Another Van Heerden takes a win

South Africa's Team MTN continue its domination of the International Cycling Classic with its sixth win in a row. This time Juan Van Heerden crossed the line first comfortably ahead of second placed Alexander Candelario (Kelly Benefit Strategies) and Hans Dekkers (Garmin-Slipstream) trailing in third.

The Wheel and Sprocket sponsored Whitnall Road Race was held on a beautiful, rolling 2.3 mile circuit with a steep hill prior to the finish line challenging the riders each lap. Just over 100 riders took to the start, with notable new teams in Subway Avanti from New Zealand and Kelly Benefit Strategies arriving with fresh legs.

After numerous early attacks that kept the pace brisk for most of the 100-kilometre race's first half, 13 riders attacked in a move that contained riders from most of the big teams. Initially it was a small group of five, but more and more riders jumped across and the large breakaway was allowed to roll away, despite Fly V Australia's Sulzberger and Cantwell missing out. The 13-man break was never seen again by the peloton and its riders sprinted it out for the stage victory.

"I attacked on the second to last climb and got a good gap that I thought would hold to the line, but I was caught at the bottom of the steep climb. Third place is still good, though," said Hans Dekkers of Garmin Slipstream.

Subway-Avanti rider Josh England of New Zealand looked impressive to claim fourth spot, outsprinting fellow countryman Heath Blackgrove. "I'm just getting back into racing after a block of time off to complete a semester at university," said England. "I have been training very hard over the last three months to get into shape for the rest of the American racing season." He is here with Omnium Track World Champion Hayden Godfrey and Jason Allen. The Subway-Avanti team will be looking to race aggressively at the 140-kilometre Lake Front Road Race.

When it comes to field sprints, the duo of Cantwell and Sulzberger from the Fly V Australia team are almost unstoppable and they proved it yet again at the Whitnall Road Race. The Australian pair, with their superb positioning and sprint ability, finished 1-2 in the bunch sprint for 14th and 15th place respectively. Sulzberger, who has been in yellow since day one, remains in the overall lead. However, it did not all go to plan since some key rivals, like Hans Dekkers (Garmin-Slipstream), acquired some points to close the gap slightly.

"Tonight did not go to plan as we wanted it," said Sulzberger. "Jonny [Cantwell] was in a lot of breaks early in the race, but we both missed the final break that had Hans Dekkers in it. He pulled some points back on me today and passed Jonny for second place overall. Jonny did a great lead-out for me to win the bunch sprint and we still claimed some points."