March 8, 2004 – USA Cycling's USPS Espoir National Team kicked off the 2004 race season with a victory at the 104km Trofee Disputation Alicante on Saturday as Shawn Milne (Gloucester, Mass.) rode to a convincing win ahead of Jose Villagordo (ESP) and Haedo Lucas (ARG).

With almost 10,000 feet of climbing dispersed over four laps of a 26km circuit, Milne escaped with four others at the 60km mark. On the final lap, Milne and Vallagordo snuck away from their breakaway companions with Milne taking the sprint for the win.

Milne's win, along with a seventh place effort from teammate Matthew Crane (Old Greenwich, Conn.), also helped secure the overall team title for the USPS National Espoir Team.