TRIA Orthopaedic Center Your Cycling Blog

By Lyne Lamoureux, Nature Valley Grand Prix

Menomonie, Wis. — The Menomonie Road Race lived up to expectations Saturday at the Nature Valley Grand Prix. At the end of the more than 100 miles of hard racing in the lush rolling terrain of Wisconsin, the UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team’s winning streak was stopped at four.

Amidst a shattered peloton that saw fewer than two dozen riders allowed onto the finishing circuit, Bernard Van Ulden (Jelly Belly presented by Kenda) attacked his fellow escapees on the last of four laps around the two-mile course to claim the victory.

“I died a thousand deaths, but I ate plenty of Sports Beans in the race and also on the circuits and it all worked,” Van Ulden said. “Without my sponsors, none of this would be possible. I’m very happy. This is a dream come true.”

Bernard Van Ulden (Jelly Belly presented by Kenda) celebrates his victory Saturday at the Menomonie Road Race that snapped UnitedHealthcare's string of four straight stage wins at the Nature Valley Grand Prix.

Jesse Anthony (Kelly Benefit Strategies-OptumHealth) finished second on the stage and took over the yellow jersey as the general classification experienced a big shakeup.

“We’re really, really happy to have the lead in this race especially with OptumHealth, one of our title sponsors here,” Anthony said. “We’ve been racing aggressively and it’s awesome to finally see it pay off. This is a team effort, I wish all my teammates could wear the yellow jersey with me, we all worked for it equally.”

Jay Thomson (BISSELL Pro Cycling) was third on the stage.

After watching UnitedHealthcare win the first four stages – including a podium sweep in St. Paul on Stage 2 – the rest of the peloton was determined to try and wrestle control from the blue train. The course was equally as conducive for it, featuring plenty of twists and turns and four Sports Beans King of the Hills climbs. With an early break already off the front, the Kelly Benefit Strategies-OptumHealth squad lined up at the front heading up the the second tough climb and exploded the field.

“We knew today was going to be a decisive day as well as tomorrow,” Anthony said. “We just had to race real aggressively and use the strengths that the team has. Today was a good long road race of attrition and we raced as hard as we could. The guys threw down, as hard as they could, we just kept attacking and we didn’t give up.”

By the time the attacks ended, only 20 riders remained at the front, including multiple riders from Kelly Benefit Stategies, BISSELL, Jelly Belly, Team Exergy, Jamis/Sutter Home, and only one from UnitedHealthcare – defending champion Rory Sutherland.

The decisive move of the men's race is made with 15 miles to go in Saturday's 101-mile Menomonie Road Race at the Nature Valley Grand Prix. Jay Thomson (leading) split an already select group with an attack that drew out seven riders who survived to the finish.

The next round of hostilities were opened up as the breakaway approached the four finishing circuits with a gap of five minutes on the field. Seven riders (Van Ulden, Anthony, Thomson, Heath Blackgrove and Logan Hutchings (both of ELBOWZ Racing), Luis Amaran (Jamis/Sutter Home) and Freddie Rodriguez and Andres Diaz (both of Team Exergy) were battling for the stage win and the yellow jersey.

“Coming into the circuits here, I was dying a thousand deaths,” Murphy said. “I started cramping and I knew I didn’t have the legs to go against the sprinters so I figured my best chance was going to be either keep it together and try not to lose time because I was relatively high up there on GC, or to try to get off the front.”

In addition to the stage win, Van Ulden was also awarded the Freewheel Bike Most Aggressive Rider jersey. His UnitedHealthcare teammate, Robert Förster, kept his lead in the Wheaties FUEL Sprint competition. Chad Haga (Team Rio Grande) retained the green jersey as the Nature Valley Top Amateur and Joseph Schmalz (ELBOWZ Racing) is the new leader in the white TRIA Orthopaedic Center Best Young Rider competition. Kyle Wamsley (BISSELL Pro Cycling) defended his Sports Beans King of the Hills in an early heated battle.

Sunday’s Stillwater Criterium is billed as “the most brutal criterium course in North America.” Last year, Kelly Benefit Strategies lost the overall in a battle to the wire with UnitedHealthcare. With a similar situation this eyar, Anthony said he is ready to defend his lead.

“It’s going to be an amazing race,” he said. “That course just explodes the race. It’s hard the whole time and hopefully I have the legs. We’ve been working on this for the whole year. We’ll go out there and see what we do.”

Kelly Benefit Strategies,Menomonie,Minnesota Bicycle Festival,Nature Valley Grand Prix,OptumHealth,Rory Sutherland,Stage Five,professional cycling     Comments Off