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Nature Valley Grand Prix - NEMinnesota, USA, June 20-24, 2007Main Page Results Overall standings Stage Details Next Stage Stage 1 - June 20: St Paul Criterium, 60 minsStevic and Cheatley take early leadBy Kirsten Robbins in St. Paul, Minnesota The 2007 Nature Valley Grand Prix kicked off with a blazing fast criterium, a change from last year's individual time trial opener. Toyota-Untied stretched its legs in the last four laps of the 60 minute timed event and brought Serbian national champion Ivan Stevic to another career win. Stevic has become known for his uphill sprint finishes, but his victory didn't come with out a fight from second place Kirk O'Bee (Health Net) and the third placed local hero Jonathan Page (Nature Valley). Though Stevic crashed at the race's midway he it clearly had no barring on his performance during the final laps. "I crashed half way to go and I'm starting to feel the pain now," Stevic said after his podium appearance. "But I will find out tomorrow how I'm really feeling - nothing a beer won't cure." The brand new course offered a little for everyone, with a gradual incline on the last half, through the start/finish and a shallow gradient around the backside of the course. Its L-shape became technical due to the large numbers in this year's peloton, but after several attacks the high speeds kept the race safe. "The course was not that bad, it was a big field and a lot of guys with some who didn't seem to know what they were doing," said Stevic. "There was bumpy pavement on the long straight before the last corner and it was still going up to the finish line. That was the hardest part but I like an uphill finish so it was perfect for me." Many attacks came out of the field and several disorganized breakaways slipped off the front only to come back seconds later to an active field. It was quickly apparent that no break would succeed to the finish and Toyota-United rallied at front to shut out any chance of a last lap flyer. "The guys took control with four laps to go to start a lead out for me and it was easy from there," Stevic said, admitting his team played on the circuit's technical attributes. "Basically it was too hard to move around on this kind of course so we did a perfect job being at the front first." While realizing that there are many difficult stages approaching, Stevic said he would love to hold onto the leader's jersey through to criterium in Stillwater. "It was one of our plans to have me in the leader's jersey and we will see how it goes from one day to the next," he said. "We have a strong team and we plan on keeping the jersey. We also have more than one card to play." The women's race proved to be a tactical affair, after a break of eight riders separated from the field after the Queen of the Mountain hot spot, 35 minutes into the 65 minute event. The break was bound tight and determined to make it to the finish line ahead of the field but wound up chasing one escapee, Cheerwine's Catherine Cheatley. The New Zealand rider attacked the break on the last lap to solo into a stage victory and the early leader's jersey. Local heros Shelley Olds (ProMan) and Theresa Moriarty (Flanders) gave the crowd something to cheer about, taking second and third places respectively. "I really enjoyed it. It was really fast," said Cheatley. "We were lucky. We had two riders in the break and one of the strongest riders in the field." The first half of the race was marred with several crashes on the second to last corner. The crashes were generally caused by the field coming through a little too fast out desperation to hang on to TEAm Lipton's strength at the front of the field. Several attacks broke loose and came back, but only an attack by world time trial champion Kristin Armstrong (Lipton) was strong enough to snap away from field. Armstrong made her move after an intermediate sprint after the half way point. Seven other riders followed Armstrong's lead, including Canadian time trial and road champion Alex Wrubleski (Colavita/Sutter Home) Stacey Marple (Tibco), Felicia Gomez (Aarons) Leigh Hobson and her teammate/stage winner Cheatley along with Olds and Moriarty who round out the podium. "When I looked at the [breakaway] group it was to my advantage to really work," said Armstrong. "I wasn't really concerned with finishing in the top three, just because I knew that in the group there were a bunch of sprinters." Leigh Hobson commented on the efforts of the riders in the break that helped them secure the gap to the finish. "It was started by Kristin Armstrong and her along with Alex drove it until the gap was big enough," Hobson admitted. "After the gap started growing, people became committed and others started working too." One team not present in the break was Webcor Builders, which found itself in a mad chase to reduce the time gap before the finish. Webcor's Rachael Heal commented on the squad's absence in the break as being a case of underestimating the likely hood of a break succeeding. "We missed the break which was not ideal but on a race like this we didn't panic right away because ewe though it would come back," Heal said. "But after a few laps we realized it was going to stay away. It was a race that was hard to move up because it would string out and bunch in the corners." Webcor Builders gathered more and more of its riders to help in the chase, but that was not enough to bring them back before the end. "There were individual riders who would help a little and we thought the gap was being reduced but with one lap to go it was up to 25 seconds," continued Heal. "Lipton was patrolling the bunch to make sure none of us actually got away. But, none of us felt like we had the legs to try to bridge today." Cheatley attacked on the last lap while almost simultaneously Wrubleski crashed on the second to last corner. PhotographyFor a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here Images by Kurt Jambretz/www.actionimages.cc
Images by Matthew Moses/www.moses-images.com
ResultsPro men 1 Ivan Stevic (SCG) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team 59.24 2 Kirk O'Bee (USA) Health Net p/b Maxxis 3 Jonathan Page (USA) Nature Valley Racing Team 4 Henk Vogels (Aus) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team 5 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Health Net p/b Maxxis 6 Evan Elken (USA) The Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team 7 Cesar Augusto Grajales (Col) The Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team 8 Phil Zajicek (USA) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 9 Carlos Alzate (Col) Colombian National Team 10 Matt Rice (Aus) Jelly Belly Cycling Team 11 Frank Pipp (USA) Health Net p/b Maxxis 12 Darren Lill (RSA) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 13 Martin Gilbert (Can) Kelly Benefit Strategies - Medifast 14 Caleb Manion (Aus) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team 15 Neil Shirley (USA) The Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team 16 Nathan O'Neill (Aus) Health Net p/b Maxxis 17 Jackson Stewart (USA) BMC Professional Cycling Team 18 John Murphy (USA) Health Net p/b Maxxis 19 Jeff Hopkins (Aus) The Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team 20 Jonathan Sundt (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies - Medifast 21 Chad Hartley (USA) BMC Professional Cycling Team 22 Bjorn Sealander (USA) VMG Racing 23 Ulrich DeYoung (USA) Hagens Berman, LLP 24 Ken Hanson (USA) BMC Professional Cycling Team 25 Bernard Van Ulden (USA) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 26 Ben Jacques-Maynes (USA) Priority Health Cycling Team p/b Bissell 27 James Meadley (Aus) Jelly Belly Cycling Team 28 Kristian House (GBr) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 29 Chris Wherry (USA) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team 30 Justin England (USA) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team 31 Juan Pablo Forero Carreno (Col) Colombian National Team 32 Bill Stolte (USA) HRRC / Trek Stores 33 Adam Bergman (USA) Colavita - Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light 34 Steve Tilford (USA) HRRC / Trek Stores 35 Jeff Louder (USA) Health Net p/b Maxxis 36 Morgan Schmitt (USA) Priority Health Cycling Team p/b Bissell 37 Dan Schmatz (USA) BMC Professional Cycling Team 38 Peter Hatton (Aus) Colavita - Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light 39 Dan Bowman (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies - Medifast 40 Matthew Shriver (USA) The Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team 41 Mike Olheiser (USA) Nature Valley Racing Team 42 Scott Zwizanski (USA) Priority Health Cycling Team p/b Bissell 43 Tim Johnson (USA) Health Net p/b Maxxis 44 David Veilleux (Can) The Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team 45 Daniel Vaillancourt (USA) Colavita - Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light 46 Andy Bajadali (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team 47 Edward King (USA) Priority Health Cycling Team p/b Bissell 48 Matt Cooke (USA) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 49 Christopher Baldwin (USA) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team 50 Richard England (Aus) Priority Health Cycling Team p/b Bissell 51 Anthony Colby (USA) Colavita - Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light 52 Michael Cody (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team 53 Whitey DeBroux (USA) Team Einstein's Cycling 54 Matt Brandt (USA) Wheel and Sprocket 55 Jose Serpa (Col) Colombian National Team 56 Roman Kilun (USA) Health Net p/b Maxxis 57 Alex Boyd (USA) VMG Racing 58 Brian Jensen (USA) HRRC / Trek Stores 59 Sean Sullivan (Aus) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team 60 Sheldon Denny (USA) VMG Racing 61 Andy Guptill (USA) Colavita - Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light 62 Alexander Gonzalez (Col) Colombian National Team 63 David McCann (Irl) Colavita - Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light 64 Adam Froemming (USA) MBRC/Flanders 65 Austin King (USA) The Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team 66 Heath Blackgrove (NZl) Toyota - United Pro Cycling Team 67 Garrett Peltonen (USA) Priority Health Cycling Team p/b Bissell 68 Jonathan Parrish (USA) Team Waste Management 69 Matt Cianciulli (USA) Team Einstein's Cycling 70 Stefan Rothe (USA) Nature Valley Racing Team 71 David Rodriquez (USA) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 72 Scott Stewart (USA) VMG Racing 73 Jaior Perez (Col) Colombian National Team 74 Ryan Hamity (USA) Team Einstein's Cycling 75 Ryan Baumann (USA) ABD Cycling Team 76 Ronald Jensen (USA) Team Waste Management 77 Nick Waite (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies - Medifast 78 Andrew Fischer (USA) Hagens Berman, LLP 79 Jarred Berger (USA) Team Einstein's Cycling 80 Christian Kearney (USA) BPG/ Montano Velo 81 Michael Wolf (USA) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team 82 Graham Howard (USA) Priority Health Cycling Team p/b Bissell 83 Jeff Schroetlin (USA) ABD Cycling Team 84 Ian Stanford (USA) Abercrombie & Fitch Pro Development 85 Corey Collier (USA) Team Einstein's Cycling 86 Clark Priebe (USA) All9Yards.com Cycling Team 87 Omer Kem (USA) Priority Health Cycling Team p/b Bissell 88 Shane Braley (USA) Wheel and Sprocket 89 Arles Castro (Col) Colombian National Team 90 Ryan Roth (Can) Kelly Benefit Strategies - Medifast 0.29 91 Sam Johnson (USA) Hagens Berman, LLP 0.34 92 Adrian Hegyvery (USA) Hagens Berman, LLP 93 Peter Salon (USA) VMG Racing 0.43 94 Pete Hanna (USA) Bianchi / Grand Performance 95 Frankie Dierking (USA) Abercrombie & Fitch Pro Development 0.48 96 Matthew Willinger (USA) BPG/ Montano Velo 97 David Galvin (USA) BMC Professional Cycling Team 98 John Acker (USA) Wheel and Sprocket 99 Bryce Mead (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team 100 Alex Sharon (USA) ABD Cycling Team 101 James Stangeland (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies - Medifast 102 Brian Dziewa (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team 103 Josh Carter (USA) ABD Cycling Team 104 Terry Beenken (USA) All9Yards.com Cycling Team 105 Evan Lawrence (USA) BPG/ Montano Velo 106 Jacob Rosenbarger (USA) BMC Professional Cycling Team 107 Mike Sayers (USA) BMC Professional Cycling Team 1.05 108 Brice Jones (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team 1.08 109 Eric Marcotte (USA) Bianchi / Grand Performance 2.19 110 Jack Seehofer (USA) Team Einstein's Cycling 111 Michael Jones (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team 2.21 112 Mark Hinnen (Can) Kelly Benefit Strategies - Medifast 2.31 113 Lane Anderson (USA) All9Yards.com Cycling Team 114 David McCook (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies - Medifast 2.34 115 Ray Uthman (USA) BPG/ Montano Velo 2.39 116 David Zimmerman (USA) MBRC/Flanders 117 Benjamin Bradshaw (USA) VMG Racing 2.48 118 David Pierce (USA) Nature Valley Racing Team 119 Chris Doig (USA) MBRC/Flanders 2.51 120 Luke Winger (USA) MBRC/Flanders 121 Jesse Mendonca (USA) BPG/ Montano Velo 2.55 122 Derek Goerke (USA) Team Einstein's Cycling 2.58 123 Walker Savidge (USA) VMG Racing 124 Joby Siciliano (USA) Team Einstein's Cycling 3.02 125 Dale Sedgwick (USA) Bianchi / Grand Performance 3.07 126 Cole House (USA) Wheel and Sprocket 127 Doug Swanson (USA) Nature Valley Racing Team 3.12 128 Pat Lemieux (USA) Bianchi / Grand Performance 129 Nick Clayville (USA) Hagens Berman, LLP 3.29 DNF Brett Stewart (USA) ABD Cycling Team DNF Chad Vandelune (USA) All9Yards.com Cycling Team DNF Jens Brabbit (USA) Bianchi / Grand Performance DNF Tim Srenaski (USA) Bianchi / Grand Performance DNF Brian Zeuli (USA) Bianchi / Grand Performance Pro women 1 Catherine Cheatley (NZl) Cheerwine 1.00.13 2 Shelley Olds (USA) PROMAN/Paradigm 0.05 3 Teresa Moriarty (USA) Flanders/MBRC 0.09 4 Stacy Marple (USA) Team Tibco 0.15 5 Leigh Hobson (Can) Cheerwine 6 Kristin Armstrong (USA) TEAm Lipton 7 Felicia Gomez (Can) Aaron's Pro Cycling 8 Alex Wrubleski (Can) Colavita-Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light 9 Laura Van Gilder (USA) Cheerwine 0.37 10 Brooke Miller (USA) Team TIBCO 11 Kori Seehafer (USA) TEAm Lipton 12 Nichole Wangsgard (USA) Team Group Health 13 Brenda Lyons (USA) TEAm Lipton 14 Lara Kroepsch (USA) TEAm Lipton 15 Lauren Franges (USA) TEAm Lipton 16 Iona Wynter (Jam) Colavita-Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light 17 Kelly Benjamin (USA) Cheerwine 18 Rebecca Larson (USA) Aaron's Pro Cycling 19 Helen Kelly (Aus) Webcor 20 Carmen McNellis (USA) Aaron's Pro Cycling 21 Betina Hold (USA) Cheerwine 22 Sarah Bamberger (USA) Cheerwine 23 Katie Mactier (Aus) ValueAct Capital Cycling Team 24 Kristin Sanders (USA) Aaron's Pro Cycling Team 25 Marni Hambleton (Can) ValueAct Capital Cycling Team 26 Catherine Walberg (USA) Team Kenda Tire 27 Victoria Bastide (USA) Team TIBCO 28 Virginia Perkins (USA) PROMAN/Paradigm 29 Meredith Miller (USA) TEAm Lipton 30 Sarah Caravella (USA) Aaron's Pro Cycling Team 31 Robin Farina (USA) Targetraining Womens Team 32 Anna Milkowski (USA) Targetraining Womens Team 33 Christina DeKraay (USA) Harris Teeter Naturals 34 Leah Guloien (Can) Team Group Health 35 Debbie Dust (USA) Team Kenda Tire 36 Rachel Heal (GBr) Webcor Builders 37 Mara Abbott (USA) Webcor Builders 38 Amber Rais (USA) Webcor Builders 39 Heather Labance (USA) Advil ChapStick 40 Catherine Powers (USA) Aaron's Pro Cycling Team 41 Katharina Weber (USA) XPlane/Team Revolution 42 Kathleen Billington (USA) Targetraining Womens Team 43 Beverley Harper (USA) Webcor Builders 0.58 44 Kirsten Robbins (Can) Advil ChapStick 45 Marisa Asplund (USA) Team TIBCO 1.43 46 Alison Littlefield (USA) Contender Bicycles 1.45 47 Tricia Bailey (USA) Team Group Health 1.48 48 Tiffany Cromwell (Aus) Colavita-Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light 49 Natalie Klemko (USA) Advil ChapStick 50 Betsy Galenti (USA) America's Dairyland 1.53 51 Susannah Pratt (USA) Ryan Collegiate 2.01 52 Jadine Riley (USA) Team Group Health 2.04 53 Megan Elliott (USA) ABD Cycling Team 54 Katie Lambden (USA) Team TIBCO 55 Moriah MacGregor (Can) Colavita-Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light 56 Lisa Dunnwald (USA) Team Group Health 57 Maria Luisa Calle Williams (Col) Colombia National Team 2.08 58 Courtenay Brown (USA) ValueAct Capital Cycling Team 59 carrie cash (USA) XPlane/Team Revolution 2.12 60 Susy Pryde (NZl) Jazz Apple Cycling Team 61 Rushlee Buchanan (NZl) Jazz Apple Cycling Team 62 Sarah Tillotson (USA) Colavita-Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light 63 Laura Charameda (USA) Advil ChapStick 3.07 64 Liza Rachetto (USA) Team TIBCO 65 Corie Berrigan (USA) Team Kenda Tire 66 Alison Shanks (NZl) Jazz Apple Cycling Team 67 Heidi Goldberg (USA) Team Kenda Tire 68 CarrieAnn Kopernik (USA) Nova Cycle Sports Foundation 69 Devon Haskell (USA) Ryan Collegiate 70 Susan Peithman (USA) ABD Cycling Team 71 Julie Bishop (USA) Harris Teeter Naturals 72 Madeleine Puissant (USA) Nova Cycle Sports Foundation 73 Arielle Filiberti (USA) Targetraining Womens Team 74 Erica Allar (USA) Ryan Collegiate 75 Hannah Banks (Aus) ValueAct Capital Cycling Team 76 Martina Patella (USA) ValueAct Capital Cycling Team 77 Holly Borowski (USA) PROMAN/Paradigm 78 Andrea Myers (USA) Targetraining Womens Team 79 Rachel O'Connell (Aus) Cheerwine 80 Heather Sborz (USA) Arizona State University 81 Kristin Wentworth (USA) Team Kenda Tire 82 Marjan Huizing (USA) Team Kenda Tire 83 Sharon Allpress (USA) ValueAct Capital Cycling Team 84 Casey Cessna (USA) Nova Cycle Sports Foundation 85 Kate Ligler (USA) PROMAN/Paradigm 86 Abby Lyn Cooper (USA) PROMAN/Paradigm 87 Andrea Luebbe (USA) Ryan Collegiate 88 Kathryn Clark (USA) Harris Teeter Naturals 89 Tamyra Barnard (USA) Team Kenda Tire 90 Kim Geist (USA) TEAm Lipton 91 Katheryn Curi (USA) Webcor Builders 92 Michelle Kiesanowski (NZl) Aaron's Pro Cycling Team 93 Jill McLaughlin (USA) ValueAct Capital Cycling Team 94 Rebecca Much (USA) Targetraining Womens Team 95 Annie Lux (USA) Harris Teeter Naturals 4.01 96 Anne Guzman (Can) Team Kenda Tire 97 Patria Lanfranchi (USA) Team Group Health 4.16 98 Kristin McGrath (USA) Ryan Collegiate |
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