Teutenberg wins Merco Cycling Classic finale

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Ina-Yoko Teutenberg secured HTC-Highroad its third victory during the Merco Cycling Classic's fourth and final stage at the Almond Blossom Road Race on Sunday. The German sprinter won the bunch kick to the line ahead of Maria Pascale Schnider (Red Racing) in second and Lauren Tamayo (Peanut Butter & Co Twenty12) in third.

Alison Starnes (Peanut Butter & Co Twenty12) captured the Merco Cycling Classic overall title ahead of Schnider who captured a time bonus at the finish lined and moved up into second place. Starnes teammate, Kristin McGrath finished the race in third place overall.

Starnes moved into the leader's jersey following her win in the stage two time trial and maintained her lead through the stage three Merced Downtown Grand Prix and the stage four Almond Blossom Road Race.

"I'm in a pretty good high about winning the overall because I felt like my team had a common goal and we stuck with our plan and worked together for this," Starnes said. "This is a team win and I was excited to be in the position, do my job and time trial and work as well as a team player."

Amanda Miller (HTC-Highroad) opened the four-stage race in the overall lead by virtue of winning the stage one Merced Irrigation Distract Road Race. Although she lost the jersey to Starnes following the time trial, she successfully maintained her lead in as the event's best Under 26 rider.

Teutenberg won the Merced Downtown Grand Prix and the Almond Blossom Road Race in a similar fashion as the previous year's event. She wrapped up the race by securing the points jersey by virtue of her two stage wins.

The Pro 1, 2, 3 women's field lined up under cool morning temperatures and light rain to contest three laps of a 36 km undulating course totaling roughly 115 km at the Almond Blossom Road Race.

"We covered and killed every move that HTC-Highroad and TIBCO tried," Starnes said. "It was a long race and at one point Ina and Pascale went up the road and I had to bridge up to that move to neutralize that break. That was the most threatening move of the day."

"It ended up being a bunch sprint and we set a fast pace to try and lead out Lauren," she added. "Lauren had been working all day and didn't have fresh legs but she still did a great sprint for third place behind Ina, who won the stage and then Pascale got second."

Jacques-Maynes wins Merco finale and overall title

Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissell) wrapped up the Merco Cycling Classic with a victory at the stage four Almond Blossom Road Race on Sunday. Jacques-Maynes went into the stage as the defending champion, this time winning the uphill kick to the line ahead of Logan Loader (RideClean p/b PetentIT.com) in second and his teammate Jay Thompson in third.

"It was a great sprint to take the initiative with the right timing and I capitalized on that timing," Jacques-Maynes said. "We caught the last part of a breakaway with four kilometres to go. There were a couple of attacks and we were trying to shut those downs to have a good sprint for Frank Pipp and Jay Thompson."

"I was away coming into the last kilometre but got swarmed and I jumped in the slipstream behind Frank Pipp, Alex Candelario from Kelly Benefits and Jay Thompson. There was a boxing up and a hesitation and I dove left as hard as I could. I've done that finish so many times and it was time to go."

Jacques-Maynes secured the overall title at the Merco Cycling Classic following its conclusion at the stage four Almond Blossom Road Race. The California native moved into the overall race lead following a third place performance in the stage two time trial. He finished the race ahead of his teammates Jay Thompson in second and Rob Britton in third.

"It's a great honor and I love racing out here in Merced," Jacques-Maynes said. "The organization does a great job putting on this race and the general community in Merced is very supportive and we got so many cheers riding around town this week. It is a great race to support and it was definitely really fun racing."

Bissell Pro Cycling put forth an outstanding performance during the four-stage race having swept the podium on stage one's Merced Irrigation Distract Road Race, with Rob Britton taking the stage win and stage two's individual time trail with Jeremy Vennell taking top honors.

Team sprinters Kyle Wamsley and Patrick Bevin placed second and third during the stage three Merced Downtown Grand Prix, behind stage winner Ricardo Escuela (Full Circle Sports).

The list of accomplishments also continued with Jay Thompson securing the overall points jersey. John Bennett (California Giant Berry Farms-Specialized earned himself the Under 25 jersey by placing inside the top five in the overall classification.

"We showed that we were well prepared and our results were good but it was by no means easy," Jacques-Maynes said. "Bissell rode a great race, we took our responsibility and it worked out well. It shows a lot for our cohesion and ability to race well together. Having just coming off of a week of training camp we sorted out some of the early season communication already. Most of us already raced together last year, we are comfortable together and we work well together."

The fourth and final stage of the Merco Cycling Classic offered the Pro men's field five laps of a 36 km undulating circuit, totaling 196 km. The previous day's warm and sunny weather turned to cold and rain for the final stage making the race battle of attrition.

A breakaway of seven riders gained three-minutes on the field in the first lap. The gap exploded to eleven minutes on the second lap when race officials neutralized the peloton at the side of the road to allow the Masters field to pass. The leaders held a seven minute gap with one lap to go.

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