Nine’s a charm for Ben Jacques-Maynes

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Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissell) captured his first victory at the Merco Credit Union Cycling Classic Foothills Road Race on Sunday. After nine years of competing in the season opener, held in his home-state of California, Jacques-Maynes outpaced a nine-man breakaway to take the win ahead of Matt Rice (Bahati Foundation) and Will Routely (Jelly Belly).

"To have two good results here is a great way to start the season for Bissell," said Jacques-Maynes who played a key role in Bissell’s team time trial victory two days prior. "The team is happy and the guys worked hard. To be able to set up that result was a good team effort. It will bring more motivation to train hard and continue to perform at the NRC openers coming up."

The Pro/Elite men’s peloton tackled a nearly 200-kilometre road race through the walnut groves in the foothills outside of the city of Merced. The distance proved too demanding for many in the field as a battle of attrition played out over five full laps before the finish line.

A breakaway of 13 riders rolled off the front of the field on the second lap and held a margin that hovered between 1:45 and 2:30 for the remainder of the race. "The peloton was pretty controlled and the teams that were working to chase us were Now-MS Society and Webcor," Jacques-Maynes said. "All the other bigger teams had a rider or two in the break. UnitedHealthcare had three guys in the break so they didn’t have to chase today."

Four of the most powerful teams in the US were represented in the break. UnitedHealthcare with three, Bissell with two, Bahati Foundation and Jelly Belly with one rider a piece. The escape also included members of the California Giant Berry Farms and Yahoo! Cycling Team squads.

The sheer length of the race took its toll on some of the breakaway riders and as several riders began to grow weary, the stronger riders in the break went on the attack. On the final lap, some 150 km into the race, the breakaway splintered.

"The break started to split apart on the last lap," Jacques-Maynes said. "I was in the second group and thought that I was completely out of the race. At one point I was closer to the peloton than I was to the break. Guys were tired from lack of early season fitness and sitting on."

To Jacques-Maynes’ surprise, nine of the original breakaway riders reunited before the start of the final climb toward the finish line with one kilometre to go. Jacques-Maynes waited patiently to make his well-calculated move. The Bissel rider dived up the inside of his rivals with 200 metres to go and took the win.

The nine front runners included Jacques-Maynes, Rice, Routely, Steve Reaney (California Giant Berry Farms), Evan Huffman, Philip Mooney and Adam Switters (Yahoo!), Roman Kilun (UnitedHealthcare) and Paul Mach (Bissell). All nine riders crossed the line 30 seconds ahead of the main peloton.

"Things kind of came back together and it was mayhem amongst the nine of us that went in to the line together," Jacques-Maynes said. "It was one of those low speed sprints. There was a good kicker in the last kilometre and anyone who goes there doesn’t win. It was a waiting game to get close to the line. People’s instinct is to go at 200 metres but you have to wait and be patient. I did this race nine times and have some good experience but this was my first win."

Teutenberg dominates Merco Credit Union weekend

The German sprinter Ina Teutenberg did not disappoint her HTC-Columbia team this weekend as she captured her second consecutive victory at the Merco Credit Union Cycling Classic Foothills Road Race. The road race concluded with a tactical sprint that saw Teutenberg storming across the line ahead of Shelley Evans (Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12) and Kelly Benjamin (Colavita-Baci).

"It's always nice to race against Ina," Evans said. "We wanted to save it for a sprint. We know Ina is the best sprinter in the world but my team wanted me to have an opportunity to sprint with her."

"I hesitated a second too much and Ina jumped right when I thought I should jump with 150 metres to go," Evans said, as she explained the final sprint. "I lost the race in that moment. It was close but I knew I wasn’t going to win at that point. Anytime I get a chance to sprint against her is an opportunity for me to win against the best in the world."

An 80-strong Pro/Elite women field lined up at the start of the 115-kilometre road race, three laps of an undulating 38-kilometre circuit through the blooming walnut groves. "It was pretty aggressive for the first two laps but it was clear the even though TWENTY12, TIBCO and HTC-Columbia had a lot of riders, it was hard to get the right combinations," said third-placed Kelly Benjamin. "The small breaks were either all sprinters or all climbers, but there was always activity."

Other teams involved in the animation included Webcor-Builders and Touchstone Climbing.

Much like the previous day’s criterium, Teutenberg did not simply rely on her winning sprint. She put forth several attacks early in the race and managed to escape the field at the start of the second lap. She remained out front and alone for more than 30-kilometres.

It was a dangerous move that caused panic amongst the teams back in the peloton. TIBCO and Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12 set up an organized chase, powerful enough to reel Teutenberg back into the bunch.

"When she got caught the last lap slowed down and there wasn’t a lot of activity as team were setting up for a field sprint," Benjamin said. "There was a crash behind me during the sprint right before the climb."

The women of Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12 rallied together over a small climb located one kilometre from the finish line, sprinter Shelley Evans tucked in and sheltered from the wind. Her teammates Katharine Carroll and Olivia Dillon were the first to jump, with one kilometre to go.

Former US National Criterium Champion Brooke Miller (TIBCO) started her sprint at the base of the last small rise at 300 metres to go. The move caused other sprinters like Benjamin, Teutenberg and Evans to react quickly and jump on her wheel.

"It was tough but I’m really glad to get on the podium so early in the season," said Benjamin. "It was hard to do a lead-out because it’s up hill and not really strung out enough. I had one teammate so I was playing on what the other teams were doing. I got on Brooke’s wheel in the last couple of kilometres. Ina and Shelley were on me and from that point on it was all about timing to the line."