Huff steals victory at Dana Point

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Brad Huff (Jelly Belly p/b Kenda) was crowned the 2011 NRC Dana Point Grand Prix winner on Sunday. The former US pro criterium champion stole the victory ahead of late-race breakaway rider Devon Dunn (Cash Call Mortgage Cycling) in second and another former US pro criterium champion Rahssan Bahati (Pista Palace) in third.

"I tried to follow the moves and the other teams did a great job," Huff said. "When a breakaway is that big it's hard to control it. Dunn's team had a couple of guys in the race and they went for a few primes and then he just went for it, it was a great move. This is a great win for Jelly Belly p/b Kenda."

There were several sprinters called to the line that included Australian National Criterium Champion, Jonathan Cantwell (V Australia), Rahsaan Bahati (Pista Palace) and Brad Huff (Jelly Belly p/b Kenda) and former event winner Sterling Magnell (Wonderful Pistachios), among others.

Race organizers offered the field a fast course that averaged roughly a minute and half per lap with a small incline before the last corner. The men were racing for 90 minutes and a $15,000 divided amongst the top 20 places.

Cantwell stretched his legs and attacked in the opening laps. His efforts were short lived and he remained in the field, saved for a possible field sprint at the end of the race.

Several more attacks in the first half of the race until Dunn split the elastic band and gained 15-seconds on the field. He picked up two $100 USD primes along the way before being reabsorbed into the field.

Dunn attacked for a second time and was quickly followed by Jelly Belly p/b Kenda rider for two laps. The field brought the pair back mid-race.

A group of roughly 15 riders split off the front that included Dunn, Bahati and Huff along with Bernie Sulzberger, Ben Kersten and Sean Sullivan (V Australia) and riders from Yahoo! Cycling, RideClean, Wonderful Pistachios and California Giant Berry Farms-Specialized, among others.

"It was really hard and my legs hurt really bad," Dunn said. "I just had fun, it is such a fun race and I've been looking forward to it from the beginning of the year. I'm glad I could do something in the race."

The group gained 25 seconds on the field with 15 minutes to go and it looked probable that the move would stick all the way to the finish line. The gap increased to 35 seconds with 10 laps to go.

Dunn put forth one more attack with four laps to go and gained a sizable lead. Huff jumped out of the chase group and tried to bridge across to Dunn with three laps to go. Dunn remained solo through the final lap, before Huff attacked, caught and passed him in the last few hundred meters.

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