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Tour of Arkansas - NE
USA, May 15-18, 2008
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Stage 3 - May 17: ,
Climbers Pipped at the line
By Kirsten Robbins in Magazine, Arkansas
After showing his climbing form with a fourth place on Mount Nebo yesterday, Frank Pipp (HealthNet-Maxxis) went three better to claim victory on today's Stage 3. The speedster from Boulder, Colorado out-sprinted a select group of 10 climbers by several metres after Mt. Magazine's 16 kilometre ascent, with Deen Sheldon (CRCA-Empire) taking second place behind him from Christian Helmig (Metro Volkswagen).
"I figured that Karl [Manzies] and I could pop out a win one of these stages," said Pipp, referring to team-mate Karl Menzies' second place on the opening stage. "I wasn't looking back after I jumped. I just went as hard as I could to the line hoping that no one was on my wheel.
"We didn't get the first win in stage one and we were frustrated with that - [Glen] Chadwick beat us there and then did it again yesterday," he added. "And, I'm sure if he wanted to have attacked today he could have easily done so."
Overall race leader Glen Chadwick (Team Type 1) sat comfortable behind his two team-mates Chris Jones and Moises Aldape. Jones and Aldape set a strong enough tempo over the climb to form a select front group of 10 riders, as the remaining riders in the peloton again fell behind.
Both Predrag Prokic (Toshiba-Santo) and Michael Lang (Jelly Belly) were amongst the front group and maintained their overall positions behind Chadwick. Both riders were active in yesterday's stage, putting them into second and third on general classification.
"A couple of guys started attacking and Moises was covering those moves while Chris maintained tempo for me," said Chadwick, who won the first two stages. "The group came down to 10 riders. I sat on the Predrag Prokic all day and waited for him to do something but he didn't. I wanted to attack on the climb but I figured I'd better play it safe and not get too greedy.
How it unfolded
Tired legs lined up to start the penultimate 160 kilometre road stage before heading into tomorrow's criterium finale. Karl Menzies (Health Net-Maxxis) cleared the peloton down the first descent, just 20 kilometres into the stage, looking for a victorious opportunity.
"Karl was going crazy at the start," said Pipp. "He really wanted to get in a break away and figured Team Type 1 might let one go. He rode like an animal and then attacked his own break before the last climb and almost held on until the top, with the climbers at the end."
Buck Miller (Team RACE) and Alex Welch (Mercy Cycling) joined Menzies for what turned into an all day affair. The three riders worked well in rotation against the strong head winds, gaining a maximum of four minutes on the field in the break which lasted over 130 kilometres.
"None of us sat on and we all took even pulls," said Miller. "That's kind of what you have to do if there are only three riders in the break. You have to do your fair share or get out.
"The wind was a big factor today, it seemed like a never ending head wind," he added. "We got one small section of tailwind through the city Blue Mountain at the end, but our gap was already starting to come down at that point as we got closer to the climb."
Approaching the base of Mt Magazine the trio's separation to the peloton was reduced to two minutes. The gap reduced as Team Type 1 worked to safely maintain its overall lead.
"Once the break went off the front we rode four of our riders at the front of the peloton to keep the gap in check," said Chadwick. "Toward the end they picked up the speed enough to pull them back."
Pipp admitted that he used Team Type 1's leading pace up the climb to his advantage. The rival squad's efforts allowed him to ride steady and not fight the otherwise constant surges.
"There was a lot of jockeying for position coming into the climb and I just followed wheels with out trying to fight too much," said Pipp, who placed third overall in the previous year's tour. "My legs are good right now and I'm usually climbing well at this time of year."
All three initial escapees were caught before the top of the ascent, allowing a fresh breakaway opportunity to open up. With one kilometre to go Dustin Macburnie (Team RACE) launched a flyer and was quickly followed by Moises Aldape (Team Type 1).
"I know Chadwick is fast but I really focused on Pipp because I knew he would be the fastest," said Sheldon, who waited patiently in the bunch for others to close down the slender time difference to Aldape and Macburnie. "I should have stayed glued to his wheel but when he jumped he opened a gap really quickly."
Sensing the imminent threat to his victory, Pipp started his sprint 500 metres out from the line. "I saw Aldape bridge across to Macburnie, the field sat up a little bit and I decided to jump and went straight through them to the line," said Pipp.
Helmig recognized Pipp's early jump as the winning move and quickly reverted to Plan B - a sprint for second place. "It was pretty mellow until the last false flat on the back side of the course where Pipp reacted to an attack when no one else could," said Helmig, who celebrated his birthday on the podium with a taste of champagne. "In our sprint we tried to close in on him, but it really came down to a sprint amongst our group, with Pipp already gone."
Results
1 Frank Pipp (HealthNet/Maxxis) 3.59.36 2 Sheldon Deeny (CRCA / EMPIRE CYCLING TEAM) 0.03 3 Christian Helmig (Metro Volkswagen/FCS Cycling) 4 Stefano Barberi (THF Racing) 5 Glen Chadwick (Team Type-1) 6 Jake Rytlewski (Rite Aid pb Shebell & Shebell) 7 Predrag Prokic (TOSHIBA-Santo Presented By Her) 8 Moises Aldape (Team Type 1) 9 Michael Lange (Jelly Belly Pro Cycling Team) 10 Dustin Macburnie (Team RACE Pro) 11 Mark Walters (Team RACE Pro) 0.35 12 Jonathan Baker (Vitamin Cottage) 13 Karl Menzies (HealthNet/Maxxis) 0.40 14 Andrew Talansky (TOSHIBA-Santo Presented By Her) 15 Aaron Tuckerman (Jelly Belly Pro Cycling Team) 16 Terrence Keenan (THF Racing) 17 Jeremy Powers (Jelly Belly Pro Cycling Team) 18 Chris Jones (Team Type 1) 19 William Gault (CTCA/Tulsa Wheelmen) 20 David Sojo Diego (Mercy Elite Cycling Team) 21 John Fredy Parra (TOSHIBA-Santo Presented By Her) 22 NICK Reistad (Jelly Belly Pro Cycling Team) 23 Jared Gilyard (Colavita NM p/b JNF Enterprise) 24 Nick Friesen (GS Mengoni) 25 Scott Tietzel (Jelly Belly Pro Cycling Team) 26 John Minutrn (CRCA / EMPIRE CYCLING TEAM) 27 Dan R. Timmerman (Team RACE Pro) 28 Jonathan Jacob (Mob Squad/ Ubuildit) 1.04 29 Matthew Winstead (Team Inferno Pro Cycling) 1.49 30 Eric Boily (Team Volkswagen) 31 Matthew Johnson (CRCA / EMPIRE CYCLING TEAM) 2.08 32 Adam Ray (Industry Nine) 33 Daniel Vaillancourt (TOSHIBA-Santo Presented By Her) 34 Loren Dodson (Velossimo Racing benefiting Su) 3.20 35 Stefan Rothe (Mercy Elite Cycling Team) 4.04 36 Robbie King (Rite Aid pb Shebell & Shebell) 4.07 37 Clayton Barrows (Rite Aid pb Shebell & Shebell) 38 Noah Singer (Kahala/LaGrange) 39 david Schulhofer (Team Waste Management) 4.46 40 Keir Plaice (Team RACE Pro) 5.09 41 Ryan Knapp (Alderfer Bergen) 42 Jean Michel Lachance (Team Volkswagen) 43 Adam Gaubert (Velossimo Racing benefiting Su) 5.43 44 George Opria (Evolution Cycling) 5.45 45 Janne Hamalainen (CTCA/Tulsa Wheelmen) 46 Mark Pozniak (Team RACE Pro) 47 Stephen Brandt (Velossimo Racing benefitting S) 5.51 48 Ty Stanfield (Myogenesis.com) 49 Bruno Langlois (Team Volkswagen) 6.30 50 Valeriy Kobzarenko (Team Type 1) 9.12 51 John Durango (TOSHIBA-Santo Presented By Her) 52 Yosvany Falcon (TOSHIBA-Santo Presented By Her) 53 Kolt Bates (Mercy Development) 9.57 54 Nathaniel Thompson (Rocky Mountain Bikes/STOK) 55 Paul Koehn (Marx & Bensdorf Realtors/TriSt) 10.16 56 Lance Hughey (Accelerade Cycling Team) 57 Bernard Vanulden (Jelly Belly Pro Cycling Team) 10.35 58 Mat Stephens (Mercy Elite Cycling Team) 59 Adam Mills (HRRC/Trek Stores) 60 Alex Welch (Mercy Elite Cycling Team) 61 François Chabot (Team Volkswagen) 11.22 62 Arnaud Papillon (Team Volkswagen) 63 Mark Batty (Team RACE Pro) 64 Eric Robertson (Team RACE Pro) 65 John Loehner (CRCA / EMPIRE CYCLING TEAM) 66 Mike Sherer (Alderfer Bergen) 67 Michael Mathis (CRCA / EMPIRE CYCLING TEAM) 68 David Rendon (Colavita NM p/b JNF Enterprise) 12.40 69 Karl Kupecz (Velossimo Racing benefiting Su) 70 Brad Huff (Jelly Belly Pro Cycling Team) 71 Eugene Boronow (GS Mengoni) 72 Adam Thuss (Team RACE Pro) 73 William Snodgrass (Metro Volkswagen/FCS Cycling) 74 Christian Deshaies (Team Volkswagen) 14.32 75 Eric Brownell (CRCA / EMPIRE CYCLING TEAM) 15.01 76 corey Ray (Metro Volkswagen/FCS Cycling) 77 Andrew Hunt (Team RACE Pro) 78 Frank Travieso (TOSHIBA-Santo Presented By Her) 16.57 79 Fabio Calabria (Team Type 1) 17.17 80 Emiliano Jordan (Colavita NM p/b JNF Enterprise) 17.40 81 jay Blankenship (CTCA/Tulsa Wheelmen) 18.12 82 Scott Barnes (Mercy Development) 83 John Mcallister (Velossimo Racing benefiting Su) 18.23 84 justin Jackson (Mercy Development) 85 Bill Marshall (Mercy Elite Cycling Team) 86 Peter Carey (Metro Volkswagen/FCS Cycling) 26.16 87 Buck (Kevin) Miller (Team RACE Pro) 88 Ian Macgregor (Team Type 1) 28.49 89 Timothy Hargrave (Team Type 1) 30.48 DNF Alexandre Cloutier (Team Volkswagen) DNF mario Arroyave (Velossimo Racing benefiting Su) DNF Courtney Guck (Rocky Mountain Bikes/STOK) General Classification after Stage 3 1 Glen Chadwick (Team Type 1) 2 Predrag Prokic (Toshiba) 3 Michael Lang (Jelly Belly)
