Menzies and Buchanan win Gateway Cup day 3

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The third round of the 2015 Gateway Cup took place on the iconic Giro della Montagna course for the longest running race of the series. In both the men and women’s race, United Health Care took the lessons from the previous races and grabbed the win in their respective fields.

Throughout the opening half of the women’s race, UHC controlled the pace on the front of the group, discouraging attacks and monitoring the pace through the opening stages of the race. Roughly halfway through the sixty-minute event, UHC gave up the front, in an apparent attempt to see which teams would take the initiative. As each successive attack gained some space off the front, UHC marked the wheels until Rushlee Buchanan found herself clear with Emma Grant of Colavita and Joanne Kiesanowski of Tibco. A solid lead of twenty plus seconds looked like a sure thing until the final two laps when the gap shrank dramatically and it looked as if the field would come together for a sprint. Heading into the finishing straight, the break clung to a handful of seconds and it was enough to hold off the pack and allow Buchanan to finally take a convincing win for United Health Care after two days of disappointment.

The men’s race looked to take advantage of the challenging course with the hope of pulling a winning move clear of the sprint focused field. Throughout the first half of the race, nothing gained any traction, and anything that had even a few seconds of leeway had UHC stuck to it making sure they showed control. With twenty minutes remaining, a group of seven pried out an advantage with almost every major team represented. Notably absent, however, were the Optum team of Brad Huff and the Alto Velo/Seasucker team of Daniel Holloway. As the race wound down, both Huff and Holloway took the initiative upon themselves to lead the chase and bring the break to within striking distance. With five to go, the breakaway broke apart and three riders remained, Karl Menzies of UHC, Ryan Aitcheson of Astellas, and Ruben Companioni of Stradali Cycle. In a near repeat of the women’s finish, the break just held off the field with Menzies taking the win, and with it the overall lead from the Holloway.

As the finale of the USA Crits series, the Giro dell Montagna locked up the overall win of Daniel Holloway for the men and Tiffany Pezzulo for the women.

Heading into the final day of the Gateway Cup, Karl Menzies and Rushlee Buchanan of United Health Care hold the overall series lead with the most challenging and technical course of the weekend ahead of them at the Benton Park Classic.

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