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Tour de Nez - NE

Nevada, USA, June 18-21, 2008

Main Page    Results   Overall standings     Next Stage

Stage 1 - June 18: Grand Sierra Hotel Casino criterium, 75 minutes

Tour de Nez opener goes to first-year pro

By Mark Zalewski, North American Editor in Reno, Nevada

Steven Howard (Bissell)
Photo ©: Mark Zalewski
(Click for larger image)

The opening stage of the revitalized Tour de Nez was a bling-bling criterium held in the parking lot of the largest casino in the 'Biggest Little City in the World.' For most of the race it seemed the peloton was content to open-up their legs with a tough, 2.75km uphill time trial looming in front of them the next morning. But not for hometown hero Alex Candelario (Kelly Benefits Strategies-Medifast) who attacked out of the peloton as the 75 minute race went from time to seven laps to go. Candelario quickly built nearly 30 seconds by himself but a large Bissell train reeled him in on the final lap, setting up their neo-pro sprinter Steven Howard for his first ever professional win.

"Aaron [Olson] took over when we were still chasing Alex on the last lap," said Howard. "We caught him about halfway down the back side. Aaron then took me to the final corner and I went from there - it was a pretty long way!"

Coming in second just behind Howard was Successful Living's Argentinean speedster Ricardo Escuela, who unclipped from his pedal half-way down the finish stretch. Despite the unfortunate malfunction his momentum was so great that is still carried him up the false flat to the finish in second.

"I'm pretty excited about the win," Howard told Cyclingnews. "This is my first year as a pro and six years total riding. I just finished my junior year a month ago at Calvin College in Grand Rapids.

The Grand Rapids, Michigan native came to the Bissell team through their development system, which includes the Priority Health U23 squad. "I was on a couple of local teams and then the past few years the Priority Health U23 team. All the sponsors, like Bissell and Advantage Benefits, are pretty much local to Grand Rapids."

The attack by Candelario was an interesting move for the well-known field sprinter. "We wanted to smash in the last half of the race," he said. "It's a stage race and obviously I'm not going to do well in the uphill time trial. So I gave it a go to see if anyone would come with me, but no one came across. I just thought there would be more guys willing to race. But Bissell is just riding really strong and they have twice as many guys as anyone else."

Alex Candelario Storms off the front.
Photo ©: Briggs Heaney
(Click for larger image)

Candelario's uncharacteristic move did set off some alarm bells in the field, with many thinking of making the jump. But with only Bissell left as a major team, the rest of the teams and individual riders looked to them to chase. "I thought about going with him, but I had a brief hesitation," said race winner Howard. "With two laps to go I thought he was gone, but the team rode so well we were able to get him back."

A small bridge attempt did come from Garmin-Chipotle's Steven Cozza, riding on his own this week. "I just opened my legs up for tomorrow, for the time trial," he said. Cozza thinks that though Bissell and Kelly Benefits are strong in terms of numbers, the layout of the race does not necessarily favour them. It's a smaller field, about 75 guys, so I don't think team-mates are going to really help unless you want to win the sprints.

As for race strategy as a 'freelance' rider, Cozza said, "I'm just going to try to get into everything, and if anything has a Kelly Benefits or Bissell in it, get in it. They are the only teams here that can really control anything."

Conversely, for the two big teams, the usual GC guys are ready to go in the time trial tomorrow. One of them is Bissell's Burke Swindlehurst, who said the conditions are what he looks for in a stage race. "I'm one of them; I like the altitude and heat around here!"

Candelario said to look for his team-mate Andy Bajadali, who has ridden well in NRC stage races like Redlands. "Bajadali can drop pretty much everyone on the climb!"

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Mark Zalewski/Cyclingnews.com

Images by Briggs Heaney / Tour de Nez

Images by Larry Rosa / Tour de Nez

Results

1 Steven Howard (Bissell Pro Cycling)                       1.15.52
2 Ricardo Escuela (Successful Living)                              
3 Eric Wohlberg (Symmetrics Cycling Team)                          
4 Andrew Bajadali (Kelly Benefits Strategies-Medifast)             
5 Brian Buchholz (Kelly Benefits Strategies-Medifast)              
6 Roman Kilun                                                      
7 Jackson Stewart (BMC Racing Team)                                
8 Michael Sayers (BMC Racing Team)                                 
9 Victor Ayala                                                     
10 Steven Cozza (Garmin-Chipotle)                                  
11 Ben Raby                                                        
12 Devon Vigus (Calyon Pro Cycling Team)                           
13 Jonathan Baker                                                  
14 Daniel Bowman (Kelly Benefits Strategies-Medifast)              
15 Ian Holt                                                        
16 Roman Van Uden                                                  
17 Andy Jacques-Maynes (Calyon Pro Cycling Team)                   
18 Justin Kerr                                                     
19 Joseph Pinkerton                                                
20 Andres Gil                                                      
21 Karl Bordine                                                    
22 Aaron Olson (Bissell Pro Cycling)                               
23 Corey Collier                                                   
24 Justin England (Toyota United Professional cycling Team)        
25 Kris Koke                                                       
26 Ben Bradshaw                                                    
27 Dylan Clark                                                     
28 Matthew Cooke                                                   
29 Adam Livingston                                                 
30 Scott Nydam (BMC Racing Team)                                   
31 Ian McKissick (BMC Racing Team)                                 
32 Tom Zirbel (Bissell Pro Cycling)                                
33 Carson Miller                                                   
34 Paul Mach                                                       
35 Brandon Gritters                                                
36 Dirk Friel                                                      
37 Burke Swindlehurst (Bissell Pro Cycling)                        
38 Chris Demarchi                                                  
39 Jesse Moore (Calyon Pro Cycling Team)                           
40 Logan Hunn                                                      
41 Justin Spinelli (Kelly Benefits Strategies-Medifast)            
42 Christian Kearney                                               
43 Morgan Schmitt (Bissell Pro Cycling)                            
44 Nathaniel Deibler                                               
45 Adam Switters                                                   
46 Randy Reichardt                                                 
47 Alex Candelario (Kelly Benefits Strategies-Medifast)            
48 Shaun Morris                                                    
49 Eric Bennett (Successfulliving.com presented by Parkpre)    0.40
50 Edgar Parra                                                     
51 Bradley White (Successful Living)                           0.51
52 Paul Che                                                    1.48
53 Josh Horowitz                                               2.06
54 Joshua Bartlett                                                 
55 Chuck Coyle (Successful Living)                             3.04
56 Ben Knellar (The Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team)            3.18
57 Graham Howard (Bissell Pro Cycling)                             
58 John Hunt (Calyon Pro Cycling Team)                             
59 James Mattis (Calyon Pro Cycling Team)                          
60 Tim Srenaski                                                3.26
61 Omer Kem (Bissell Pro Cycling)                              3.28
62 Joao Correia (Bissell Pro Cycling)                              
63 Loader Llogan                                                   
64 Timothy Farnham                                             4.02
65 Michael Jacques                                             4.09
66 Matthew Seagrave                                                
67 Andy Bestwick                                               4.24
68 James Gunn-Wilkinson                                        6.03
69 Jonathan Coulter (Webcor Builders Cycling Team)             7.03
70 Chris Swan                                                      
71 Eddy Kwon                                                   7.25
DNF Taylor Tolleson (BMC Racing Team)                              
DNF Curtis Gunn (Successful Living)                                
DNF Ken Hanson (Calyon Pro Cycling Team)                           
DNF Chris Winn                                                     
 
Sprints
 
Sprint 1
1 Michael Sayers (BMC Racing Team)                                3 pts
2 Steven Howard (Bissell Pro Cycling)                             2
3 Timothy Farnham                                                 1
 
Sprint 2
1 Steven Cozza (Garmin-Chipotle)                                  3 pts
2 Aaron Olson (Bissell Pro Cycling)                               2
3 Ian McKissick (BMC Racing Team)                                 1
 
General classification after stage 1
 
1 Steven Howard (Bissell Pro Cycling)                       1.15.42
2 Ricardo Escuela (Successful Living)                          0.04
3 Eric Wohlberg (Symmetrics Cycling Team)                      0.06
4 Andrew Bajadali (Kelly Benefits Strategies-Medifast)         0.10
5 Brian Buchholz (Kelly Benefits Strategies-Medifast)              
6 Roman Kilun                                                      
7 Jackson Stewart (BMC Racing Team)                                
8 Michael Sayers (BMC Racing Team)                                 
9 Victor Ayala                                                     
10 Steven Cozza (Garmin-Chipotle)                                  
11 Ben Raby                                                        
12 Devon Vigus (Calyon Pro Cycling Team)                           
13 Jonathan Baker                                                  
14 Daniel Bowman (Kelly Benefits Strategies-Medifast)              
15 Ian Holt                                                        
16 Roman Van Uden                                                  
17 Andy Jacques-Maynes (Calyon Pro Cycling Team)                   
18 Justin Kerr                                                     
19 Joseph Pinkerton                                                
20 Andres Gil                                                      
21 Karl Bordine                                                    
22 Aaron Olson (Bissell Pro Cycling)                               
23 Corey Collier                                                   
24 Justin England (Toyota United Professional cycling Team)        
25 Kris Koke                                                       
26 Ben Bradshaw                                                    
27 Dylan Clark                                                     
28 Matthew Cooke                                                   
29 Adam Livingston                                                 
30 Scott Nydam (BMC Racing Team)                                   
31 Ian McKissick (BMC Racing Team)                                 
32 Tom Zirbel (Bissell Pro Cycling)                                
33 Carson Miller                                                   
34 Paul Mach                                                       
35 Brandon Gritters                                                
36 Dirk Friel                                                      
37 Burke Swindlehurst (Bissell Pro Cycling)                        
38 Chris Demarchi                                                  
39 Jesse Moore (Calyon Pro Cycling Team)                           
40 Logan Hunn                                                      
41 Justin Spinelli (Kelly Benefits Strategies-Medifast)            
42 Christian Kearney                                               
43 Morgan Schmitt (Bissell Pro Cycling)                            
44 Nathaniel Deibler                                               
45 Adam Switters                                                   
46 Randy Reichardt                                                 
47 Alex Candelario (Kelly Benefits Strategies-Medifast)            
48 Shaun Morris                                                    
49 Eric Bennett (Successfulliving.com presented by Parkpre)    0.50
50 Edgar Parra                                                     
51 Bradley White (Successful Living)                           1.01
52 Paul Che                                                    1.58
53 Josh Horowitz                                               2.16
54 Joshua Bartlett                                                 
55 Chuck Coyle (Successful Living)                             3.14
56 Ben Knellar (The Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team)            3.28
57 Graham Howard (Bissell Pro Cycling)                             
58 John Hunt (Calyon Pro Cycling Team)                             
59 James Mattis (Calyon Pro Cycling Team)                          
60 Tim Srenaski                                                3.36
61 Omer Kem (Bissell Pro Cycling)                              3.38
62 Joao Correia (Bissell Pro Cycling)                              
63 Loader Llogan                                                   
64 Timothy Farnham                                             4.12
65 Michael Jacques                                             4.19
66 Matthew Seagrave                                                
67 Andy Bestwick                                               4.34
68 James Gunn-Wilkinson                                        6.13
69 Jonathan Coulter (Webcor Builders Cycling Team)             7.13
70 Chris Swan                                                      
71 Eddy Kwon                                                   7.35
 
Sprint classification
 
1 Steven Howard (Bissell Pro Cycling)                            17 pts
2 Ricardo Escuela (Successful Living)                            12
3 Eric Wohlberg (Symmetrics Cycling Team)                        10
4 Andrew Bajadali (Kelly Benefits Strategies-Medifast)            8
5 Michael Sayers (BMC Racing Team)                                6
6 Brian Buchholz (Kelly Benefits Strategies-Medifast)             6
7 Roman Kilun                                                     5
8 Steven Cozza (Garmin-Chipotle)                                  4
9 Jackson Stewart (BMC Racing Team)                               4
10 Aaron Olson (Bissell Pro Cycling)                              2
11 Victor Ayala                                                   2
12 Ian McKissick (BMC Racing Team)                                1
13 Timothy Farnham                                                1
 
Under 23
 
1 Steven Howard (Bissell Pro Cycling)                       1.15.42
2 Roman Van Uden                                               0.10
3 Ben Bradshaw                                                     
4 Carson Miller                                                    
5 Logan Hunn                                                       
6 Adam Switters                                                    
7 Shaun Morris                                                     
8 Eric Bennett (Successfulliving.com presented by Parkpre)     0.50
9 Edgar Parra                                                      
10 Loader Llogan                                               3.38