Marcotte, Schneider prevail on stage 3

TIBCO-To the Top pulled off the top two spots Saturday during stage 3 of the Joe Martin Stage Race in Fayetteville, Arkansas, but the top of the overall classification remained unchanged.

After 115 kilometers of racing, Samantha Schneider took the field sprint in front of teammate Lauren Hall, with Optum Pro Cycling-Kelly Benefit Strategy's Jade Wilcoxson grabbing third. Optum's Carmen Small finished safely in the field and held onto yellow.

Optum spent the day on the front of the peloton fending off attacks from TIBCO and Team FCS-Rouse. But as the bunch approached the finish together, Schneider got the advantage in the final 200 meters and took the win and the 10-second time bonus that went with it. But she started the day 24th overall, more than 10 minutes down, and climbed to 21st overall after Saturday. Hall started the day 18th and moved to 14th with her time bonus for second. Wilcoxson remained third overall but took the lead in the points competition.

Despite the time bonuses, the top of the General Classification looked the same, with Small leading Team FCS-Rouse rider Kathryn Donavan by four seconds. Wilcoxson is now 46 seconds down.

Marcotte avoids late crash to take men's field sprint

The men's race also boiled down to a messy field sprint after the peloton absorbed a serious breakaway of four riders with about 50km remaining in the 184km race. A crash near the front in the final kilometer wiped out most of the team organization and catapulted Eric Marcotte of the elite amateur Elbowz Racing team into the win.

Before the teams could line up for a bunch sprint, the field had to contain the day's major breakaway. Bissell's Ben Jacques-Maynes, Optum's Mike Creed, Kenda/5-Hour Energy's Curtis Winsor and Bruno Langlois (Garneau-Quebecor-Norton Rose) had nearly two minutes on the field before Competitive Cyclist, working on behalf of race leader Francisco Mancebo and second overall Cesar Grajales, pulled them back.

Another group of 11 riders pulled clear on the last climb of the day but gained no more than 30 seconds before Competitive Cyclist and Kenda quickly went to the front to bring the escapees back. The field was together again at 10km to go, with Kenda driving to keep the pace high for sprinter Shawn Milne, the stage 2 winner who started the day fourth overall, just 22 seconds behind Mancebo and four seconds behind Grajales.

Competitive Cyclist mixed it up in the final shuffling at the front, trying to set up Mancebo for one of the time bonuses reserved for the top-three stage finishers, or at least keep them from his his GC rivals. Bissell, Optum and Team Exergy were challenging to seize control of the race for their team leaders and sprinters.

But crossed wheels in the Bissell train caused chaos in the bunch, opening an opportunity for Marcotte to sneak past his Continental rivals for the stage win. Milne rewarded Kenda's work by avoiding the carnage, grabbing second place and collecting a six-second time bonus, moving him into second overall and extending his lead in the green jersey points competition. Marcotte's teammate Joseph Schmalz finished third. Mancebo crossed the line safely in the bunch to maintain his race lead by 16 seconds over Milne. Grajales is now third, still 18 seconds adrift.

More time bonuses are up for grabs Sunday when the stage race concludes with an 85-minute criterium for the men and 55 minutes of racing for the women.