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Tour de Nez - NE
USA, June 22-24, 2006
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Stage 3 - June 23: Truckee/Tahoe Road Race, 108 miles
Wherry's back!
By Kimberly Baldwin
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Chris Wherry of Toyota-United convincingly took the stage win today in Tahoe City after attacking on the final climb, and powering in solo for the final 24 of 108 miles. Aaron Olson of Saunier Duval and Mike Carter of Einsteins Bagels rounded out the podium, coming in together over three minutes behind Wherry.
The morning started out with a phone call to both Toyota-United and Health Net presented by Maxxis from the Tour de Nez promoter, explaining that the omnium points had been totaled incorrectly. It was actually Karl Menzies of Health Net that should have been awarded the overall race leader's jersey after the finish of the criterium and not Tony Cruz. So it was Menzies who started the race in the red leader's jersey, and Cruz sporting the green sprinter's jersey.
The course for today's race was a beautiful 36 mile loop that the men raced three times for a total of 108 miles. The course started and finished in Tahoe City, California, winding along the shores of Lake Tahoe to Kings Beach before turning onto highway 267 and climbing to the KOM of Brockway Summit. After the climb, the course descended onto a long, flat, windy stretch of road leading into Truckee and then followed the Truckee river up a steady, mellow grade back into Tahoe City. Fans were all along the course, waving and cheering from boats on the lake and especially from rafts all along the Truckee River.
The race action started just shortly after the riders finished their parade through Tahoe City and the red flag was dropped. Mike Carter, Einstein Bagels, a 43-year old veteran racer, attacked before the climb and was tagged by Chris Wherry of Toyota-United. The two rode the climb together and were joined by Chris Baldwin, also of Toyota-United, who bridged up to the two just before the KOM. With the obvious threat of two Toyota-United riders up the road, race leader Karl Menzies bridged to the three on the descent and shut down the break.
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Again, Michael Carter attacked and initiated a break, this time taking nine others with him including Aaron Olson (Saunier Duval), Alex Candelario (Jelly Belly) Roman Kilun and Doug Ollerenshaw (Health Net presented by Maxxis), Kyle Barbary (BMC Racing Team), Daniel Ramsey (Successfulliving), Salvador Borrego-Crum (Cal Giant/Village Peddler), Devon Vigus (Monex), Brian Kendall of Einsteins and again Chris Wherry of Toyota-United. By the second time up the climb, the break had a gap of 7'07 to the field, although Ollerenshaw and Kendall fell off the pace. This was Ollerenshaw's first NRC race back after a serious crash he sustained while racing in Europe this spring, and obviously his form is coming back. As the field came through the feed zone the second time, it was amazing how much the peloton had splintered almost 49 miles into the race.
The break's gap grew to a max of 8'20 by the time they headed through Truckee a second time. On the road back to Tahoe City, Olson, Carter, Wherry, and Candelario all tried their hand at another breakaway, shedding four more riders in the process. At the sprint line in Tahoe City, Candelario powered away for the sprint points and found himself with a good gap on the rest of the break. Shortly after, Olson bridged up to him and the two started working together trying to put as much time into the break before the final time up the climb.
"I knew I had to get away from Wherry and Carter before the climb," said Candelario after the race, "because I knew those guys would drop me otherwise." The two went into the climb with an approximate 50 second gap, but it wasn't enough. Carter led the break into the climb, setting a hard tempo. But just before the feed zone, Wherry accelerated and rode the rest of the men right off his wheel. He caught Candelario at the 1k to the KOM sign, and then passed Olson shortly afterwards.
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"I was hoping that Aaron would come with me," said Wherry, "So I wouldn't have to go it alone. But he was climbing quite a bit slower and I just had to go." By the bottom of the descent, Wherry had a 54 second gap already. Behind him, the remnants of the break shattered. Four guys; Olson, Carter, Kilun, and Candelario, regrouped on the descent, but no one really wanted to take the lead in the chase straight away.
Said Carter, "The guys were messing around, arguing on who would chase. And I was just soft pedaling. But I was cramping so badly and the only way I could keep my legs from cramping was to pedal hard. So I had to go. I slowly accelerated and found a good gear. I didn't really mean to attack but I had to keep going!"
"Health Net was just trying to mess things up," said Candelario. "They were really putting a negative effect on the racing. I don't understand why they wouldn't help and try to go for the stage win. It was frustrating."
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Soon Carter found himself ahead of the other three chasers and going strong. Olson soon bridged and the two raced in together trying to catch Wherry. But Wherry's gap continued to grow. At the next time check, he had 59 seconds, then 1'15 as he went through Truckee. After that, the gap just blew apart and Wherry came victoriously into the Tahoe City finish line with and advantage over 3 minutes on Olson and Carter. Candelario came in solo for 4th place, having dropped Kilun earlier.
The convincing win is a sign of good things to come for the current U.S. national champion. His strength and fitness has continued to grow after suffering a parasitic bout early this spring, and the Toyota-United rider has a racing schedule coming up that suits his strengths perfectly. With stage races like Cascade, Altoona, and Tour of Utah, and then the U.S National Championships, Wherry is coming into form at just the right time.
It's an impressive podium finish for Mike Carter as well, who raced the Giro D'Italia in 1984. "I have a daughter now, and run a coaching business." said the Littleton, Colorado-based Carter. "I don't prepare specifically for NRC races, but I still love competing."
The field, which by this point was whittled down to just about 15, came in fighting for the omnium points with a vengeance. In this group were race leader Menzies and 2nd placed Cruz. "I've never raced so hard for 9th place before!" said Chris Baldwin. "I really like this omnium points system. It makes the guys race really hard every day."
Tom Zirbel, winner of the time trial, attacked early and won the field sprint for 5th place. Karl Menzies came in just behind him for 6th, followed by Cruz for 7th. Since points go 30 deep, every place counted, even in the field sprint. Menzies finished high enough to retain the leader's jersey, with Cruz still in second. Candelario, with his strong 4th place finish is now in third overall. "Toyota-United set such a hard tempo the last time up the climb, I was about to come off," said Menzies. "Luckily they let up a bit once Tony got gapped."
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With the top three all strong sprinters, it's going to be a showdown Saturday evening in the 90-minute Reno criterium.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Veronika Lenzi
- Chris Wherry leads in the second lap up the steep climp from Tahoe City to Truckee
- Chris Wherry - it was a hot one
- Chris Wherry looks pretty relaxed
- Cruz, Baldwin and Blackgrove in the pack to Truckee
- The peloton follows onlap 2 from Tahoe City to Truckee
- A Team Spine rider on the grueling climb to Truckee
- Why am I doing this? - the Tahoe City to Truckee climb
- Glenn Fant (Team Monex) on the climb to Truckee
- Got a Beer? Climbing from Tahoe City to Truckee
- Aaron Olsen on lap 3 in a two man break from Tahoe City to Truckee
- The peloton - all together on lap three
- Race leader Tony Cruz surrounded by his team
- Chris Wherry smokes the competition in the Tahoe City/Truckee Road Race
- Cruz and Baldwin cross the finish line Tahoe City/Truckee RR
- The winner - Chris Wherry (Toyota-United)
- The podium - Michael Carter (Team Einstein's Cycling), Chris Wherry (Toyota-United), Aaron Olson (Saunier Duval Pro Cycling Team)
- Chris Wherry also moved into the mountains jersey
- Chris Wherry with two members of his team's support crew
Results
1 Chris Wherry (Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team) 92 pts
2 Aaron Olson (Saunier Duval Pro Cycling Team) 78
3 Michael Carter (Team Einstein's Cycling) 75
4 Alex Candelario (Jelly Belly) 61
5 Tom Zirbel (Priority Health) 56
6 Carl Menzies (Health Net Presented By Maxxis) 52
7 Phil Zajicek (Navigators) 48
8 Tony Cruz (Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team) 44
9 Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team) 42
10 Andrew Bajadali (Jelly Belly) 38
11 Mitch Moreman (Rocky Mtn Chocolate Factory) 35
12 Scott Moninger (Health Net Presented By Maxxis) 32
13 Kyle Dixon (Bay Area Velo Girls) 29
14 Omer Kem (Axleyusa.Com) 26
15 Roman Kilun (Health Net Presented By Maxxis) 26
16 Robbie King (Priority Health) 20
17 Jonathan Baker (Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team) 18
18 James Mattis (Cal Giant /Village Peddler) 16
19 Curtis Gunn (Successfulliving) 14
20 Shane Peltonen (Eclipse Racing) 12
21 Heath Blackgrove (Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team) 10
22 John Hunt (Cal Giant /Village Peddler) 9
23 Corey Collier (Rocky Mtn. Chocolate Factory) 8
24 Craig McCartney (Wild Oats / Al's Barbershop) 7
25 Tommy Nankervis (Priority Health) 6
26 Todd Hennings (Pacific State Bank / Anderson Homes) 5
27 Andres Gil (Pacific State Bank/Anderson Homes) 4
28 Michael Telega (Cal Giant /Village Peddler) 3
29 Kyle Gritters (Health Net Presented By Maxxis) 3
30 Randy Reichardt (Bang Salon/Hart) 1
31 Brian Buchholz (Webcor/Alto Velo)
32 Whitey Debroux (Team Einstein's Cycling)
33 Morgan Schmitt (Broadmark/Hagens-Berman)
34 Bernard Van (Webcor / Alto Velo)
35 Jason Klikna (Bmc Racing Team)
36 Owen Laine (Bmc Racing Team)
37 Mike Buckley (Team Spine)
38 Christian Kearney (Rhvilla/Montano Velo)
39 Garrett Peltonen (Health Net Presented By Maxxis)
40 Joshua Snead (Rhvilla/ Montano Velo)
41 Dennis Guikema (Rhvilla.Com/Montano Velo)
42 Jarod Gilyard (Eclipse Racing)
43 Dustin Sweet (Unattached)
44 Glenn Fant (Monex)
45 Max Jenkins (Cal Giant /Village Peddler)
46 Jake Rytlewski (Priority Health)
47 Dan Neyens (Broadmark / Hagens-Berman)
48 Rolando Gonzalez (Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Team)
49 Doug Ollerenshaw (Health Net Presented By Maxxis) 1
50 Ryan Yee (Sucessfullliving)
51 Christian Valenzuela (Monex)
52 Kyle Colavito (Eclipse Racing)
53 David Rodriguez (Bmc Racing Team)
54 Pat Caurant (Team Spine)
Omnium standings after three races
1 Carl Menzies (Health Net Presented By Maxxis) 124 pts
2 Tony Cruz (Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team) 111
3 Alex Candelario (Jelly Belly) 96
4 Chris Wherry (Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team) 92
5 Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team) 89
6 Andrew Bajadali (Jelly Belly) 87
7 Tom Zirbel (Priority Health) 86
8 Aaron Olson (Saunier Duval Pro Cycling Team) 82
9 Michael Carter (Team Einstein's Cycling) 75
10 Scott Moninger (Health Net Presented By Maxxis) 74
11 Phil Zajicek (Navigators) 70
12 Robbie King (Priority Health) 48
13 Curtis Gunn (Successfulliving) 46
14 Bernard Van Ulden (Webcor / Alto Velo) 44
15 Mitch Moreman (Rocky Mtn Chocolate Factory) 40
16 Gordon McCauley (Successfulliving) 39
17 Heath Blackgrove (Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team) 35
18 Roman Kilun (Health Net Presented By Maxxis) 35
19 Kyle Gritters (Health Net Presented By Maxxis) 33
20 Tommy Nankervis (Priority Health) 32
21 Kyle Dixon (Bay Area Velo Girls) 29
22 Omer Kem (Axleyusa.Com) 26
23 Ken Hanson (Bmc Racing Team) 24
24 Garrett Peltonen (Health Net Presented By Maxxis) 23
25 James Mattis (Cal Giant /Village Peddler) 22
26 Jonathan Baker (Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team) 18
27 John Hunt (Cal Giant /Village Peddler) 17
28 Caleb Manion (Jelly Belly) 17
29 Jonny Sundt (Axleyusa.Com) 16
30 Brian Buchholz (Webcor/Alto Velo) 15
31 Jamiel Danesh (Rh Villa.Com/ Montano Velo) 15
32 Randy Reichardt (Bang Salon/Hart) 13
33 Shane Peltonen (Eclipse Racing) 12
34 Patrick Briggs (Cal Giant /Village Peddler) 12
35 Chad Nikolz (Broadmark / Hagens-Berman) 11
36 Morgan Schmitt (Broadmark/Hagens-Berman) 10
37 Michael Telega (Cal Giant /Village Peddler) 9
38 Chris Lieto (Cal Giant /Village Peddler) 9
39 Corey Collier (Rocky Mtn. Chocolate Factory) 8
40 Craig McCartney (Wild Oats / Al's Barbershop) 7
41 Derik Archibald (Axleyusa.Com) 7
42 Todd Hennings (Pacific State Bank / Anderson Homes) 5
43 Daniel Ramsey (Successfulliving) 5
44 Glen Mitchel (Priority Health) 4
45 Andres Gil (Pacific State Bank/Anderson Homes) 4
46 Kyle Barbary (Bmc Racing Team) 1
47 Doug Ollerenshaw (Health Net Presented By Maxxis) 1
48 Brian Kendall (Team Einstein's Cycling) 1
