Thomson takes second straight stage

The Schlitz Park Endeavour Cycling Challenge was held on an arduous criterium circuit only 0.8 miles in length but with half that as a steep grunt up 2nd Street followed by about 45 seconds of downhill on Martin Luther King Drive before the hill was repeated. The pro men had to endure this house of pain for 70 laps, and this eventually took its toll as less than half of the field finished. Initially, after a period of rain, it looked like the course may prove to be treacherous, but after 10 minutes of racing the roads dried completely.

It was breakaway after breakaway during the race, and each time the breaks were reeled back in by chasers determined not to let them go. The sprint competition was heating up between the main contenders, Team MTN and Geargrinder for rounds one and two. However, the first significant breakaway of the race, containing Christoff Van Heerden (Team MTN), Matthew Busche (ISCorp Cycling Team), Timothy Farnham (Bissell Pro Cycling Team), Michael Friedman (Garmin-Slipstream), Bernard Sulzberger (Fly V Australia), Hector Pastorino (ZMotion) and Toby Marzot (Team Mountain Khakis) had a handy lead and looked to be established with all the major teams represented.

Right before the third round of sprint points there was an acceleration from the red jersey contenders, with Ronnie Strange (Team Hotel San Jose) on the front driving hard followed by Jay Thomson (Team MTN). They came close to catching the break and Strange succeeded in launching his teammate Heath Blackgrove to bridge across to the leaders.

The breakaway swelled to 14 riders with Karl Menzies (Team OUCH), Chun Kai Feng (Team Exustar), Daniel Bowman (Kelly Benefit Strategies) and Riccardo Van der Velde (Garmin-Slipstream) the notable new additions but the escapees never got organized. As the bell was rung for a $75 prime Taiwan's Chun Kai Feng attacked up the climb with two riders in tow and managed to win the sprint for the cash.

Chun Kai Feng continued with the momentum created to take three other riders with him, however his escape attempt was short-lived as the other breakaway riders worked hard to neutralise the gap. Meanwhile, the peloton had been chasing hard, strung out single file to reabsorb the break of 14 moments before the final round of sprint points. Chun Kai Feng (Team Exustar) found enough energy to edge out Jay Thomson (Team MTN) to take maximum points.

Late in the race, with 17 laps to go, Garmin-Slipstream's Michael Friedman attacked and soon gained a 20-second advantage over the peloton. Race leader Sulzberger attacked at 13 to go and successfully bridged to Friedman, however this escape did not last long as Team MTN chased hard to peg them back. Once it was back together again with 11 laps remaining four riders attacked: Bowman (Kelly Benefit Strategies), Van Heerden (Team MTN), Van der Velde (Garmin-Slipstream) and Jorge Alvarado (Kahala La Grange). This escape lasted only two laps before being chased down.

The decisive moment came in the form of a $60 prime with four laps remaining. South Africa's Jay Thomson leapt clear of the peloton to take the prime and from there, once the gap was realized, he went into time trial mode to hold off a charging peloton and take his third stage win at Superweek. Zachary Davies, like he did at Arlington Heights, attacked on the final lap to claim second place while Bernard Sulzberger (Fly V Australia) won the field sprint for third place to further consolidate his race lead.

At the post-race presentation, Thompson was clearly stunned that he had won. "I would not have done it without my team behind me," he said. "I was told by the team to go and take the $60 prime with four to go, and I looked back and saw I had a gap on the field so I just kept going. I never thought that I would be able to hold on for the win".

Race announcer Eddy Van Guyse dubbed him "Superman" since Thomson has won the toughest of Superweek's races: Elgin Park, Holy Hill road race and now Schiltz Park. The victory moved Thomson into second place in the overall standings.