Australia's Menzies, Rhodes rule the criterium

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Australia’s Karl Menzies (UnitedHealthcare) capped off the weekend’s racing with a slim win on the final Joe Martin Stage Race stage held in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Menzies victory wasn’t made official until hours after the race had concluded, following close analysis of the finish line footage. His win meant that despite being presented as the race winner at podium celebrations, Menzies’ team-mate Matt Crane actually finished in second place with Jonathan Cantwell (Fly V Australia) in third.

“It was a close finish, my first win and first NRC win,” Crane had said at the podium presentation. “I looked over my shoulder with 30 metres to go and saw my boys up there coming fast. I knew it was either going to be me or one of them, I hoped. I threw my bike and Karl and I weren’t sure which one of us won so we jointly celebrated. We had to wait for the podium to find out who won.”

Unfortunately for Crane who had won wasn’t finally settled on until both he and Menzies were on a flight home. Cyclingnews attempted to contact Menzies following the late examination however the Tasmanian was still in transit.

While it was also a close battle, Luis Amaran (Jamis-Sutter Home) was the clear overall winner giving him his first National Racing Calendar (NRC) stage race by just one second. He moved into the overall lead during the stage two road race and maintained that lead ahead of Bissell team-mates Ben Jacques-Maynes and Jeremy Vennell.

“We tried to plan the season with Luis to be a general classification contender,” said Jamis’ directeur sportif Sebastian Alexandre. “He worked for two years for the sprinters and I knew what he was capable of doing. He said he was capable of winning a stage race and he worked hard over the winter to peak for this time of the year, mainly for the Tour of California.

“All the hard work that he did over the winter paid off by winning this big NRC race,” he added. “It is very nice for the team and I feel very happy for him because he is a very hard worker. It was good to see the team doing work for him in the last couple of races. Everyone is happy because the guys know him, and for all the work that he did in the past, it was the best way to pay him back.”

The Pro men’s field lined up prepared to take on the challenging 90-minute criterium held on a technical 12-corner circuit. A break of four riders gained approximately 20 seconds on the field mid-race. The riders included Crane, Caleb Fairley (Holowesko Partners), Ken Hanson (Team Type 1) and David Kemp (Fly V Australia).

“It was a good move for Jamis to let us out there at a comfortable distance, 20 seconds all day,” Crane said. “We were sharing the work load, everyone glad to be out there and waiting to see what would happen at the end. With five laps to go we still had 20 seconds so all of us realised we might be able to make it. I attacked with two laps to go and was able to get away.”

Just as the field was close to catching the breakaway, Crane launched a solo attack with two laps to go. Fly V Australia lined up its lead-out train for another sprint finale, after the squad’s sprinters Bernie Sulzberger and Cantwell won the two previous stages from a bunch sprint. The pressure was off UnitedHealthcare take over the lead with team-mate Crane up the road.

Menzies launched his sprint as the peloton rounded the final corner, with the Tasmanian powering past his team-mate Crane. Jonathan Cantwell (Fly V Australia) took third place.

Rhodes wraps up Joe Martin with a stage win

Alexis Rhodes (Vera Bradley Foundation) captured a solo victory at the Joe Martin Stage Race’s final stage. Rhodes crossed the line several seconds ahead of runner-up Katheryn Curi-Mattis (Webcor-Builders) and Alison Powers (Vera Bradley Foundation).

It was a good day for the Vera Bradley Foundation, with Powers wrapping up the overall title just moments after teammate Rhodes won the final stage.

“With Alexis winning the stage and for me to win the general classification is just great,” Powers said. “It is really awesome. It was about how well we worked together and everyone is riding well. Everyone is given the opportunity to do something during the race. It is amazing to be a part of this great team with such strong riders.”

The professional women’s stage race concluded with a highly challenging and technical 60-minute criterium held in downtown Fayetteville. The criterium was made even more technical over previous years due to road construction that re-routed the circuit through the neighborhoods streets on the descent.

The 60-rider field rolled off the start line, located at the top of the circuits steep climb, descended through the city streets and wrapped back around to the climb back up to the finish line.

“If you were far back in the pack then the criterium would have been hard but I stayed at the front where it was much easier,” Powers said. “There were 12 turns in the course so the front was the best place to be.”

The peloton lost a handful of riders on each lap as the pace picked up at the front, aided by cash primes that caused speeds to increase. The lead group dwindled down to approximately 30 riders mid-race.

“Tibco seemed happy to go to the front and make it a really hard race,” Powers said. “Erinne Willock from Webcor made a few attacks and Colavita did a bit of attacking too. Our team did a few attacks at the very end.”

Vera Bradley Foundation did much of the pace-setting to protect its race leader Powers. Cagey strong-woman Rhodes took advantage of the challenging course in the closing laps and launched a solo attack, gaining a valuable 10 second lead that took pressure off her team-mates in the field.

“There was a big crash on the second last corner but fortunately I stayed out of it and Katheryn Mattis did too, so we sprinted against each other for second place,” said Powers. “She beat me, which is fine, but it is good that I got third or I would have lost the general classification lead because of the time bonuses.”

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