Nature Valley Grand Prix: Haedo snags the win in St. Paul Criterium

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Lauren Hall (Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies) and J.J. Haedo (Jamis-Hagens Berman) sprinted to victory Wednesday evening during Nature Valley Grand Prix's stage 2 downtown St. Paul criterium. But it was Hall's teammate Jade Wilcoxson who came away the big winner, using time bonuses from her second-place finish and intermediate sprints to move into the overall race lead. Jelly Belly's Serghei Tvetcov held onto his overall lead in the men's race after a serious challenge from Optum's Mike Friedman.

The women's 28-lap race was a battle for time bonuses as Shelley Olds (TIBCO-To the Top), who started the day 25 seconds down on stage 1 winner Carmen Small, battled Optum and Small's Specialized-lululemon team for the time bumps at the finish and two intermediate sprints.

Olds seized both intermediate sprints but had to settle for third behind Optum's one-two finish after she and others at the front of the field were slowed by a crash in the final corner. Hall and Wilcoxson made it past the carnage, while Olds had to slow down and Small and Optum's Joelle Numainville came to a complete stop.

Wilcoxson's eight-second time bonus for finishing second pushed her two seconds ahead of Small, who won the overall last year after taking the time trial victory and holding the lead through the final day. After a day of riding really well and getting a ton of team support during the criterium, Small's luck didn't hold out this year.

“I think my biggest worry was Jade, who collected some points and then she did well at the finish,” Small said. “That hurts.”

Olds also got slowed by the crash but managed to sprint back into third behind Hall and Wilcoxson. After winning the intermediate time bonuses, maximum points at the finish would have put her within three seconds of Small's lead, but it just wasn't in the cards Wednesday evening.

“On the last lap (Optum) had some pretty good speed and I was actually pretty comfortable sitting in fourth wheel going into the last corner,” an obviously frustrated Olds said. “But then Carmen Small came out of nowhere and took all of us in the corner and crashed. Joelle and me had to stop and her two teammates just went.

“I just hate it when things like that happen,” Olds continued. “It's not raining. It's a perfectly nice day and we've taken that corner 100 times. I don't know.”

Hall and Wilcoxson's intent was to lead out Numainville, who started the stage just three seconds behind Small, but when the crash slowed their teammate they hit out for the finish on their own.

“Jade took a monster pull through probably the last four corners,” Hall said. “I would have let her go, but then Carmen came up in the last corner with a lot of momentum. If she hadn't crashed it probably would have been a good sprint. But then the crash also held Joelle up a little bit and so we took one-two.”

Wilcoxson didn't get the stage win but ended up in yellow even though that was never the team's plan.

“That's just how it worked out,” she said.

The current US pro road race champion now leads Small by two seconds and her teammate Numainville by four. Hall is eight seconds back in fourth, while Optum's Brianna Walle is nine seconds back in fifth. Olds moved into sixth overall, 10 seconds off Wilcoxson's pace. TIBCO's Claudia Haeusler is seventh, 25 seconds down.

Haedo times his effort to perfection

Optum came out firing during the men's 40-lap criterium later in the evening, hoping time bonuses could lift Mike Friedman, who started the stage 18 seconds down in fifth place, into the overall lead. Friedman took the maximum five-second bonus at both opportunities, at 32 and 16 laps to go (separate from sprint points - contested at 24 and 8 laps to go) and grabbed another eight seconds by following Haedo across the finish line for second.

But Tvetcov and his Jelly Belly team were having none of it and put the Moldovan rider into second during each of the bonus hot spots as well.

“We knew that Optum was going to play their card with Friedman, and they kept doing that,” said current US pro road race champion Freddie Rodriguez of Jelly Belly. “Friedman's faster so he got first place, but Serghei was right there with him in second every time.”

Although several tried, no one was able to build much of an advantage on the fast technical course, and Optum's Tom Zirbel hit the front with four laps to go and proceeded to pull the field around for three laps at a blistering pace, hoping to set up Friedman for the win. The pace blasted Tvetcov off the front of the field and out of contention, but it fell short of producing the win when Haedo flew past.

Tvetcov, who said he was “really impressed” with the team's effort on his behalf, couldn't follow Rodriguez's lead-out all the way into the finishing straight. Noticing that his teammate wasn't on his wheel, Rodriguez tried to help in anyway he could and eventually went for the sprint himself.

“I was hoping to lead [Serghei] out on the last lap, and I took the lead with about a kilometer to go,” Rodriguez said. “Then I lost him and I shut it down. I tried to shut down Friedman, but he's pretty crafty and shot the inside and was able to get the good placing. When I saw there was a little bit of a gap I re-accelerated.”

Haedo, winner of a stage in the Vuelta a Espana, got some help from his Jamis-Hagens Berman teammates but took care of the final sprint himself.

“I did a bit on my own, but then I also have Janier Acevedo up until about two or three corners to go,” Haedo said. “He's impressive for being a climber how good he is in these kind of crits. So I got the help I needed and then in the end I like to do things on my own because I feel more comfortable.”

Haedo certainly looked at ease as he crossed the line arms aloft for the stage win in front of Friedman and Rodriguez. Friedman's effort moved him into second overall, just six seconds behind Tvetcov. Zirbel, the overall winner last year, is third just nine seconds back. CashCall's Chris Barton is fourth, 19 seconds back, and Optum's Scott Zwizanski is fifth, 21 seconds down.

Women - Full results

Men - Full Results