Haedo finally takes stage victory

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Juan José Haedo (Team Saxo Bank) is nothing if not consistent at the Tour of Missouri, setting foot on the daily stage podium for each of the first three stages. Sprinters, however, only care about the top step and that position had been denied thrice by sprint rivals Mark Cavendish and Thor Hushovd.

In the Tour of Missouri's fourth consecutive bunch sprint, Haedo pounced on the steeply pitched "Capital Wall", adjacent to Jefferson City's majestic Capitol Building, to out-power the mighty Hushovd for that tantalizingly elusive victory. Italy's Dario Cataldo (Quick Step), the new leader of the young rider classification following Mark Cavendish’s (Columbia-HTC) withdrawal, rounded out the podium for the second consecutive day.

Without the feared finishing kick of Cavendish to worry about this stage, race leader Hushovd's Cervélo TestTeam reverted to a classic lead-out over the second of two 4.8-kilometre finishing circuits, only to have it derailed slightly by a crash. Haedo was also affected by the incident, forced to fight his way back to the head of affairs to contest for stage honours.

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"There was a crash with three kilometres to go," said Haedo. "I sat back in the group because I got caught behind the crash. With one kilometre to go I got back around and I was about five or six guys behind Thor so I had to start my sprint from farther back. I didn't want to wait like I did yesterday and miss out. I preferred to be passed or not maybe because I wasn't strong enough. I ended up being good enough for a win today."

Haedo is on the rebound from sickness which forced him out of the Eneco Tour and the Argentinean is putting his re-found strength to good use on American roads. "I've been pretty consistent I will say," said Haedo. "It's pretty rewarding to come back and be strong again.

"Here you can wait until the final two kilometres to find your position but there [Europe - Ed.], if you are out of position with 30 kilometres to go then you are not going to make it to the front," said Haedo. "I think Cavendish is on the top of his game and he has the best team for that and that is why he wins so many races. My team is sometimes focused on other things like winning the Tour de France and it's hard to have the full support in all the races."

Hushovd, however, is such a rider with full support in the sprints. Denied a key cog in his Cervélo TestTeam lead-out train today, nonetheless Hushovd fired first among the sprinters approaching the 400-metre rise to the line.

"We were pulling with a couple of guys but we lost Brett [Lancaster] in the crash and we missed one man for the lead-out," said Hushovd. "I tried to go at 500 metres, a little too early, but we had no choice. I lost a bit of speed in the climb and then J.J. [Haedo] came from behind. We drag raced and he just beat me. Fair enough, he's a strong man.”

While Hushovd was able to rest his team in the previous two stages as Cavendish's Columbia-HTC set tempo, Cervélo TestTeam today assumed pace-making responsibilities in the peloton in defense of Hushovd's first stage in the race lead. "Today we had the jersey so we had to work for it and try to keep it," said Hushovd. "They [Hushovd's team-mates] did a great job today because they were pulling all day and it was our responsibility. We had the yellow jersey and unfortunately I couldn't win the sprint."

While stages two through four offered a parcours ripe for a breakaway, each of the stages somewhat surprisingly ended in bunch sprints. Haedo commented on the peloton lock down enforced by the field's ProTour squads. "I think if they [US domestic teams - Ed.] want to race then they have to race," said Haedo. "They can't wait until we get to the sprint. They have to do what they think is good for them.

"The European teams think the same because...what are these domestic teams waiting for? If you know that Thor is a sprinter and I am a sprinter then what are you waiting for, fifth? They have to make the race harder, not us," he said.

Break out the rule books, someone had to wear yellow

Haedo and Hushovd probably don't have the International Cycling Union (UCI) regulations as bedside reading, as each seemed befuddled as to why Haedo donned the first yellow jersey of his career. For the second day in a row at the Tour of Missouri, two sprinters ended the day tied on general classification time, in this instance Haedo and Hushovd.

"They just put me in the yellow and I have no idea why," said Haedo with a laugh. "If they put you in it then you can't complain."

The first place officials look for tie breaking purposes is fractions of a second from a time trial stage, but there have yet to be any contests against the clock at the Tour of Missouri. The next method of making general classification ranking falls on the aggregation of stage placings. Haedo and Hushovd each have one first, two seconds and one third place finish which totals to eight points; again, they're equal.

The third criteria falls to total of stage wins, of which the Argentinean and the Norwegian each have one; still a dead heat. The fourth method of distinguishing general classification placement is the highest placing in the most recently completed stage. Since Haedo won in today's Jefferson City stage while Hushovd finished second, the leader's jersey was awarded to Haedo.

Another stage, another race-long break

The 175.8km stage from St. James to Missouri's capital in Jefferson City began in a very aggressive fashion as riders fought to be the ones who would stay away for the day, absent former leader and double stage winner Cavendish, who did not start due to illness.

After many futile attempts, four riders were given just enough leash: Bernard Van Ulden (Jelly Belly), Jeff Louder (BMC Racing Team), Bradley White (OUCH p/b Maxxis) and Michael Creed (Team Type 1) gained just over three minutes, but cooperation between Cervélo TestTeam, Liquigas and Garmin-Slipstream kept them from gaining a more threatening advantage.

These three teams did the bulk of the work to control the race until the leaders succumbed just inside 10 kilometres to go having spent 132 kilometres off the front. Bradley White was the last of the quartet to be absorbed, reeled in just as he crossed the finish line to commence the two concluding 4.8-kilometre circuits in the heart of Jefferson City.

"It was a long break but it wasn't too bad," said White, awarded the most aggressive rider jersey for the day's efforts. "We were kind of feathering up there and we weren't going super hard.

"We were kind of playing with the peloton a little bit. We knew they were going to keep us at like two and a half to three minutes. We weren't riding super hard, but once the gap started going down we started turning it on. We were rolling good there for a while but they just had that extra momentum on us at the end."

While White was pleased to garner a podium appearance post-stage as most aggressive rider, he commented on the negative affect the competition has on breakaway dynamics. "You know, you get that most aggressive rider jersey and I think that kind of screws up the race a little bit. It really does,” he said. “I think it’s good and I thought they would give it to me because I was in the first move of the day and then again in the second move.

"We haven't done much yet this week and anything helps for the team," he added.

With two finishing circuits through the capital city to complete, stage three's most aggressive rider Matt Wilson (Team Type 1) attacked, but was quickly marked by Team Saxo Bank's Jens Voigt.

Coming into the final lap, David Zabriskie (Garmin-Slipstream) had a go, attacking not once but twice. He was fortunate enough to be at the front as a crash held up several riders just outside the protected three kilometres to go point. George Hincapie (Columbia-HTC) was one of those affected, as were key Hushovd team-mate Brett Lancaster and Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Colavita-Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light).

But the stage was destined to end in a sprint, and the class of Hushovd and Haedo showed through as they fought with all their might to get up the steep hill to the finish. Haedo claimed the win, giving Saxo Bank its biggest success of the Tour of Missouri.

Friday's time trial stage will prove decisive in clarifying the cluster of riders near the top of general classification. Seventy-seven riders in the peloton lie within 26 seconds of the race lead, while all of the time trial stalwarts such as David Zabriskie (Garmin-Slipstream), Levi Leipheimer (Astana), Gustav Larsson (Saxo Bank) and Tom Zirbel (Bissell Pro Cycling) sit equal on time.

Race leader Haedo harbors no illusions about his chances of staying in yellow after tomorrow's race of truth. "It's not like a prize because we have to defend it and I'm a sprinter,” he said. “But, this is my first yellow jersey ever and I'm going to be proud to be in it tomorrow."

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