Muller takes Arlington Heights Crit

The new Superweek course at Arlington Heights resembled a Grand Prix circuit, possessing very technical sections as well as long straightaways, and the large number of cash primes provided for exciting racing in front of a good crowd of over 3,500.

The nature of the course coupled with the aggressive racing from several teams, in particular Team Mountain Khakis, saw only 43 finishers from almost 100 starters in the men's event. None of the attacks were successful until a breakaway of almost 20 riders got a good gap two-thirds of the way through the race. However, Brad Huff (Jelly Belly) did some very strong pulls on the front of the peloton to bring it all back together.

With 16 laps remaining, a group of five riders led by Sean Sullivan (Team Hotel San Jose) was edging off the front and the bell was rung for a $100 prime. This kicked the breakaway group into gear and it was German rider Andreas Muller (No Radunion) who coasted across the line with ease to win the prime. This was when the breakaway then got firmly established with 14 laps remaining.

The group containing Taiwan's Chun Kai Feng (Team Exustar), Sean Sullivan (Team Hotel San Jose), Ryan Freund (ABD Cycling), Will Hoffarth (Team Mountain Khakis) and Andreas Muller (No Radunion) worked very well together to build their lead over the peloton. Some of the big teams, such as the Fly V Australia and South Africa's MTN, did not actively chase since they already had the yellow leader's and red sprint jersey respectively.

Since Team Hotel San Jose had Sullivan in the break, the team positioned itself on the front to control the peloton and watch for any moves. Over the final laps, it was cash primes galore and Jelly Belly's Brad Huff was very active taking several primes as the consolation for not making the breakaway.

Going into final lap, the breakaway was playing a bit of cat and mouse due to its one-minute lead on the peloton. Sullivan (Team Hotel San Jose) was on the last wheel going through the start/finish area and he launched an attack down the back straight to get a five second lead. Will Hoffarth (Team Mountain Khakis) was the first rider to respond and chased hard. This gave the other three riders effectively a lead-out wheel, with Ryan Freund, Chun Kai Feng and Andreas Muller slotted behind in that order.

Sullivan was still on front coming down the last 200 metres, but the work by Hoffarth made it relatively easy for Muller to overpower a fading Sullivan by over a bike length. Fruend (ABD Cycling) took 3rd position just ahead of Taiwan's national track champion and Olympian, Chun Kai Feng. Hoffarth faded to finish last of his breakaway companions.

Zachary Davies from Madison, Wisconsin took advantage of an indecisive field to attack and finish solo in sixth position. The field sprint was won by the teammates Sulzberger and Cantwell (Fly V Australia).

The German Muller was immensely satisfied with his win. "With five to go I felt very confident in winning as the gap was almost a minute and increasing, I just needed to play my cards right. In the middle of the race I felt like I did not have the legs as it was intensely hard. It took a long time to bring back the big breakaway with work from my team and some help from Jelly Belly driving hard on the front".

Muller said that the course "was really hard, super technical and the accelerations killed the riders. It was a course I enjoyed, more especially so since I won". Muller praised the Taiwanese rider in the break. "He was definitely the strongest of us and did a lot of work, however his tactical skills were his downfall. Had he been a little cagier instead of chasing down everything, he would have had a great chance of winning the race."

Muller is using this 17-day Superweek series to prepare for the track World Cups and also the six-day season coming up in Europe.

Second place finisher Sean Sullivan (Team Hotel San Jose) said, "It was a good race, and I would have loved to hold on for the win but I did not have much left in the legs at the end. It was a fast race from the start and people were looking for the early moves after seeing the Richton Park trio lap the field.

"It was just a matter of getting into the break at the right time and by the time we went, everyone was getting tired, it was perfect timing. At the end I knew I had to try something early as I was not the fastest in the break. I tried to take everyone by surprise by launching my attack out of turn two but I was nipped at the line by Andreas."