Young American rider Ashlyn Barry won the opening stage of the junior race at the "Tour du Vocage et de Lernais" in France this weekend, taking the GC title through three stages. It was the first UCI stage race in Europe for Barry, whose team is made up of five Team USA Junior riders.

After winning a sprint battle with a breakaway group to take the lead on Saturday's first stage, Barry finished in the top 10 in Sunday's doubleheader of an individual time trial and the stage 3 road race to take the overall win.

Barry, a 16-year-old member of the EF Education-ONTO Development Team, suffered crashes in both stages of the road race. On Sunday's final stage, teammate Noah Streif took 45 minutes to change bikes and rejoin the lead group. Streif finished 27th overall.

The two were part of the Team USA National Team, one of 14 international teams that joined 21 French teams in the 174-strong race. Team USA also included Enzo Edmonds, Benjamin Jurasic, and Otis Engle.

Barry won the 120.3 km opening stage of the Tour du Bocage et de Lernais on Saturday, despite being drenched by rain.

The first stage began with a big turn from St. Elie du Maine, with three 8.18 km final laps to the finish in Pontmain. The team tried to chase down Senna Remijn (Acrog Tormans), who escaped alone, but was caught with 49 km to go.

"I tried to stay pretty calm. [The race] was definitely sketchy. There were a lot of twists and turns, it rained the whole time, and it was windy. But as the group got smaller and the race went on, it got a little safer. It was definitely sketchy because I crashed early on," Barry said with a big smile after the race.

Over the next 20km, Axel Bouquet (Le Perrey Electric U19) began to lose his 15-second advantage.

With 10km to go, Barry closed in on Bouquet and the two entered the final lap together. On the final corner with 500 meters to go, Barry initiated a sprint and won the uphill sprint at the front of the breakaway. His teammate Streif finished 12th.

"I felt really good today. I didn't know if I could win until the end. I just tried to be patient during the race and go at the right time. I was in the Team USA uniform," he told race organizers at the finish line.

The second day of racing was blessed with clear skies and the morning time trial and afternoon stage race were held.

The second stage was a 13.8 km individual time trial from Chaillyan. The ITT started from the Rue Saint-Hilaire and began a loop across the River Erne. After crossing the bridge, the next 1.5km was all uphill, followed by another 10km of rollers. After passing through Chalian and back, a tough climb of less than 1km awaited us. From the top of the climb, the course entered a plateau, and after passing Le Tertre, the finish was relatively flat.

Louis Charreille (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale U19) won in 19:01, with Barry in 9th, 47 seconds behind, and Strife in 17th, 1:17 behind. Edmonds was 51st, 2:13 behind.

The competition concluded with the 106.5 km third stage. After the opening 74.5 km, three laps around Chaillyan and a fourth finish settled it all. Carl Sagnier (U19 Indre Fenioux) won the third stage ahead of the 33 riders remaining in the lead group. Ashlin came back from a bike change and was 6 seconds ahead of Joely Schaper (ACROG-Tourmans U19), with Elliott Boulet (CC Plancoe Jr.) 10 seconds back in third place.

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