Zirbel, Small wrap up overall victory at Nature Valley Grand Prix

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In 2009, Tom Zirbel came into the final stage Stillwater Criterium of the Nature Valley Grand Prix wearing yellow but ended up just two laps short of winning the overall when Rory Sutherland slipped away on the 20 percent slopes of Chilkoot Hill, snatching away the victory from Zirbel with less than 10 minutes of racing remaining.

Zirbel got his chance for redemption this year, once again wearing yellow into the final stage, but this time relying on his Optum Pro Cycling-Kelly Benefit Strategies teammates to help him hang on for the overall victory.

Zirbel left no doubt how he felt about and exorcizing his demons on the stage this year. As the six-foot, four-inch rider rolled up to the team van after the race, he looked at director Jonas Carney, said "monkey" and then reached over his own shoulders with both hands as if to pull an imaginary primate off his back and toss it to the ground.

"It's pretty incredible," Zirbel said. "My team was flawless today. I never actually had to take the front and close down any gaps. They were just always there for me. I figured it would be two, three, four laps on my own there, and it just never happened. That's how strong they were."

Elbowz Racing placed two amateur riders at the top of the stage podium with Christian Helmig and Eric Marcotte overtaking solo escapee Tyler Wren (Jamis-Sutter Home) about 50 meters from the finish line to go first and second, respectively.

In the women's race, Most Aggressive Rider Megan Guarnier (TIBCO-To-the -Top) soloed away from the group on lap seven of 13 and held off the field to take her first stage win of the tour, while Optum's Carmen Small crossed the line third behind teammate Jade Wilcoxson to hang on for the overall win.

The Stillwater Criterium was packed with people who crowded along the course, and especially Chilkoot, to whoop, holler and sometimes run alongside the riders as they made there way up the wall that was first used for cycling in the 1970s during an Olympic qualifier. The men faced 20 laps of the intimidating 1.4-mile loop, while the women tackled 13.

The race started out in sunny conditions and stayed that way for the women, but the men faced another day of rain that started about halfway through their race.

Mechanical slows McGrath, Guarnier gets stage win, Small takes home yellow

ExergyTWENTY12's Kristin McGrath wasted little time making her stage-win intentions known to the women's field, soloing off the front on the first lap and starting her second loop with a 19-second gap. She built an advantage of 45 seconds at the start of lap five before her hopes for stage glory were wiped away by a mechanical problem with her rear derailleur. McGrath made it to the pits and got a new bike, keeping a 13-second lead intact, but that gap was washed away by the time the field came around for lap seven.

"I was feeling great," McGrath said. "And I felt like I could have maintained that for the whole race. But this course challenges the upper limits of our bodies and our machines, and if you're not perfect in every way, you pay for it, and that's what happened."

With McGrath back in the fold, Guarnier picked up the baton and soloed away, dangling just off the front the next time up Chilkoot but gaining 25 seconds on the field just one lap later.

"Once Kristin (McGrath) got caught, there were a couple of attacks by TIBCO and lululemon," Guarnier said of her winning move. "Then it was kind of strung out, and there was a small selection, so I just attacked into the bottom of the hill."

With two to go the Redlands Cycling Classic overall winner had 46 seconds on the field and seemed assured of victory. The chase behind pulled the gap down to 26 seconds by the time they got the bell for the final lap, but Guarnier clung to her lead to take the win by 17 seconds over Wilcoxson and Small. Specialized-lululemon's Emilia Fahlin finished fourth, two seconds later, followed by teammate Ali Stacher.

"I kind of had the feeling they were going to gain some time on the last laps, because the last laps are always faster," Guarnier said. "But I just had to stay cool, calm and collected and get through that last lap."

Guarnier's cool, calm and collected performance earned her the stage win plus another Most Aggressive Rider jersey, but Small's performance throughout the week – she won the stage 1 time trial and wore yellow through the next five stages – brought the ultimate prize home for Optum.

"The team was phenomenal," Small said after her victory was secured. "I did hardly anything today."

"The faster I get to the finish line the faster this is over" Small said. "I want a break."

Fahlin's effort on the day moved her into second overall, 38 seconds behind Small, while Wilcosxon moved into third, 56 seconds behind her Optum teammate. Fahlin also grabbed the jersey for best young rider, and Wilcosxon clung to the Queen of the Hill jersey. Double stage winner Theresa Cliff-Ryan rode away with the sprinter's jersey, while Nature Valley composite team rider Brianna Walle earned the green top for best amateur. Optum claimed the top team overall prize.

Olheiser animates men's race, Elbowz capitalizes during slick finish

Despite being knocked out of overall contention when he missed the winning breakaway during Saturday's Menomonie Road Race, Competitive Cyclist's Mike Olheiser seemed bent on making things happen during the men's 20-lap race, which also started under dry conditions that soon turned to traces of rain and then steady drops about halfway through.

Olheiser got away with Marcotte on lap four of 20, but the pair was caught on the descent off Chilkoot. He tried again on the next lap and was soon joined by Luis Amaran (Jamis-Sutter Home). The pair held off the bunch for two laps before Olheiser's teammate Cesar Grajales bridged on the descent. Then Bissell Pro Cycling's Frank Pipp, Jelly Belly's Christian Kriek and Kenda/5-Hour Energy's Luca Damiani joined the escape.

The group added Wren and Mt. Khaki's Travis Livermore with five to go, but the gap never went out to more than five seconds as Optum continued to drill it on the front of the increasingly smaller field. Optum's work paid dividends quickly, as they pulled back the lead group on the ensuing lap. Wren went off again with Chris Uberti (Panther), and the duo climbed Chilkoot and took the bell for the final lap with an eight-second advantage.

Wren gapped Uberti on the descent and tried to solo in for the win, but Helmig and Marcotte had plans of their own. Wren came off the descent with a slight lead and headed up the hill toward the finish with a full head of steam, but the Elbowz duo caught him with about 50 meters to go and left him in their wake, going one-two across the line. Wren came in with the same time for third, and Uberti held on for fourth. It was a heartbreaking finish for Wren.

"I thought I had it," Wren said. "I looked back a few times, and I just gave it everything I had up the hill, but I think I was a little bit over geared. I was in the big ring, which is tough on that climb, and I could feel them coming. With about 50 meters to go they went past me, and that was it. Man, that's a hard pill to swallow."

Helmig, the amateur road champion of Luxemburg, was obviously ecstatic to score a big win before the upcoming national championships in his home country.

"This is my last race in the championship jersey," he said. "Next week is the championships again, so I'm just super happy to make that jersey proud. It's a huge win. Huge! This Nature Valley Grand Prix really suits our team, and we definitely had this race targeted. So I'm really happy that it all worked out."

The stage winner also praised Marcotte, who he said "dragged him around" the course on the last lap and set him up for the win. "I was really suffering through it, but Eric was riding like five men today."

Zirbel, who finished 15 seconds behind the winner for 11th, secured the overall win by 17 seconds over Bissell's Ben Jacques-Maynes and by 18 seconds over third-placed Andres Diaz (Team Exergy). Coulton Hartich (Athletix-GlobalBike) was the top amateur in fourth place, 36 seconds behind Zirbel, while Jelly Belly's Christian Kriek was fifth, 42 seconds off the lead pace.

BMC-Hincapie's Ty Magner finished eighth on the stage to grab the Best Young Rider jersey, while Olheiser finished 24th and earned both the Most Aggressive Rider and King of the Hill jerseys after his day's effort. Stage 2 winner Carlos Alzate took home the jersey for best sprinter. Mirroring the women's result, the Optum men also came away with the best team prize.

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