Sutherland steals Bissell Show as curtains close

Phillip Mamos sprinted over the punishing 22-percent grade of Chilkoot Hill to claim the first stage win for Amore & Vita in the Nature Valley Grand Prix's final stage - the Stillwater Criterium. Mamos was the first rider to reach the hill top finish line ahead of the day's breakaway aggressor, Anthony Colby (Colavita-Sutter Home) and the overall winner, Rory Sutherland (OUCH p/b Maxxis).

"We came here wanting to win a stage and even though it came down to the last day we are really happy to finally get one," said Mamos. "Everything worked out well for us having two in the breakaway. When Sutherland came across and with Anthony, I knew that I could win this stage today."

The overall classification was a game of heavily played out tactics between two strong all-rounders and one fast sprinter. Tom Zirbel's (Bissell) bid for yellow began at the opening time trial and ended in the last few kilometres of the final stage. Sutherland waited patiently to make his winning move on the last lap of the final technical race of attrition. He gained more than the seven seconds needed to surpass Zirbel in the overall and claim a third consecutive title. Sebastian Haedo (Colavita-Sutter Home) moved into third place by virtue of sprinting for large time bonuses allocated at the finish line of his two previous stage victories. He maintained a podium place by hanging on to the leaders over the decisive climbs in the last two stages.

"I didn't get through that corner cleanly and got gapped off and Rory still had teammates to get him to the hill," said Zirbel who took the leader's jersey after the stage one time trial and lost it in the final stage. "I basically had to time trial at that point but I had lost so much momentum on that last corner that it wasn't going to happen. My teammates did such an amazing thing for me this week and that is why this loss is such a hard thing to swallow. They road like champions and I wasn't able to deliver for them."

A battle for the overall title played out behind the two leaders on the circuit. Zirbel positioned himself perfectly on the back of an OUCH p/b Maxxis lead-out with two laps to go. Karl Menzies lead Sutherland into the last corner, with one lap to go, while Andrew Pinfold swept his wheel behind. Sutherland was slung-shot into the Chilkoot Hill with a several second margin to Zirbel. He continued is effort over the top of the climb and around the backside of the circuit, catching the two lead riders. The three-men rounded the last corner and sprinted up the climb ten seconds ahead of the next group that contained Zirbel.

"I have a lot of respect for Bissell and Tom rode a great race," said Sutherland who walked onto the podium wearing a brand new pair of yellow team short to match the yellow jersey presented to him. "We wanted to win here too it was hard to wait until the last second of the race to make my move and I really wasn't sure if it would work out. But I gave it one shot at 100-percent and I never looked back. Once I caught the two guys up the road, it was my responsibility to pull around the last lap. It's great to win a stage race."

The two leading men stemmed from a larger mid-race move that reshuffled into eight riders, Mamos and Colby along with Floyd Landis (OUCH p/b Maxxis), Davide Frattini (Colavita-Sutter Home), Jim Camut (Land Rover-Orbea), Volodymyr Starchyk (Amore & Vita), Alex Hagman (Ciclismo) and Josh Dillon (BikeReg). Colby made two strong attacks that split the lead group into four and then in half again until he was along with Mamos riding for the stage win with two laps to go.

"I really like this stage," said Colby. "I sat in the field and it felt like it was harder. I was frustrated in the group so I decided to make the move. Half of the group wanted to conserve but we really didn't have anytime to conserve. I didn't want to wait until the last lap because I knew the GC riders were going to start working hard behind. I ended up with Mamos and the two of us are similar style riders. I was disappointed not to win the stage, maybe jumped too early."

Showdown on Chilkoot Hill

The sixth and final stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix brought the peloton a criterium in Stillwater, recognised as one of the toughest circuits in the US. The course featured the infamous Chilkoot Hill, a wall that has historically shattered the field on the first lap. Historically the yellow jersey has never sewn up the win before the final stage and this year the overall title remained wide open heading into the last day.

Only one minute separated the top 20 riders in the overall classification at the start of the men's 20-lap event. Thomas Soladay (Mountain Khakis) locked up the best sprinter category when he won the day's first intermediate sprint on the first lap. The savvy sprinter took the early lead in the competition after his performance in stage two's St Paul criterium.

There is no question that Chad Gerlach (Amore & Vita) was the most aggressive rider over the six stages. If a break away rounded the corner it was no surprise to see the painstaking face of Gerlach driving the front of it. From his lengthy journey's off the front of the peloton this week, Gerlach accumulated enough points to be in contention for event's Best Climber competition. He solidified that win after picking up a full set of points atop Chilkoot Hill.

Tim Johnson (OUCH p/b Maxxis) got things going early on. He was shortly replaced by his teammate Floyd Landis who spent three laps solo before a group of bridging riders joined him in the lead. Kyle Wamsley (Colavita-Sutter Home) and Starchyk were the first riders to bridge across. The break away reshuffled into the final eight rider selection that contained both Mamos and Colby.

Team Bissell won the event's best overall team classification. The squad put a stamp on the time trial by placing six riders in the top twelve at the prologue in St. Paul. They continued to take advantage of that strength by demonstrating a strong- hold over the front of the peloton for the remaining five stages in an effort to maintain their GC lead with Zirbel. That did not change during the final stage even though several non-threatening GC riders were able to snap off the front.

Armstrong farewells American racing in style

Question: who is the strongest woman on a bike in America?

Answer: Cervelo's Kristin Armstrong

Wearing the yellow leader's jersey, Armstrong set out to defend her title and by doing so won the sixth and final stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix in a fierce performance ahead of her two breakaway companions Shelley Olds (ProMan-HitSquad) and Andrea Dvorak (Colavita-Sutter Home).

"I had a lot of nerves today knowing that it was my last race in America," Armstrong said. "I went about 85 percent on the first lap to get comfortable. I wasn't worried about who was going to work with me or not, just saw it as an hour race. I didn't want to leave it until the last climb so I went early. The crowds here reminded me of watching the Tour on TV."

Armstrong bid a fond fair well to the American peloton by winning her fourth consecutive title at the Nature Valley Grand Prix. She was the obvious race favorite despite not having teammates and completed the event ahead of formidable opponents Olds and Alison Powers (Team Type 1). She took the yellow jersey after winning the opening time trial and lived up to every responsibility of maintaining that lead until the end. She was given no free rides and took no handouts making her final victory salute all the more sweet.

"Last night when I was going to be I felt like there was a big possibility that the yellow jersey could get taken away from me tomorrow," she continued. "I asked my self if I was at peace with everything that I've done because I think that I've pulled off a lot of wins and to leave with out being on the podium would be very difficult for me. Maybe I would have had to finagle one more race! It all worked out. This is the top race in America and it makes me feel like I'm back home when I'm here to all these stages. I feel like I have family in every one of these cities. It's been an amazing experience."

The climb vs the descent

The women's peloton lined up at he base of the Chilkoot Hill staring up at the 22 percent grade. No one is ever quite prepared to take on the 13 laps that mark a grueling completion of the Nature Valley Grand Prix. Armstrong started the stage 11 seconds ahead of Alexis Rhodes (Webcor-Builders) and 12 seconds ahead of Powers. After spending the majority of the previous day's race time trialing on the front of the field in an effort to bring back several breakaways, it was mystery as to how recovered Armstrong was to defend her title.

The race started with a full size peloton struggling over the top of the climb. When they reached the base of Chilkoot for the second time, it was very clear that Armstrong was fresh and ready to play. Her attack up the climb shattered the field. Olds followed close behind and Dvorak made one last dig to attach her self to back of the train and the three were off, never to return.

"I knew to line up near Kristin," said third place finisher Dvorak. "When [Armstrong] started to go up the road with Shelley and get a little gap, my director said into my ear, ‘Close that gap, close that gap! It'll be worth your while.' So I put in an effort, caught them, and off we went."

Powers crested the climb several seconds off the back of the lead group and tried to use her unmatched descending skills to reduce the time to Armstrong, Olds and Dvorak. For the first five laps the gap between the two power-houses held steady at 10 seconds with Armstrong putting the pressure on the climb and Powers putting the pressure on the descent. Powers received help from TIBCO riders and Webcor-Builders riders but the margin continued to increase.

"I wanted to try to get second overall back again," Powers said. "If it was possible to try to stay with Kristin today that would have been awesome, but it wasn't possible. It was obvious from the beginning. Shelley road so well all week and really deserves the result she got today. Our goal in the previous day's was to try to make Kristin work as much as possible to see if she would get tired."

It was Olds and Dvorak's advantage to stay as long as they could on Armstrong's wheel as she pulled them into secure GC positions. Olds, who started the day in fourth place was being pulled further away from Powers and Rhodes, into a second place overall. Back in the chase, Rhodes fell off pace and Powers continued her chase up the climb and down the descent.

"Kristin was keeping a good tempo up the hills - she was just practicing for Worlds or something!" said Olds. "I would have loved to have helped, but it took us the whole downhill to recover. I went out there wanting to move into the podium in the overall so I'm very happy with the way today turned out."

Armstrong attacked her two companions with one lap to go and rode to a solo victory. "Those girls were there, and they really worked to stay on. I didn't want to leave them so the peloton would catch them," said Armstrong. "I thought that if I waited until the last lap they would be able to hold off the peloton that was about 45 seconds back. I really respect Andrea Dvorak from Colavita and Shelley Olds from Proman, they are both up and coming talent in America. I was happy to have them up on the podium with me."