Small, Tvetcov prevail in Nature Valley Grand Prix opening stage

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Specialized-lululemon's Carmen Small came within two seconds of matching her performance from last year during the opening stage of Minnesota's Nature Valley Grand Prix on a rain-slicked time trial course in St. Paul. In the men's race, Jelly Belly p/b Kenda's Serghei Tvetcov upset 2012 winner and current US pro time trial champion Tom Zirbel (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) by just three seconds to take the stage win and the race lead.

The rain started as a drizzle but quickly turned to steady rain as the riders covered the 12.4km out-and-back course on regular road bikes rather than the usual aerodynamic gear.

Small, who recently won the US pro time trial championship, took the stage win Wednesday with a time of 17:32 and will start tonight's downtown St. Paul criterium in the overall leader's jersey she also won last year. But Small and her Specialized-lululemon will likely face an onslaught of challenges from the hometown Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies team, which placed riders second through fifth behind her.

Optum's Joelle Numainville was second, just three seconds back, while Numainville's teammate Brianna Walle was third at 17:37. Jade Wilcoxson was fourth at 17:45, and Lauren Hall was fifth at 17:53. TIBCO's Claudia Häusler was sixth, 21 seconds back, while her teammate and 2010 NVGP overall winner Shelley Olds was 25 seconds back for seventh place.

Numainville, the first rider to start when the rain was still just a drizzle, set the early fastest pace and held it through the entire field until Small, who started and finished in a downpour, knocked her into second. Despite the quickly deteriorating conditions, Small, who credited her sponsors and mechanics with having the right set-up in the challenging weather, said the rain didn't slow her down much.

"They have it dialed for us, so there were no complaints there," she said. "It wasn't slippery at all. I was cautious at the turnaround, especially, because you can lose a lot of time if you crash. But I was just concentrating on going pretty hard on the straights and being pretty aero."

Small's effort put her back into the jersey she won on the first stage last year when she was riding for Optum. Now she'll have to fight her former teammates to keep it.

"I guess having her with us last year, we know her strengths and weaknesses," said Optum team director Rachel Heal.

Aside from the familiarity with Small, Optum also has multiple cards to play with six riders in the top 10.

"It gives us some great options for the rest of the race," Heal said. "The time trial is kind of about setting yourself up for the rest of the race, and we've got ourselves in a really good position. I think that's been our strength all year: the team works really, really well together, and we've got a lot of depth in the team, so we don't just have one card to play, we've got several cards to play."

Optum will undoubtedly play some of those cards during tonight's criterium in St. Paul, where time bonuses of 12, eight and six seconds will go to the top three at the finish. There are also two intermediate time-bonus sprints of five seconds, three seconds and one second.

Moldovan rocket upends Zirbel

Zirbel came into Nature Valley's first stage as the hands-down favorite, having won last year's opening stage and being fresh off his recent win at the US pro time trial championships. But it was the Moldovan Tvetcov who rode into the first leader's jersey this year on a course that was even wetter than when the women raced earlier in the day.

Tvetcov's winning time of 16:02 was three seconds better than Zirbel and 13 seconds better than CashCall's Chris Barton in third.

"For everybody it's hard and sketchy," Tvetcov said of the course conditions. "I was kind of a little bit scared for the corners, because the pavement is kind of a little bit slippery, but everybody was the same. You're thinking that you are so slow in the corners, but in the end everybody was slow in the corners."

Zirbel's Optum teammates Scott Zwizanski and Mike Friedman sit fourth and fifth, just 15 and 24 seconds behind the leader. Like their women's team, Optum is sitting in good position to put pressure on Tvetcov and the rest of the Jelly Belly squad during the St. Paul criterium. Optum team director Jonas Carney said the fireworks should start tonight.

"I think tonight guys will be going for time bonuses for sure, but I don't think that the race is going to be determined by time bonuses," Carney said. "Obviously with Tom Zirbel, that is not his specialty. Criterium time bonuses are not his forté."

Carney said that despite not getting the win, he's happy with how his riders performed and the outlook for the rest of the week.

"I think we did really well as far as having a lot of guys up there," he said. "Our goal is the GC, and if we can win some stages that would be great."

The Wednesday evening criterium takes place in the heart of downtown St. Paul. The women's 28-lap race starts at 6:15 CDT. The men's 40-lap event follows at 7:45.

Elite Women - Full Results

Elite Men - Full Results