Haedo takes $11,000 stage in bunch sprint

Argentinean Sebastian Haedo (Colavita-Sutter Home) busted out his sprint to win the $11,000 USD prize available on the stage two finish line at the Tour of Elk Grove. He outpaced Tasmanian Karl Menzies (OUCH-Maxxis) and Jonathan Cantwell (Fly V Australia), who placed second and third respectively.

“We won some good money today, but for me it is more important to have the victory,” said Haedo. “We were tired after Fitchburg and tried to use Cascade Classic to prepare for this. So this is a nice victory. Also because all the great sprinters are here, every one, and that always makes it an important win.”

Menzies moved up from third place into the yellow jersey by virtue of capturing a 12-second time bonus for placing second in the stage. He leads the race by eight seconds over stage one winner Tom Zirbel (Bissell) and nine seconds ahead of third placed Brent Bookwalter (BMC).

“Obviously we wanted to win the stage, but Haedo is a class act in the US and second to him, we are really happy with that,” said Menzies. “We wanted to get top three for a time bonus, it would have been nice to have won the stage for the boys but second place is more than enough to move into the jersey.”

Menzies thanked his team-mates for a job well done after the OUCH-Maxxis squad executed a perfectly timed lead-out, held over the last 30-kilometres of the race. The team’s presence at the front served to bring back a threatening break-away of two riders and more importantly set up Menzies for a podium finish.

“It was an amazing lead-out and I didn’t have to do much,” Menzies said. “I probably just rode hard for 100 metres and that’s all I had to do. Hats off to the team. They did an awesome job today and to get the time bonus and the yellow jersey is what we came here to do. We’ll defend it tomorrow with all our might and hopefully we’re still in yellow tomorrow night.”

The Chicago-based Blackhawks NHL hockey team supplied the Tour of Elk Grove stage two circuit race with the $40,000 prize money that went directly in to the riders pockets at the finish line. The large purse had the sprinters salivating over the 200 metres to go sign. Colavita-Sutter Home’s rolled up beside OUCH-Maxxis on the final 600-metre straightaway, along Elk Grove Boulevard. Haedo took his queue to sprint from his last-in-line lead-out man Alejandro Borrajo, passing Menzies for the win.

“In the end I had my team-mates bring me to the OUCH train and Alejandro [Borrajo] took me up to Menzies,” said Haedo. “Alejandro jumped at 350-metres and then I went with about 150-metres to the line. It was very hard because there was a head wind. Going for the overall is very difficult because I was farther back after yesterday’s time trial. But if we can win the stages, great.”

Every second worth its weight in gold

Some 120 riders lined up to start stage two of the Tour of Elk Grove, a 10-lap circuit race totaling 150 kilometres. There were three point sprints for time bonuses and every second was worth its weight in gold.

Phil Gaimon (Jelly Belly) gained an instant 30 seconds on the peloton, which seemed content to allow the rider some distance. However Gaimon crashed through a damp corner and lost more than half his hard-earned 1:10 minute advantage. He picked himself up and continued forward but the peloton caught him while setting up for the first of three intermediate sprints.

Luis Amaran (Colavita-Sutter Home) sprinted for the first intermediate sprint and managed to gain an additional 20 seconds in front of the field. He continued his solo move long enough to capture the mid-race prime for $2,100. He was joined one lap later by Jeff Louder (BMC) and Ryan Anderson (Kelly Benefit Strategies).

“I tried to go for the first intermediate sprint and when I realised I had a gap I wanted to keep going,” said Amaran. “The mid-race prime was next so I went for that and then waited for the guys to come up. The whole team has big confidence in Sebastian. He is one of the best sprinter in domestic races. We trust in him and our team.”

Activity amongst the front of the peloton reduced the time margin to a mere 13 seconds with four laps to go. Josh England (Subway-Avanti) bridged across to the lead group just in time to contest the second intermediate sprint. Anderson, who placed second behind Amaran in the first sprint, picked up full points in the second time around and tied up with Amaran for eight points a piece.

Almost as soon as the peloton regrouped, a counter move set sail that included the defending Champion David Veilleux (Kelly Benefit Strategies) and Glen Chadwick (Rock Racing). The duo’s one-minute margin became a threat because Veilleux was the highest place in the overall standings, sitting just nine seconds behind Zirbel.

The pair swallowed up the points in the third and final intermediate sprint while Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissell) won the bunch kick for third placed. With one lap to go the intermediate sprint for points was tallied up. Anderson won with 10 points giving him a six-second time bonus and a prize of $2000. Runner up Amaran finished with nine points, a four-second bonus and $1000 and third placed Jacques-Maynes gained eight points, a two-second bonus and $500.

Rounding one lap to go Veilleux and Chadwick held a one minute lead forcing OUCH-Maxxis to take matters into its own hands. It set a pace fast enough to bring back the pair of escapees while saving enough energy to circle the final lap in an impressive lead-out for sprinter and new overall race leader Menzies.