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Nature Valley Grand Prix - NE
USA, June 12-15, 2003
Main Page Results Previous Stage
Stage 5 - June 15: Stillwater criterium, 70/50 minutes
Saturn domination continues as Mactier & Klasna take overall titles
By James Lockwood
Saturn riders took the top two places on both men's and women's podiums after the final stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix in Stillwater today. Trent Klasna took a surprise victor in the men's race and moved himself into the overall winner's spot when team-mate Viktor Rapinski was unable to maintain the pace in the final day's criterium while Saturn's women's team locked down their race to assure a victory for Australian rider Katie Mactier.
Men: Saturn plays 'pass the jersey'
Klasna wins stage and GC when music stops
Saturn protected its leader's jersey on Sunday in the fifth and final stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix, but Viktor Rapinski was unable to stand atop the podium with it.
In what turned out to be 'plan B' for the boys in yellow, Trent Klasna rode away from the pack in the 70-minute Stillwater Criterium and cruised not only to the win but into the jersey for the overall winner.
"It wasn't our plan at all for me to go for the overall," Klasna said.
Rapinski, who ended up second overall, didn't seem to dejected losing the jersey to his teammate. "It doesn't matter who won - Rapinski or Klasna," he said. "He should have won."
Klasna came into the day in fifth place, 1:52 down on his teammate in first and two spots below his other teammate, Tom Danielson, who was in third at a 1:05 down. And when he attacked with more than 50 minutes still to go in the race that featured one climb at 24 percent and another not long after, the plan was not for him to win.
But with six laps to go, Rapinski was suffering, and Klasna was told to do whatever he could. "It was just one of those things where you had to go to Plan B," Klasna said.
"Today was really hard," Rapinsky said. "I never felt the way I felt today."
But with Klasna up front and four other teammates around him, the one who truly found the race hard was 7-Up/Maxxis rider John Lieswyn, the defending Nature Valley champion who came into the day second overall at 1:02 back but fell to third with no teammates and no help chasing the leader. Saturn covered all of Lieswyn's attempt to break away, and those in the break, including Adam Bergman of Jelly Belly, seemed unwilling to help.
"If I had a teammate, I could have caught Klasna," Lieswyn said. "At one point I came almost to a complete stop, and 15 guys behind me just stopped. Nobody passed me."
Lieswyn was missing his teammate Jason McCartney for the Grand Prix as well as two others, and put him as a disadvantage to a fully stocked Saturn team. "The racing would have been so different if Jason had been here with me," Lieswyn said.
That sentiment was echoed by Navigator's Ciaran Power, who took second in Sunday's criterium but lost so much time in the road race on Saturday that he was not threat to the G.C. "If we had out whole team here, I think we could have been more competitive," he said.
Outside of the Saturn men, the only one who seemed to be happy with his finish was Schroeder Iron's Peter Knudsen, a Twin Cities native who used the wheel of Broadmark Capital's Doug Ollerenshaw to take third in the crit.
"I didn't even realize we would get off the front," he said. "It was sort of accidental."
Schroeder also grabbed fifth place in the overall standings with Jakob Erker, although that was down from the third place he occupied coming into Sunday's race. Erker could thank Klasna for the eventual standing.
"Trent was just totally dialed today," said Saturn's Tim Johnson, who walked away with the sprint leader's jersey, giving the Saturn team two of the three jerseys handed out Sunday. Collegiate cyclist Stuart Gillespie of Harvard University walked away with the white Espoir (under 23) jersey.
The wins and championship also put a stamp of approval on a season that has seen Saturn redeem itself from a disappointing 2002 and dominate the racing scene in North America.
"I think we proved that this team is the best cycling team in American racing," Klasna said.
"Being this strong so far into this year … it's just a dream come true," Johnson said.
Women: Saturn puts exclamation point on Nature Valley Grand Prix
Team smackdown gives wins to Bessette & Mactier
In the first stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix, three Saturn riders drove an eight-woman break to the finish, only to come up short with a third-place spot.
With two riders in first and second overall, and another in fourth, Saturn was not about to come up short again.
Instead, they not only defended the jersey, but won the final stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix with a break that showed why they are one of the top women's teams in the world.
With less than three laps to go in the Stillwater Criterium, a 1.25-mile course along the bluffs of the St. Croix River, Saturn's Lyne Bessette found her legs to attack Rona-Esker's Karen Bockel and power away to a 28-second victory that finished on a 24 percent grade hill.
Bessette became the fourth different Saturn rider to win in as many stages and did it in the same fashion as teammates - alone.
"We had a really good race," Bessette said, watching her teammates, Karen Mactier and Manon Jutras, take first and second place honors overall. The two also finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in Sunday's race.
"It's great," Mactier said of her team's stage results in the NVGP. "Now we are in a situation where we can go to any race and be a threat."
Saturn was also in a situation not to let anything go on Sunday. In a race that featured two extremely hard climbs during the 50-minute race, Saturn used four riders to control a group that included all the threats to the leader's jersey: Bockel, TDS' Sarah Ulmer, Diet Rite's Tina Mayolo-Pic, and T-Mobile's Dotsie Cowden.
"Saturn was covering everything today," said Ulmer, who animated much of the race early and won the only sprint points of the day to ensure she won the sprint leader's jersey.
The decisive break, though, did not come until Bockel attacked with less than two laps to go on the second hill.
"Karen was a perfect set-up," Bessette said, who counter-attacked around Bockel and Ulmer.
"It was just attrition," said Mayolo-Pic, who was unable to keep pace as Bessette broke. Along with her, Cowden and her T-Mobile teammates also faded.
"We tried our best to stay with Saturn," Bockel said. However, she said her third place overall and third-place finish on the day was good for her and her team. It was her first podium finish, and she was joined by teammate Erinne Willock who won her first jersey as the best espoire (under 23).
Ulmer also said she was happy with the results, which also included a second-place finish on the day.
"It was more than I thought it would be coming into the race," she said.
And given the level of competition, all the winners said the jerseys and wins were well earned.
"It was such a better field than we thought it would be," Mayolo-Pic said.
"The racing level was very competitive," Mactier said. "It'll get bigger and bigger over the next couple of years."
Photos
Images by Chris Orr
- Tom Danielson (Saturn) cools off after a hard day at the office. 20 trips up the 24% gradient of Chilkoot Hills at 85°F will do that to you!
- Trent Klasna (Saturn) meets the press after being declared the overall victor.
- Trent Klasna more than happy to talk about his win to the crowd before the official winner's ceremony gets underway.
- Today's top three riders celebrate on the podium - (from L to R) Ciaran Power (Navigators, 2nd), Trent Klasna (Saturn, 1st) and Peter Knudson (Schroeder Iron, 3rd).
- Viktor Rapinski smiles while watching Team mate Trent Klasna on the podium
- Having a post-race chat
- 43 year old Steve Tilford contemplates the sign in front of him
- Team Saturn reloads It's Ti Carbon Lemonds after Winning the 2003 Nature Valley Grand prix
- Shimano Dura-Ace wheels with Mich Pro Race Clinchers. The team ran 11-23 cassetes and 39/53 rings for this stage
- A dejected John Lieswyn swings by the Saturn camp moments after the race ended
Results
Men 1 Trent Klasna (USA) Saturn Cycling Team 1.11.08 2 Ciaran Power (Irl) Navigators 1.55 3 Peter Knudsen (USA) Schroeder Iron 2.08 4 John Lieswyn (USA) 7-Up/Maxxis 2.14 5 Doug Ollerenshaw (USA) Broadmark Capital 6 Steve Cate (USA) Mathis Brothers 7 Tom Danielson (USA) Saturn Cycling Team 8 Jacob Erker (USA) Schroeder Iron 9 Adam Bergman (USA) Jelly Belly 10 Cameron Hughes (Aus) Schroeder Iron 11 Cameron Evans (USA) Broadmark Capital 12 Evan Elken (USA) Broadmark Capital 13 Matthew Gates (USA) Nature Valley 2.19 14 Tim Johnson (USA) Saturn Cycling Team 2.24 15 Viktor Rapinski (Blr) Saturn Cycling Team 16 Stuart Gillespie (USA) Harvard University Cycling 17 Ivan Dominguez (Cub) Saturn Cycling Team 18 Mark McCormack (USA) Saturn Cycling Team 19 Michael Olheiser (USA) Veloclips 2.31 20 Frank Dierking (USA) ABD Cycling Team 2.37 21 Terry Beenken (USA) Mortgage Solutions/ DMOS 4.41 22 Aaron Olson (USA) Schroeder Iron 23 Jason Waddell (USA) Mathis Brothers 24 Craig Wilcox (USA) Broadmark Capital 8.41 25 Jason Bausch (USA) Schroeder Iron 20.41 26 Siro Camponogara (Ita) Navigators 24.41 27 Dylan Sebel (USA) Broadmark Capital 28 Jeremy Sartain (USA) Bianchi/ Grand Performance 32.41 29 Cabrel Boucher (USA) Team Manitoba 36.41 30 David Sachs (USA) Alberto's sport 31 Christopher Flood (USA) 05 Orbitel 32 Bryce Mead (USA) Bianchi/ Grand Performance 40.41 33 Pete Hanna (USA) Bianchi/ Grand Performance 34 Gus Carrillo (Gua) Bianchi/ Grand Performance 35 Steve Tilford (USA) Bikesource/Whole Foods 36 Eric Pardyjak (USA) First Endurance/Contender 44.41 37 Barrett Zoltai (USA) Orbea/MoEx 48.41 38 Adam Livingston (USA) Schroeder Iron 1.02.41 39 Andrew Minier (USA) SHA 1.06.41 40 Murray Carter (USA) Flanders Brothers Cycles/MBRC 41 Marty Nothstein (USA) Navigators 1.10.41 42 John (Jack) Seehafer (USA) Pro Peloton Velo 1.14.41 DNF Oscar Pineda (Gua) 7-Up/Maxxis DNF Dan Schmatz (USA) 7-Up/Maxxis DNF Ryan Guay (USA) Navigators DNF Glen Mitchell (NZl) Navigators DNF Justin Spinelli (USA) Navigators DNF Paul Ellis (USA) Bianchi/ Grand Performance DNF Brian Jensen (USA) Bikesource/Whole Foods DNF Joshua Tack (USA) Mercy/Cannondale DNF Andrew Powell (USA) Orbea/MoEx DNF Mike Johnson (USA) Spring Street Sports DNF Josh Crow (USA) HRR DNF Bill Stolte (USA) HRR Sprints 1 Tim Johnson (USA) Saturn Cycling Team 5 pts 2 Terry Beenken (USA) Mortgage Solutions/ DMOS 3 3 Jeremy Sartain (USA) Bianchi/ Grand Performance 2 4 John Lieswyn (USA) 7-Up/Maxxis 1 General classification after stage 5 1 Trent Klasna (USA) Saturn Cycling Team 9.47.10 2 Viktor Rapinski (Blr) Saturn Cycling Team 0.32 3 John Lieswyn (USA) 7-Up/Maxxis 1.25 4 Tom Danielson (USA) Saturn Cycling Team 1.27 5 Jacob Erker (USA) Schroeder Iron 2.13 6 Tim Johnson (USA) Saturn Cycling Team 2.59 7 Adam Bergman (USA) Jelly Belly 3.13 8 Mark McCormack (USA) Saturn Cycling Team 4.44 9 Stuart Gillespie (USA) Harvard University Cycling 7.00 10 Aaron Olson (USA) Schroeder Iron 7.38 11 Peter Knudsen (USA) Schroeder Iron 7.41 12 Claran Power (Irl) Navigators 8.02 13 Doug Ollerenshaw (USA) Broadmark Capital 8.57 14 Steve Cate (USA) Mathis Brothers 8.58 15 Jason Waddell (USA) Mathis Brothers 9.05 16 Cameron Hughes (Aus) Schroeder Iron 10.55 17 Cameron Evans (USA) Broadmark Capital 11.10 18 Michael Olheiser (USA) Veloclips 11.12 19 Matthew Gates (USA) Nature Valley 12.02 20 Terry Beenken (USA) Mortgage Solutions/ DMOS 13.16 21 Frank Dierking (USA) ABD Cycling Team 13.24 22 Craig Wilcox (USA) Broadmark Capital 17.10 23 Ivan Dominguez (Cub) Saturn Cycling Team 24.57 24 Jason Bausch (USA) Schroeder Iron 26.49 25 Siro Camponogara (Ita) Navigators 33.04 26 Dylan Sebel (USA) Broadmark Capital 38.44 27 Evan Elken (USA) Broadmark Capital 40.37 28 Jeremy Sartain (USA) Bianchi/ Grand Performance 41.09 29 David Sachs (USA) Alberto's sport 45.28 30 Christopher Flood (USA) 05 Orbitel 45.49 31 Steve Tilford (USA) Bikesource/Whole Foods 48.48 32 Gus Carrillo (Gua) Bianchi/ Grand Performance 50.03 33 Pete Hanna (USA) Bianchi/ Grand Performance 50.56 34 Bryce Mead (USA) Bianchi/ Grand Performance 51.30 35 Cabrel Boucher (USA) Team Manitoba 57.51 36 Eric Pardyjak (USA) First Endurance/Contender 1.01.30 37 Barrett Zoltai (USA) Orbea/MoEx 1.06.09 38 Adam Livingston (USA) Schroeder Iron 1.11.47 39 John (Jack) Seehafer (USA) Pro Peloton Velo 1.23.40 40 Murray Carter (USA) Flanders Brothers Cycles/MBRC 1.26.05 41 Marty Nothstein (USA) Navigators 1.32.09 42 Andrew Minier (USA) SHA 1.34.25 Sprint classification 1 Tim Johnson (USA) Saturn Cycling Team 33 pts 2 Ciaran Power (Irl) Navigators 25 3 John Lieswyn (USA) 7-Up/Maxxis 20 4 Trent Klasna (USA) Saturn Cycling Team 17 5 Viktor Rapinski (Blr) Saturn Cycling Team 17 6 Jacob Erker (USA) Schroeder Iron 15 7 Adam Bergman (USA) Jelly Belly 14 8 Doug Ollerenshaw (USA) Broadmark Capital 13 9 Cameron Evans (USA) Broadmark Capital 9 10 Tom Danielson (USA) Saturn Cycling Team 9 11 Siro Camponogara (Ita) Navigators 6 12 Mark McCormack (USA) Saturn Cycling Team 6 13 Peter Knudsen (USA) Schroeder Iron 5 14 Marty Nothstein (USA) Navigators 4 15 Aaron Olson (USA) Schroeder Iron 4 16 Terry Beenken (USA) Mortgage Solutions/ DMOS 3 17 Ivan Dominguez (Cub) Saturn Cycling Team 3 18 Jeremy Sartain (USA) Bianchi/ Grand Performance 2 19 Evan Elken (USA) Broadmark Capital 2 20 Murray Carter (USA) Flanders Brothers Cycles/MBRC 2 21 Steve Cate (USA) Mathis Brothers 2 22 Steve Tilford (USA) Bikesource/Whole Foods 1 Women 1 Lyne Bessette (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 51.54 2 Sarah Ulmer (NZl) TDS 0.28 3 Karen Bockel (Ger) Rona-Esker 0.30 4 Katie Mactier (Aus) Saturn Cycling Team 0.33 5 Manon Jutras (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 0.37 6 Amy Moore (USA) Saturn Cycling Team 1.04 7 Margaret Hemsley (Aus) Equipe Nurnberger 1.06 8 Tina Mayolo-Pic (USA) Diet Rite 1.07 9 Madeleine Lindberg (Swe) Equipe Nurnberger 1.09 10 Sarah Konrad (USA) Basis 11 Dotsie Cowden (USA) T-Mobile 1.11 12 Stacy Peters (USA) T-Mobile 1.12 13 Katrina Grove (USA) T-Mobile 1.14 14 Lara Kroepsca (USA) T-Mobile 1.16 15 Erinne Willock (Can) Rona-Esker 1.19 16 Kori Kelly (USA) Diet Rite 1.23 17 Anne Samplonius (Can) TDS 2.57 18 Andrea Hannos (Can) Rona-Esker 3.56 19 Megan Long (USA) Jamba Juice 4.04 20 Lauren Franges (USA) Victory Brewing/Amoroso's 4.17 21 Erin Carter (Can) TDS 22 Tania Duff-Miller (NZl) Diet Rite 4.21 23 Carrie Tuck (USA) Rona-Esker 4.38 24 Helen Kelly (Aus) TDS 25 Sarah Tillotson (USA) ABD Cycle Club 26 Jo Kiesanowski (NZl) Diet Rite 27 Kristin Johnson (USA) T-Mobile 28 Brooke Ourada (USA) Team Goldy's 29 Felicia Greer (USA) VANIQA/Red 5 Racing 4.41 30 Catherine Walberg (USA) Jamba Juice 4.43 31 Melissa Holt (NZl) Rona-Esker 4.46 32 Melissa Sandborn (USA) ICO (intermountain Cycling Org) 4.48 33 Jennifer Eyerman (USA) VANIQA/Red 5 Racing 4.52 34 Laura Schmidt (USA) Terry Precision 5.01 35 Laura Resor (USA) VANIQA/Red 5 Racing 5.21 36 Kate Sherwin (USA) Jamba Juice 5.26 37 Jennifer Leonard (USA) Bianchi/Grand Performance 13.47 38 Jennifer Stevens (USA) VANIQA/Red 5 Racing 39 Amanda Lawrence (USA) CCB 40 Shawn Heidgen (USA) TDS 17.36 41 Brooke O'Connor (USA) Colavita-Bolla Racing 17.48 42 Kerry Cohen (Aus) ABD Cycle Club 21.16 43 Rook Campbell (USA) Hi Tech Bikes/Harbour Lights 25.10 44 Elizabeth Morse (USA) Ford Racing Team/ Orlando Velo 25.23 45 April Henderson Anderson (USA) Helens/Trek/VW 26.21 46 Lauren Gaffney (USA) Basis 31.04 DNF Laura Vangilder (USA) Saturn Cycling Team DNF Jessica Phillips (USA) Saturn Cycling Team DNF Ina Teutenberg (Ger) Saturn Cycling Team DNF Petra Rossner (Ger) Equipe Nurnberger DNF Kelly Benjamin (USA) ABD Cycle Club DNF Nicole Freedman (USA) Basis DNF Becky Broeder (USA) ICO (intermountain Cycling Org) DNF Erika Schwarz (USA) VANIQA/Red 5 Racing DNF Gina Grain (Can) Victory Brewing/Amoroso's DNF Sophie St. Jacques (Can) Victory Brewing/Amoroso's Sprint 1 Helen Kelly (Aus) TDS 5 pts 2 Erinne Willock (Can) Rona-Esker 3 3 Sarah Ulmer (NZl) TDS 2 4 Petra Rossner (Ger) Equipe Nurnberger 1 General classification after stage 5 1 Katie Mactier (Aus) Saturn Cycling Team 7.44.55 2 Manon Jutras (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 1.03 3 Karen Bockel (Ger) Rona-Esker 1.16 4 Sarah Ulmer (NZl) TDS 2.05 5 Tina Mayolo-Pic (USA) Diet Rite 2.30 6 Amy Moore (USA) Saturn Cycling Team 3.14 7 Dotsie Cowden (USA) T-Mobile 3.15 8 Margaret Hemsley (Aus) Equipe Nurnberger 3.40 9 Lyne Bessette (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 6.23 10 Melissa Holt (NZl) Rona-Esker 7.03 11 Erinne Willock (Can) Rona-Esker 7.38 12 Sarah Konrad (USA) Basis 7.48 13 Stacy Peters (USA) T-Mobile 8.11 14 Katrina Grove (USA) T-Mobile 8.17 15 Kori Kelly (USA) Diet Rite 9.20 16 Lara Kroepsca (USA) T-Mobile 9.35 17 Anne Samplonius (Can) TDS 10.12 18 Megan Long (USA) Jamba Juice 10.43 19 Jennifer Eyerman (USA) VANIQA/Red 5 Racing 11.20 20 Andrea Hannos (Can) Rona-Esker 11.25 21 Carrie Tuck (USA) Rona-Esker 12.07 22 Helen Kelly (Aus) TDS 12.39 23 Lauren Franges (USA) Victory Brewing/Amoroso's 12.41 24 Kristin Johnson (USA) T-Mobile 13.04 25 Brooke Ourada (USA) Team Goldy's 26 Sarah Tillotson (USA) ABD Cycle Club 13.14 27 Jo Kiesanowski (NZl) Diet Rite 28 Tania Duff-Miller (NZl) Diet Rite 13.28 29 Catherine Walberg (USA) Jamba Juice 13.34 30 Laura Schmidt (USA) Terry Precision 13.45 31 Felicia Greer (USA) VANIQA/Red 5 Racing 13.50 32 Kate Sherwin (USA) Jamba Juice 13.57 33 Melissa Sandborn (USA) ICO (intermountain Cycling Org) 14.07 34 Madeleine Lindberg (Swe) Equipe Nurnberger 14.45 35 Laura Resor (USA) VANIQA/Red 5 Racing 15.32 36 Erin Carter (Can) TDS 18.37 37 Jennifer Leonard (USA) Bianchi/Grand Performance 22.21 38 Amanda Lawrence (USA) CCB 22.36 39 Jennifer Stevens (USA) VANIQA/Red 5 Racing 26.10 40 Brooke O'connor (USA) Colavita-Bolla Racing 26.15 41 April Henderson Anderson (USA) Helens/Trek/VW 34.46 42 Elizabeth Morse (USA) Ford Racing Team/ Orlando Velo 35.46 43 Shawn Heidgen (USA) TDS 36.18 44 Rook (USA) Hi Tech Bikes/Harbour Lights 36.52 45 Kerry Cohen (USA) ABD Cycle Club 40.57 46 Lauren Gaffney (USA) Basis 42.20 Sprint classification 1 Sarah Ulmer (NZl) TDS 40 pts 2 Katie Mactier (Aus) Saturn Cycling Team 20 3 Lyne Bessette (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 18 4 Karen Bockel (Ger) Rona-Esker 17 5 Jennifer Stevens (USA) VANIQA/Red 5 Racing 15 6 Manon Jutras (Can) Saturn Cycling Team 15 7 Tina Mayolo-Pic (USA) Diet Rite 13 8 Stacy Peters (USA) T-Mobile 10 9 Melissa Sandborn (USA) ICO (intermountain Cycling Org) 9 10 Helen Kelly (Aus) TDS 7 11 Jennifer Eyerman (USA) VANIQA/Red 5 Racing 7 12 Erinne Willock (Can) Rona-Esker 3 13 Anne Samplonius (Can) TDS 3 14 Amy Moore (USA) Saturn Cycling Team 3 15 Margaret Hemsley (Aus) Equipe Nurnberger 3 16 Katrina Grove (USA) T-Mobile 3 17 Dotsie Cowden (USA) T-Mobile 3 18 Megan Long (USA) Jamba Juice 2 19 Andrea Hannos (Can) Rona-Esker 2 20 Melissa Holt (NZl) Rona-Esker 1 21 Lara Kroepsca (USA) T-Mobile 1
