Sulzberger takes another stage

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The Ray Basso Bensenville Criterium had a smaller men's field of just under 70 riders take to the start in very windy conditions, as many riders chose this day to rest. The course was 0.8 of a mile in length and had a long, wide-open straightaway with a technical, twisting road through parkland and a parking lot.

Only five miles into the race two riders broke away from the field, yellow jersey holder Bernard Sulzberger (Fly V Australia) and American James Stemper (Team Geargrinder). This dynamic duo never looked back and they lapped the field with 28 miles to go.

After another seven miles, 12 riders rolled off the front including Sulzberger, Stemper, Jonathon Cantwell (Fly V Australia), Oneal Samuels (Myogensis.com p/b United Healthcare), Andreas Muller (No Radunion), Joshua Carter (ABD Cycling), Will Hoffarth (Team Mountain Khakis), Anthony Bennett (Jittery Joe’s), Robert White (Team Geargrinder), Gustavo Rullo (Zmotion), Chad Hartley (Team Geargrinder) and Jackie Simes (Team Mountain Khakis). The 12-rider break worked seamlessly together to lap what was remaining of the main field with four miles remaining in the race. This placed Sulzberger and Semper two laps up on the rest of the field and one lap on their breakaway companions.

Fly V Australia executed perfect team strategy to deliver Sulzberger to victory. Cantwell won the field sprint, securing a second place finish, and was followed across the line by teammate Sulzberger which gave Sulzberger the win over Semper. Jamaican champion Oneal Samuels (Myogensis.com p/b United Healthcare) put in a good sprint to finish third in the field sprint and fourth overall.

The heavy winds played a big part in splintering the field in a race in which only 38 riders finished.

Sulzberger extended his lead in the general classification while Rob White (Geargrinder) took over sprinter's jersey from Jay Thompson (Team MTN) who chose the day to rest.