Peterson wins breakaway sprint at Joe Martin finale

Cameron Peterson (V Australia) won the fourth and final stage of the Joe Martin Stage Race on Sunday. He jumped ahead of a large late-race breakaway and finish ahead of Bissell duo Frank Pipp in second and Jeremy Vennell in third.

Frank Pipp gained enough time during the breakaway combined with the second place time bonuses to secure the overall victory at the Joe Martin Stage Race. He finished the tactical finale by four seconds ahead of his teammate Jeremy Vennell and an additional 16 seconds to Cesar Grajales (RealCyclist.com).

The stage one Devils Den time trial winner, Francisco Mancebo (RealCyclist.com) held the overall race lead during the following two stages. After a demanding effort to try and contain the field during the stage four criterium, he slipped into seventh place overall, more than one minute behind. Mancebo dominated the early season NRC stage races winning Redlands Bicycle Classic and Tour of the Gila.

"This was the best opportunity to isolate Francisco," said Bissell Directeur Sportif, Omer Kem. "We were able to use our GC riders to draw Mancebo out and force him to have to chase by himself until Frank and Jeremy went up the road. This win is huge, especially going into Tour of California, I know that I have ten capable riders. We've learned a lot about ourselves and how to race against RealCyclist.com and be able to win the stage race. We had depth in our GC and cards to play."

Bissell won the event's best team competition and Jay Thompson won the event's points jersey.

The men's race started at the top of a two and half kilometre L-shaped circuit on a steep climb that is followed by a technical and corner-laden descent that wrapped all the way down to the bottom-end of the course before veering back onto the final ascent to the finish line.

A heated battle for the overall GC became hotter when Jacques-Maynes, runner up in the overall classification, entered into to an early breakaway with several other riders. Mancebo was forced to close the gap. A counter attack out of the break resulted in another move that included five riders from teams Pure Black Racing, Kelly Benefit Strategies-OptumHealth, V Australia and Bissell's stage three winner Jay Thompson.

Bissell went into the race with three riders, Jacques-Maynes, Mach and Vennell, sitting just seconds behind Mancebo in the overall classification, along with Pipp in seventh position. They continued to put pressure on Mancebo by sending its overall contenders on the attack.

Of his teammates, Vennell was the last rider to make a dominant move during the last laps of the criterium. He was joined by several other riders including his teammate Frank Pipp along Mike Northey, Mark Langlands (Pure Black Racing) who were also highly aggressive during the race with Roman Van Uden sitting in fifth place overall at the start of the day. The breakaway also included Mancebo's teammate Cesar Grajales (RealCyclist.com), Peterson and his teammates, Nick Walker and Sean Sullivan (V. Australia), Chad Haga and Ian Holt (Rio Grande).

"The breakaway went up the road at about 60 minutes into the race, 25 minutes to go," Kem said. "The rode about ten laps off the front of the race. There were about eight guys and many of the teams that would have been capable of chasing were represented in that break. Mancebo made a big effort to try and close the gap but he had to close gaps by himself for a lot of the race and it would have been tough to draw back a motivated group of riders."

The move forced Mancebo and his RealCyclist.com teammates to chase during the closing laps. The breakaway managed to stay away by a roughly one and half minutes at the finish line as a separated front end of the race crossed the line.

A game of cat and mouse saw the breakaway leaders separate coming to the finish line with Peterson taking the stage win ahead of Bissell teammates Pipp and Vennell.

Kachorek wins Joe Martin Finale

Emily Kachorek (Primal-MayMyRide) took her first National Racing Calendar (NRC) victory at the stage four finale. She attacked with one lap to go and soloed to the finish line ahead of the uphill bunch sprint won by Lex Albrecht (Juvederm-Specialized) in second and Modesta Vzesniauskaite (Colavita Forno D'Asolo) in third.

Janel Holcomb (Colavita Forno D'Asolo) captured her first NRC stage race overall victory at the Joe Martin Stage Race. She won the race ahead of Meghan Guarnier (Tibco-To the Top) in second and Albrecht in third.

"I am elated and on cloud nine," Holcomb said. "It has been one of the most fun weekends that I have ever had on a bike. It was fun because of the team and because it was a surprise to me. I'm happy that I could put it together for the team because of all the hard work that Kristin and Modesta did."

Vzesniauskaite accumulated enough points to win the points jersey and Colavita Forno D'Asolo won the team overall classification with its three rider-team Holcomb, Vzesniauskaite and Kristin Sanders.

The women's field lined up on what is arguably the most challenging criterium course of the season. The two and half kilometre L-shaped circuit starts at the top of a steep climb that is followed by a technical and corner-laden descent that wraps all the way down to the bottom-end of the course before veering back onto the final ascent to the finish line.

With a large number of bonus seconds available at the finish line, all teams, including Colavita Forno D'Asolo were attentive to the difficult stage on hand. Attacks were launched from the starter gun and Holcomb's teammates immediately assumed a defensive role at the front of the field, covering all threatening breakaways.

Tibco-To the Top had to most to gain by tiring out the Colavita Forno D'Asolo squad with its rider and stage two winner Meghan Guarnier sitting only 10 seconds back in second place in the overall classification.

"We prioritized what my responsibilities were before the race and Kristin and Modesta took care of the rest," Holcomb said. "We know Tibco is a very strong team and their advantage was their numbers and that they could attack us throughout the entire race to make us tired."

After several attacks, it was Carlee Taylor (Tibco-To the Top) who got a solo move to stick, mid-race. She was reabsorbed into the field in the closing laps, just in time for her teammates to launch several late-race attacks.

"For certain riders on Tibco it was fine," Holcomb said. "But Meredith [Miller], Jo [Kiesanowski] and Meghan were important to follow. The real threatening parts of the race were when Meredith and Meghan timed their attacks to counter attack one another. I sat four, fifth or sixth wheel and watch them and follow those."

Kachorek took a last lap flyer and managed to hold a small gap to the finish line to take the stage win ahead of a bunch sprint won by Albrecht for second place and Vzesniauskaite in third.

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