Neben, Anthony secure overall victory

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Elite Men

By Lyne Lamoureux

The Stillwater Criterium once again provided thrills and excitement to conclude the Nature Valley Grand Prix as defending champion Rory Sutherland (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team) attacked the penultimate time up Chilkoot Hill Sunday to win the final stage.

With the assistance of his Kelly Benefit Strategies-OptumHealth teammates, Jesse Anthony survived all the attacks to finish second on the stage and claim the overall classification. Frank Pipp (BISSELL Pro Cycling) was third on the stage.

"Everyone here sees the crowd and how many people come out to cheer us on, it's an awesome stage and it's fantastic for the city of Stillwater to have such an event, there are not many like this in the country," Sutherland said.

Anthony, perhaps better known for his cyclocross prowess until now, credited his team for helping him win the first stage race of his career.

"Kelly Benefit Strategies-OptumHealth has been working super hard all year," he said. "We've been racing aggressively in every race we've done and we threw it down this week as hard as we could. Everyone went in 110 percent, everyone on the team was committed and it ended up working out for us."

Only the strong survive the notoriously brutal criterium course that features Chilkoot Hill's 21 percent grade at its steepest point during a two-block climb to the finish line. Riders started falling off the fast pace set by Anthony's green train as it controlled the front, quickly reacting and neutralizing dangerous attacks from Luis Amaran and Tom Zirbel (Jamis/Sutter Home).

With two laps to go, Robert Forster (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team) upped the pace on Chilkoot, exploding the dwindling field as the battle for the stage win commenced. Sutherland, Anthony, Amaran and third-on-general classification Bernard Van Ulden (Jelly Belly presented by Kenda) all went with the attack. Sutherland attacked the next time up the climb and was able to hold on to enjoy his second consecutive victory at Stillwater.

"Last year was beautiful," Sutherland said. "But this year, being actually able to enjoy the climb on the last time instead of having to sprint up, was nice."

Anthony battled until the last lap keeping his closest rivals close and then passing them on the final climb to the finish line.

"The crowd here in Stillwater is unbelievable," he said. "It rivals the Mayanunk Wall in Philadelphia. The hill is unexplainable until you really do it, even if you're having the best of days, it hurts so much. I had great legs today and all week, but it was a battle to stay up front and stay with my teammates and follow the wheels at the end."

Halfway through the 20-lap race, Timothy Rugg (Nature Valley Pro Ride) and Jeremy Vennell (BISSELL) got away and built a gap of 25 seconds before being reeled in eight laps later. Rugg was awarded the red Freewheel Bike Most Aggressive Rider for his efforts.

Kyle Wamsley (BISSELL) won the Sports Beans King of the Hills jersey after a tough fight with Logan Hutchings (ELBOWZ Racing) for it the final two stages.

"It makes me that much more happier that I could hold on to the jersey when I have somebody racing me for it," Wamsley said about his fight for the polka dot jersey.

Forster won the Sprint Competition. Chad Haga (Team Rio Grande) took home the final Nature Valley Top Amateur green jersey while Joseph Schmalz (ELBOWZ Racing) won the white Best Young Rider jersey. The BISSELL Pro Cycling team won the team classification.

Elite Women

Bronzini Wins Third Nature Valley Grand Prix Stage; Neben Finishes In Yellow

By Cynthia Lou

Giorgia Bronzini (Colavita Forno D'Asolo) attacked at the bottom of Chilkoot Hill Sunday to secure her third stage win at this year's Nature Valley Grand Prix as Amber Neben (HTC-Highroad) held on to win the race overall.

Kristin Armstrong (Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12) attacked the penultimate time up the leg-breaking climb that was packed with spectators, hoping to repeat her previous years' success at the Stillwater Criterium. But Neben's HTC-Highroad teammate, Evelyn Stevens, and Bronzini jumped after her. Bronzini's win was the reigning world road race champion's third of the five-day, six-stage race.

"I have no words for Evie [Stevens] - she made the race," Bronzini said, laughing. "I tried to save my power for the last climb because I came here with all of the best climbers and I'm a sprinter. So I tried only to follow [wheels] and save my best sprint for the final."

Between attacks from Team TIBCO/To The Top and Peanut Butter & Co.TWENTY12 and the sheer difficulty of the 18 percent average grade on Chilkoot Hill, an elite group of riders quickly separated themselves from the peloton. The decisive breakaway group formed within five laps of the 13-lap race and featured a mix of experienced veterans and promising newcomers. It included Bronzini, Neben with teammates Stevens, Ally Stacher, and Amanda Miller, overall runner-up Erinne Willock (Team TIBCO/To The Top) and teammate Joelle Noumainville, defending champion Armstrong and teammate Kristin McGrath, Anne Samplonius (NOW and Novartis for MS), and Jade Wilcoxson (Nature Valley Grand Prix Pro Ride).

As the teams battled for the general classification, Armstrong and Bronzini were able to sit in the pack and save themselves for the finish.

"I wanted to sit and let Highroad do their work to protect the jersey," Armstrong said. "I knew two minutes would be too much to gain today so we went for the stage win for the team. I tried my best, I tried to go with two to go but everyone out there was really strong. I just couldn't get that extra acceleration."

Neben said it actually was a very easy day for her because her team was so good.

"I didn't really have to do anything but just watch them," Neben said. "It went according to plan. I'm proud of them, they rode really well this week. I have the yellow, but really, we all won."

Stevens' performance earned her the Freewheel Bike Most Aggressive Rider jersey.

"Ally, Amanda and Chloe raced their hearts out," Stevens said. "Amanda and Chloe took it on the back, then I would take control on the climb. I think it was perfect teamwork - no one could get away. It was really exciting."

Before the race, Stacher was honored with the "Carla Swart Sportsmanship Award," recognizing the female athlete at the race who sacrificed her own chances for the good of her team. Swart was a South African Olympic hopeful and the most decorated collegiate rider in U.S. history who died when she was hit by a truck during a training ride.

"We raced how Carla would have raced," Stevens said. "She was just an amazing woman, and I know Ally was her best friend. I can't think of someone better than Ally to wear that jersey. The way she rode today, she rode her heart out. It's just incredible, the whole team."

Stacher's performance also won her the Best Young Rider jersey, and HTC-Highroad won the Team classification.

Riding for the Nature Valley Pro Ride team, Wilcoxson finished with the front group of elite riders to win the Nature Valley Grand Prix Best Amateur.

"I was really nervous to start it, but it turned out to be a really good course for me," Wilcoxson said. "I kind of shocked myself as well. I was really surprised to hang with the big dogs like that. I just wanted to be able to finish the race today, so, I'm really excited about the results."

Leah Kirchmann (Colavita Forno D'Asolo) held onto her Sports Beans Queen of the Hill jersey and Wheaties Fuel Sprint Competition jersey.

Results