Cantwell pilots Fly V to victory

Jonathan Cantwell (Fly V Australia) capped off the 2009 Tour of Elk Grove with a victory at the finale criterium held in Chicago, Illinois. The Australian maneuvered his way through a cagey 200-metre dash to the line, outpacing runner-up Ken Hanson (Team Type 1) and stage two winner Sebastian Haedo (Colavita-Sutter Home), who placed third.

“The win today is really for my team, who did a lot of work,” said Cantwell. “My guys rode for me and [Bernard] Sulzberger to get the win. It was a good weekend. The stage wins were our number one priority after we knew we weren’t up there in the overall. Today we had the legs and it worked.”

It was a good day for the Aussies, with Cantwell’s countryman Karl Menzies (OUCH-Maxxis) claiming the Tour of Elk Grove overall title, earning his squad the $25,000 winner’s prize. Menzies moved into the overall lead after collecting time bonuses in the stage two circuit race, having finished third in the time trial opener.

“All the fastest guys in the country were here and all the best teams,” Menzies said. “It’s just a shame you don’t get this at every race. This is the best field assembled and it’s amazing. Everyone comes here because there is good prize money but there is also great racing. The prize money was a bonus because we came here to win the race.”

Brent Bookwalter (BMC) moved up into second place after a hard-fought battle for time bonuses against Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissell). Jacques-Maynes’ effort to swallow the bonus seconds was not enough to keep his teammate, Tom Zirbel (Bissell), from sliding into third place after a winning time trial in the opening stage.

“My goal today was to contest second place in the overall as the difference between second and third place was six thousand dollars, an expensive place,” said Bookwalter. “I knew I had to gather up the time bonuses, two seconds, I needed to get ahead of Zirbel. Ben’s a great sprinter and he’s a really strong guy. He’s cagey and he and his brother [Andy] were working really well together.”

It was clear that with 10 laps to go a field sprint was going to take place but there was very little organisation amongst the teams at the front of the field. The peloton looked to be in disarray as it rounded the last lap. All sprinters were at the front but with no visible lead-out the crowds were left in suspense as to who was going to take the victory.

“A door happened to open up and I had good legs so I was able to get second and I’m happy with that,” said Hanson, who had crashed mid-race. “I’d say things sort of slowed with in the last two laps because teams were chasing really hard earlier on. There was no team that could really control the lead-out. The last lap was a total mess and I was lucky to have a couple of good teammates to help me get around the swarm.”

All elbows out for finale sprint

Menzies paid tribute to his OUCH-Maxxis team for putting its best foot forward in defending the yellow jersey on the final stage. His eight-rider team took responsibility during the lengthy criterium to reel in several threatening breakaways. The first break of nine riders set off in the early stages of the 115-kilometre race.

The riders included Josh England (Subway-Avanti), Jonny Clarke (Jelly Belly) and Sergio Hernandez (Rock Racing). They were quickly joined by a chase group consisting of Graham Howard (Bissell), Kyle Wamsley (Colavita-Sutter Home), Jackson Stewart (BMC), Mike Creed (Team Type 1) and Bernard Sulzberger (Fly V Australia). After a 20-lap group effort OUCH-Maxxis reeled in the breakaway.

“The boys had to bring back a nightmare break and that was a lot of work,” said Menzies. “They did a lot of work yesterday too. I don’t think any of them finished today except for Pinfold and Murphy, who lead me out for the sprint.”

Menzies’ teammates received help mid-race from Fly V Australia, a team interested in a stage win, when Jeff Louder (BMC) and Thomas Soladay (Team Mountain Khakis) counter attacked and gained a near 30-second advantage.

“We knew that OUCH had used a lot of biscuits to bring back that first break,” said Cantwell. “Fly V Australia came here to race, not to sit around and wait for other teams to take control when we are just as strong. We didn’t want anyone to go away in a break because I was feeling good and we were motivated to get the stage win.”

Louder picked up full points in the first two intermediate sprints, winning a six second time bonus and $2200 USD. Counterpart Soladay placed second in the points standings, gaining four seconds and a $1500 USD prize. The combination of two teams chasing was all it took to put a dampener on the break and they were reeled back in with 13 laps to go.

The overall classification race continued as organisers rang the bell for the third and final sprint for points. As the peloton rounded the corner, the crowds were treated to a two-up sprint between Jacques-Maynes and Bookwalter. They ended up tying in the point standings with seven a piece, but Bookwalter was granted the according two time bonus for placing higher than Jacques-Maynes in the stage - a USA Cycling tie breaker rule. He subsequently moved ahead of Zirbel in the overall classification.

“It sounded simple that all I had to do was finish ahead of Ben in the end,” said Bookwalter. “But everyone was doing their own race. Some guys wanted the money, some guys wanted the time, the GC, the stage win. So it was really chaotic at the end.”

With the sprints wrapped up, it was time for the teams to divert their attention to the stage honours. Kelly Benefit Strategies and Planet Energy held a strong presence at the front that almost turned into a team lead-out. However the peloton turned into disarray after a crash with four laps to go.

With $35,000 on the line individual sprinters from each team found their own way to the front of the field. The peloton swarmed with 350-metres to the line but Cantwell, Hanson and Haedo found their way through the lull and sprinted to the line.

“For me, this kind of sprinting to day is very good,” said Haedo. “It was very fast, we all had to find out position through technical corners; it was very difficult. My teammate Alejandro jumped out of the last corner and took me to sixth place but there was a slow in the field.

“I had to get through it and jumped with 200 metres to the line but some riders already got out on the sides and started sprinting,” he added. “It was a good weekend for our team to end the race having two podiums.”