North Star Grand Prix: Barberi solos to stage 3 victory

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Stefano Barberi soloed to the victory in the Cannon Falls Road Race, taking advantage of the stalemate between the teams fighting for the overall classification to sneak away as the race entered the finishing circuits. The California Giant Berry/Specialized rider held off the peloton for four laps to claim a well-deserved win, as Colin Strickland (Elbowz) edged out Ryan Anderson (Optum) from the bunch sprint behind.

Ben Hill (Donkey Label Racing) defended his one second advantage in the overall classification over Optum's Tom Zirbel, while Zirbel's teammate Scott Zwizanski moved up into third overall after the abandon of teammate Guillaume Boivin.

Hill followed the attacks from Optum, who tried to shake his grip on the yellow jersey but had a scare when he missed out on the breakaway and had to bridge across.

“Optum was going crazy, and a lot of people were attacking as well,” said Hill. “We were mainly just following them because they’re the closest GC threat. I was following, and we missed a move. My teammate John towed me to the front then I just went. It took me a good while to get across to the move but once I got there then that was it.”

Once in the move, Hill had to keep responding to the relentless attacks until finally the GC favorites went back to the bunch and let Will Routley (Optum), Andres Diaz (Incycle-Cannondale Pro Cycling Team), Chris Barton and Ulises Castillo (KHS-Maxxis-JLVelo), and Nicolae Tanovitchii (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) get away.

Barberi sensed the time was right and jumped across with Joe Schmalz (Hincapie). “We made it across. As soon as we entered the circuits I knew I had to kind of give it a go,” Barbieri said

“I knew they were going to be looking at each other. No one wants to be the guy who closes the gap and then have someone counter attack and then they end up missing out on the split. I knew that by going early there was a good chance I was going to get some hesitation.”

Barberi was awarded the most aggressive rider prize for his efforts, while Castillo earned points on three of the four classified climbs to move into the mountains classification lead.

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