, Federico Marchiori, Ryan MacDonald, Ben Wortelboer, Aaron Schooler and Eric Johnstone.

The team started off strong with the fast 68-mile Waitsburg Road Race. The team rode hard, allowing Garrett to break away from the pack in the final 30km with two other riders. As the race came down to the final 3km climb, Garrett attacked the break and won the stage, finishing 2 seconds ahead of Trek Red Truck’s Adam de Vos and earning the 10-second time bonus.

Day 2 saw some strong rides by the team with Garret winning the second stage at the 8.7-mile time trial. This put him in a great position entering the third stage that evening – the Downtown Criterium. That evening the team came together and newcomer Federico Marchiori finished 2nd in the Criterium. Due to time bonuses in the Criterium, Garrett maintained the overall lead, but his time gap was down to 5 seconds ahead of Ian.

On Day 3, the team was prepared for a hard fought battle at the 91-mile Kellogg Hollow Road Race. The plan was to protect Garrett’s yellow jersey and control the field all day long. The pace started off quickly, with riders single file and many attacks off the front. Eventually a two-man breakaway formed, allowing the Team H&R Block riders to set the tempo and control the field. With 30km to go, the break was brought back, but another four-man group got away.

The whole team contributed to protect Garrett, grabbing bottles from the team car and setting tempo. As the race went on, it was a ride of attrition, with the field splitting apart on the climbs. With 15km to go, the break was down to 35 seconds and closing quickly as the Hagens Berman Team contributed to the chase to protect their GC rider Ian. By 3km to go, the field was together, with Garrett and Kyle in the front group. As it came down to the sprint, Garrett timed it perfectly and finished
2nd on the day and held onto his leaders jersey.

Other notable results for the weekend was Kyle Buckosky’s 14th overall in the general classification after working for Garrett, and Eric Johnstone’s 25th place in the Criterium as the highest place Under-18 rider for the stage.

A special thank you goes out to our wonderful host homes that accommodated the team in Walla Walla for the weekend. A big thank you also goes to all our marketing partners, as we would not be able to travel to these big events without their support.

Next up of the team calendar is Race the Ridge (April 27-28), followed by the Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race (May 18-19). Stay up to date with all the team results HERE or follow us on Twitter or Facebook.