Alzate prevails at Sunny King Criterium

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New UnitedHealthcare fast man Carlos Alzate took home his first win of the 2013 season, outsprinting Predator Cycling's Sergio Hernandez at the 2013 Sunny King Criterium in Anniston Alabama.

The evening's professional racing began not long before the sunlight faded over the "Model City," with large crowds enjoying the atmosphere of the annual Noble Street Festival.

In the men's race 2009 Sunny King champion Karl Menzies (UnitedHealthcare), Sergio Hernandez, Winston David (United Healthcare of Georgia p/b The 706 Project), 2007 Sunny King winner Frank Travieso (Team SmartStop p/b Mountain Khakis) and teammate Thomas Brown, along with David Guttenplan (AG Bicycles/Guttenplan Coaching) and Alzate found themselves in the winning move not long before the midpoint of the 60-lap event.

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Thanks to the commitment of the two UnitedHealthcare riders and the rest of the firepower in the breakaway, the group were able to lap the field and thus secure the first seven places in the final results for themselves. At that point, every team who had had a man in that escape knew that they had to find a key position in the remaining laps in order to bring their breakaway rider to the front of the field for the final sprint. Predator took up the challenge first and consumed a fair amount of what remained of the race to try and set up Hernandez. Then it was UnitedHealthcare who put their near-patented "Blue Train" lead out into motion, overtaking the efforts of Predator and positioning not one, but two riders for victory. Team Smartstop's Shane Kline made a final attempt at trying to bring his team within striking distance of the victory, but UnitedHealthcare's strength was once again unmatchable. Alzate performed a well-executed bike throw at the line and edged out Hernandez to become the 2013 Sunny King Champion. Teammate Menzies held on for third.

“I want to thank God," Alzate told the assembled crowd. "And I'm very excited, because I'm going to have a baby girl very soon."