MEN’S Grand Prix                                                                                                                                   by Lyne Lamoureux
The legendary Stillwater Criterium lived up to its reputation as one of the hardest races in the United States on Sunday. Attacks flew as the racers went up Chilkoot hill which features a 24 degree grade to the finish line. Put under pressure in the final laps, Canadian Ryan Anderson prevailed to win the overall at the North Star Grand Prix, the fourth title in a row for his Optum team. Anderson finished strong by taking third on the sixth and final stage and claimed his first USA Cycling National Racing Calendar overall stage victory.

“I was glad I was able to be good to finish because the guys rode so well. From day one, the first criterium, we took responsibility for the race and the guys rode pretty much all week.”Anderson said. “For our team it’s a really important race because most of our partners are from the area. I’ve had a bit of a bumpy year, I’ve had some success but I’ve also had some downs this year so to get this win is really motivating for me going forwards with the rest of the year.”

Luis Amaran (Jamis-Hagens Berman) finished second overall, 16 seconds down while Anderson’s teammate Jesse Anthony was third, a further four seconds down.

Travis McCabe of Team SmartStop put in a blistering attack with three laps to go to take the stage win with the field breathing down his neck.

“I just went for it, I looked back on the second lap and I had a 15 to 20 seconds gap and I knew that Optum was content in letting someone like me go and they were just really watching [Luis] Amaran [Jamis-Hagens Berman]. So I just put my head down, raced aggressive and stayed away. I couldn’t hear anything, the crowd was loud, everyone was just roaring, it was so awesome.” McCabe said. “I look back halfway up the climb and they’re charging, I look up at the board and see zero laps and so at that point, I just sprinted with whatever I had left out of pure fear and kept it to the line. It’s really exciting, it’s a great win for the team, we’ve had an awesome year.”

The chasing riders caught McCabe at the line. Belgian Gerry Druyts of Team3M was second on the stage.

Both Anderson and McCabe loved the cheering fans that lined the climb. “It was so loud in the beginning, it was hard to keep calm and not get too excited because there was so much cheering, it was so motivating.” Anderson commented.

“It’s such an awesome race.” noted McCabe. “Being able to have everyone there and cheering for you, it really gives this vibe of excitement and really puts you on another level for racing so it’s fantastic.

As the sun came out after a rainy morning, the riders lined up at the bottom of Chilkoot Hill for 28 laps of pain. The front of the race shuffled and re-shuffled under constant attacking. Seventh overall and 43 seconds down in the general classification, Ben Jacques-Maynes (Jamis-Hagens Berman) escaped early to put pressure on Anderson. Also off the front were Tom Devriendt (Team 3M), Ben Frederick (Kelly Benefit Strategies Elite), Coulton Hartrich (SeaSucker/Guttenplan Coaching), Gabriel Baca (Elbowz Racing) and Michael Olheiser (Incycle-Predator Components).

Behind the Optum Team lined up at the front of the stretched out field, controlling the pace and keeping the gap to less than 30 seconds. With six laps to go, Ian Crane (Jamis-Hagens Berman) counter-attacked when his teammate was reeled back. Sensing the pressure, riders swarmed the front of the field and Optum lost control for less than two laps.

“I got a little concerned about six laps to go and that’s when Ian Crane hit out and that put us under a little pressure and Jesse jumped on him right away but he went on the climb and it put the guys that were riding earlier under pressure. Thankfully, the three guys that were riding early in the day did a fantastic job.” explained Anderson. “Once Tom came back, then at three to go I felt that we were in a good position, between six and three were a little bit stressful.”

McCabe followed the team plan and launched himself up the climb with three laps to go. “The whole team was disappointed with the way it played out on the second day so we were just out for stage wins and to race aggressively. I was always at the front, riding the waves, staying in the wind and keying off of Jamis mostly and with four laps to go or three, Amaran attacked and pretty much blew the field up, there was five of us that stayed with him. Right after the hill, on the next little climb, everyone sat up and there was a lull and I knew that everyone was hurting so I figured just to go and not look back. So I attacked up and over that, and spent the downhill recovering, going hard the climbs.”

Amaran put in one more attack the final time up the climb but could not drop Anderson.

Anderson added, “The pressure was just on over the top, Tom was really good here and Jesse, we all stayed together and then Tom pretty much rode the last lap and I slotted in. At first I was sitting behind Amaran but then I decided to get back with the guys and they brought me safely through here [last turn before climb]. Amaran went from the bottom but I was good enough to hang on.”

The Optum team won the overall team classification with three riders in the top five of the general classification.

Eric Marcotte (Team SmartStop) retained the green Xcel Energy Sprinter jersey and Fabio Calabria (Horizon Organic/Einstein Bros) took the Sports Beans King of the Hills. Finishing only six seconds down on the stage put Orlando Garibay (Incycle-Predator Components) in the white TRIA Orthopedic Center Best Young Rider jersey and Hartrich in the green North Star Top Amateur jersey. Devriendt was awarded the red Penn Cycle Most Aggressive Rider jersey.

WOMEN’S Grand Prix
Lizzie Williams (Vanderkitten) made her bold solo move with six laps to go out of the 14 lap circuit and held her lead to win the Stillwater Criterium.

Behind her was the battle for the general classification. Leah Kirchmann (Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefits Strategies) and Alison Powers (UnitedHealthcare) were both 14 seconds behind Carmen Small (Specialized-lululemon) coming into the stage. Powers attacked in the final lap, nearly closing down the gap to Williams, and finished second on the stage but it was not enough to put her in the overall lead. Small finished two seconds behind Powers for third on the stage, and Kirchmann finished a 12 seconds behind Small for fourth on the stage.

Attacks from UnitedHealthcare, Team Optum, and Team TIBCO came from the start, with the lap pace quickening as the attacks and counter attacks grew more frenetic.

UnitedHealthcare was determined to make the other teams chase. Lauren Tamayo, Rushlee Buchanan, and Sharon Laws saw solo breakaways. Buchanon’s breakaway lasted two laps before being brought back, while Laws was away for one lap on her own before being joined by Tayler Wiles (Specialized-lululemon) when Wiles attacked up Chilkoot Hill, with its average 18% grade, to claim Queen of the Mountains points ahead of Laws.

It was this duo that Williams bridged up to before launching her solo attack.

“In my head I wanted to go at four laps to go,” said Williams. “That break went away and I bridged across, it was just a split second that they eased up, and I just kept going. I got a gap so it was just like a tempo ride, a time trial. The crowd just helped me along so much each time I went up the hill.”

While Williams was up the road, a small group of five containing Laws, Ally Stacher (Specialized-lululemon), Jade Wilcoxson (Team Optum), Jo Kiesanowski (Team TIBCO),  and Flavia Oliveira (FCS|Zngine p/b Mr. Restore) were on the chase.

With three laps to go Williams had opened up a gap of over 40 seconds.

“I honestly didn’t know that Lizzie was up the road,” laughed Powers. “I stuck to out team’s plan, and I heard someone say ‘42 seconds’. What? Someone’s up the road?”

That’s when a chase ensued that quickly brought down the time gap as both Specialized-lululemon and Team Optum strung out what was left of the fewer than 20 riders left on course.

With just under two laps to go Kirchmann made her move for the general classification. She and teammate Denise Ramsden headed up Chilkoot Hill with a slight advantage over the group containing Small and Powers. The duo were caught by the top of the hill.

Powers launched her attack after the top of Chilkoot Hill.

“With just under one to go, I could see Tayler was fading a bit, and so that’s when I attacked,” said Powers. “Unfortunately Carmen was just a little too strong. I couldn’t get away from her on the last lap, so kudos to her and her team. My entire team gave everything they had, every single person. We tried, we didn’t quite get it, but it was a good team effort.

”We wanted to either win or go down trying.“

”They did a really good job of attacking me in the last two laps,“ said Small.  ”I wanted to die a thousand deaths, just hold on for dear life. I’m really lucky the girls are so great because I couldn’t have won this race without them. Especially going against UnitedHealthcare and Optum, they both have really strong girls. The girls rode out of their minds today.“

Kelly Catlin (Kakookies Collegiate All-Stars) was the day’s top placed amateur and the only amateur who finished the race without receiving a pro-rated time, extending her lead in the amateur jersey to over 17 minutes.

The Collegiate All Stars program is designed to give riders a well rounded experience of what it’s like to be on a professional team, from providing technical and physical support in the form of mechanics and a masseuse, to skills development and encouragement.

”Stillwater was a lot of fun,“ said Catlin, who has a double major in bio-mechanical engineering and Chinese with a minor in music at the University of Minnesota. ”It was a really good experience to measure up against the pros. I feel a little more confident now. I feel like if I wanted to go pro I could possibly do it. I’ll try to manage with collegiate cycling for the first few years and see how that goes it goes from there.“

The North Star Grand Prix features the Carla Swart jersey, a jersey of recognition given to the rider who sacrifices the most for her team as voted on by other members of the peloton. This year’s jersey recipient was Joy McCulloch (KHS-Maxxis p/b JAKROO). According to several riders, Joy ”did not care about her time and was worried about the rider on the ground after the crash we were involved in on Friday night. She raced well and fought strong. She represents this sport at it’s highest level.“

Coryn Rivera (UnitedHealthcare) had her Xcel Energy Sprint Competition Jersey on lock, coming into stage 6 with enough points to keep her lead even if she didn’t gain any more sprint points.

Wiles secured her Jelly Belly Queen of the Mountains by collecting an additional eight points on the stage.

The Penn Cycle’s Most Aggressive Rider jersey was given to Williams for her impressive solo ride.

For more race results and information click on North Star Bike Festival and Grand Prix.

Remember to follow HaveFunBiking.com for you North Star Bicycle Festival news!

 

Men’s Menomonie, Wisconsin Road                                                                                                        by by Lyne Lamoureux – photos by SkinnySki.com

Belgian Tom Devriendt of Team 3M outsprinted his breakmates in the pouring rain to win the Menomonie Road Race, stage 5 of the North Star Grand Prix on Saturday afternoon. Australian Fabio Calabria of Horizon Organic/Einstein Bros was second and the reigning US National Champion Eric Marcotte of Team SmartStop was third. The three were part of an early five-rider breakaway that stayed away to the finish line to battle it out for the stage win.

“We started the last 25 kilometers with three minutes before the first group but when we came on the laps, the peloton came at one minute and 25 so I knew it was going to be a tough ride. I played a bit of poker, there were a lot of corners and in the rain it was dangerous but I had a good tactic in my mind to make them think that I’m not a good turner and the last lap, I was so focused. When I smell the finish, I’m unbeatable.” said Devriendt with a laugh.

First time racing in the United Stages, Devriendt is enjoying his experience. “It’s really nice. When you’re used to race in Belgium, it’s so different. When we do the crits here, it’s awesome, it’s nice, it’s like a family. A lot of wind and hilly too, it’s nice.”

The battle for the overall win took a back seat in today’s 101-mile stage and Canadian Ryan Anderson of Team Optum remained safely in the yellow leader’s jersey.

Attacks flew early as the peloton left Menomonie under cloudy skies but nothing was sticking with too many riders trying to escape. The field was still together for the first King of the Hills and the first Points sprints. For Optum, it was all about getting the right combination of riders in the break and for many teams, it was about making the move.

“In the beginning, there were a lot of guys that wanted to be in the break, a lot of guys down on GC so we let much of the race race itself and then if the group was getting too big then the guys would quickly form at the front and keep it under control.” Anderson explained.

Finally the right combination was found. “There were a lot of attacks, my team was always in one of the attacks but Optum always caught them. I think with 30 or 35 kilometers, we were riding away. We ride for 5 kilometers and they let us go.” commented Devriendt.

The breakaway consisted of Freddie Rodriguez (Jelly Belly), Griffin Easter (Airgas), Gabriel Baca (Elbowz), Marcotte, Calabria and Devriendt. By the second King of the Hills sprint, the gap was over two minutes. With Calabria the highest placed rider at over five minutes from Anderson, Optum was never worried and controlled the pace at the front of the field.

Calabria went after his first priority of the day and collected KOH points to take over the Sports Beans King of the Hills jersey. “We wanted to have someone from the team in the break today just to show everyone that we’re here and we’re here to race so the plan was to get into the break, and then obviously try to get the KOH points because the climbs were weighted pretty heavily.”

A few riders launched from the field on the fourth and final KOH, with 26 miles to go in the stage. Counter-attacking after his teammate was reeled in, Ansel Dickey (California Giant Berry Farms/Specialized) was soon joined by David Santos (KHS-Maxxis-Jakroo) and Coulton Hartrich (SeaSucker/Guttenplan). The trio were reeled back in on the second finishing circuit.

The gap which extended to a maximum of three minutes and 40 seconds was coming down as the break entered the first of four 2.75-mile finishing circuits in Menomonie.

Calabria said, “I think everyone was pretty tired but we definitely still had to ride so we’d stay away. I think everyone did a pretty good job of riding until probably real close maybe two corners out. And then, Freddie hit out a few times on the last lap, he hit out pretty hard coming out of the second to last corner and so he ended up leading it out. I came out of the corner fourth on Marcotte and everyone went for it coming out of the last corner and that was that.”

Marcotte took top points in three point sprints to claim the green Xcel Energy Sprinter jersey. Ben Wolfe (California Giant Berry Farms/Specialized) retained the white TRIA Orthopedic Center Best Young Rider jersey while Santos keeps the green North Star Top Amateur jersey. Devriendt was awarded the red Penn Cycle Most Aggressive Rider jersey.

The North Star Grand Prix concludes on Sunday with the legendary Stillwater Criterium which features a 24 degree climb up Chilikoot Hill. A climb that the racers will contest 23 times.

Women’s Menomonie, Wisconsin Road Race
By Cynthia Lou  – photos by SkinnySki.com

Gillian Carleton (Vanderkitten) swooped around the fervently attacking teams in the rainy final laps in Menomonie to win by several bike lengths. Leah Kirchmann (Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefits Strategies) took second with Lizzie Williams (Vanderkitten) close on her wheel for third. The eight second time bonus Kirchmann received for second place was enough to move her into second in the general classification, just 0.2 seconds ahead of Alison Powers (UnitedHealthcare). Carmen Small (Specialized-lululemon) retains her overall lead by seven seconds.

 The rain-soaked 82.3 mile stage got off to a slow start as teams looked to each other to see who would begin the attacking.

The first several miles moved at this relaxed pace until finally Amy Cutler (FCS|Zngine p/b Mr. Restore) made her bold move on a solo break. Her gap swelled up to a minute and a half until a chase began. Cutler was brought back to within 10 seconds of the peloton. The chase died down before she was caught, and she fought on to again soar solo down the road.

The stage started overcast, but heavy rains started soon after Cutler’s break.

“It was everything you’d think it would be – painful, wet, cold,” said Cutler. “I just kept going until they told me to stop.”

Cutler’s solo ride lasted nearly 30 miles, ballooning up to a gap of four minutes and twenty seconds. She was eventually brought back after the second Queen of the Mountains competition, when other teams contesting the Jelly Belly Queen of the Mountains competition started their fight for points.

Cutler received the Penn Cycle Most Aggressive Rider jersey for her effort.

Tayler Wiles (Specialized-lululemon) widened her lead on the Jelly Belly Queen of the Mountains competition.

Wiles used the second Queen of the Mountains competition to launch a break. Together she and Sharon Laws (UnitedHealthcare) stayed away for several rolling miles.

Once they were caught, a break of E “Scotti” Wilbourne (UnitedHealthcare) and Janel Holcomb (Team Optum) formed. They dangled between 10 to 25 seconds ahead of the peloton several miles. Carleton bridged up to the duo.

Wilbourne was eventually dropped from this group. Carleton and Holcomb stuck together for about five miles until Carleton dropped off, leaving Holcomb to fight the crosswinds solo. She was caught about a mile away from entering the finishing circuits.

The rain lightened up in the middle of the race, but were again heavy as the riders raced the three-mile long finishing circuits.

“It was pretty slippery in the last few laps,” said Carleton. “There is so much cross walk paint on the ground that the first couple riders would lean into it really hard, then everyone else would slow and slid across the road a little bit.”

“It was really aggressive, single file, non-stop attacking from the time we entered the circuits,” said Williams. “There was no rest.”

Team Optum, TIBCO, and UnitedHealthcare were the primary aggressors in the final circuits. Different pairings of riders from the teams were seen each time they crossed the finish line.

“I figured I had about one dig left so I just sat on the back,” said Carleton. “I hit it from about three corners back. A TIBCO girl jumped onto the front and I jumped her in the corner. I had a lot of speed and kept it all the way through to the end.”

“I didn’t even know Gillian was in the group until she flew past us!” laughed Williams.

Coryn Rivera (UnitedHealthcare) remains in the Xcel Energy Best Sprinter jersey. Kirchmann widened her lead in the Tria Orthopedic Best Young Rider competition. Kelly Catlin (Kakookies Collegiate All Stars) remains in the North Star Best Amateur jersey.

With the weather forecast clearing up for Sunday’s North Star Bike Festival’s races and events  the fun continues in Stillwater, Minn. with this year’s Grand Prix finale race.

Follow HaveFunBiking.com for all your North Star Bike Festival news!

by Lyne Lamoureux
Tobin Ortenblad (California Giant Berry Farms/Specialized) outsprinted the reigning US National Road Champion Eric Marcotte (Team SmartStop) to win the Uptown Minneapolis Criterium tonight. Belgian Timothy Stevens (Team 3M) rounded off the podium on stage 4 of the North Star Grand Prix. The three riders were part of a five-man breakaway that escaped early in the race to the pleasure of the enthusiastic crowd.

“I was feeling good, I knew it was going to be really hard to beat Marcotte. He just won Nationals. I just knew that I wasn’t going to come around until I saw the line.” Ortenblad said. Coming into the final lap, the 19-year old rider was third wheel in the breakaway, watching Marcotte who accelerated on the backstretch. “It was hard to stay on his wheel but I was in a good position to do it and then, we came to the sprint, I just went.”

The cooperation between the five riders ended on the bell lap. Marcotte commented, “They didn’t want to come around. Once we came to one to go, I was on the front until the last three inches.”

Canadian Ryan Anderson (Team Optum) remains in the yellow jersey, protected by his teammates who controlled the front of the field for the whole race.

With two hard stages left, tonight’s stage was the one that many riders had circled for the highest possibility of a breakaway making it to the line. And they attacked from the gun. Six laps into the 35-lap race, Ortenblad, Marcotte, Stevens, Andrew Dahlheim (Athlete Octane Cycling) and David Santos (KHS-Maxxis-Jakroo) had established a gap after a surge following the first time bonus sprint.

“I followed a move early and they sat up and went back. I stayed out there and they joined me.” said Ortenblad who was awarded the red Penn Cycle Most Aggressive Rider jersey for his efforts.

Marcotte explained, “I just stayed up front for those early time bonuses, I knew that it was going start to get hard. I can’t remember which Jamis guy but I let them take them because that’s really what their race is, I didn’t want to affect that much. After that, I just started to push it a little bit and you can see Optum at the front and they were happy with every other rider taking bonuses away so I jumped across to the move, kept it steady and made sure we stayed away.”

Team Optum liked the combination up the road and settled in to control the pace for the rest of the race. The gap went up to 28 seconds at 23 laps to go. A crash caused splits in the field and forced many riders to try to chase back on, including Ortenblad’s teammate Ben Wolfe in the white best young rider jersey. Meanwhile at the front, the five riders worked well together, each taking pulls, pushing the gap to almost the one minute mark.

At that point, the five riders focused on the final sprint.

The time gap to the field moved Santos into the green North Star Top Amateur jersey, a goal of his from the start of the race. A jersey that he intends to defend in the next two stages. “I was eight seconds down [after the time trial] so I had the rest of the week to chip away at it. Yesterday, I moved into second, Coulton held on to his eight-second lead on me, and today I had a call-up so I just used that as an opportunity to be in the early move. It worked, it rolled for the whole race. It stayed away.”

No changes for the other classification jerseys. Ian Crane (Jamis-Hagens Berman) remains in the blue Xcel Energy Sprinter jersey, Wolfe stays in white TRIA Orthopedic Center Best Young Rider jersey and Heath Blackgrove (Boneshaker D1) keeps his Sports Beans King of the Hills.

Racing continues on Saturday afternoon with the 95-mile Menomonie Road Race which features rollingarmland in the heart of Wisconsin’s dairy country and finishes with multiple laps of an in-town circuit.

Women’s Race:
Rivera Wins Uptown Minneapolis Crit; Small Increases Her Lead on the Overall

Coryn Rivera (UnitedHealthcare) won both sprint competitions and continued her sprint dominance by winning the race ahead of Leah Kirchmann and Lauren Hall (both Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefits Strategies), who placed second and third respectively.

The 28 lap race was neutralized at 13 laps to go due to a massive crash in turn four of the six corner, 1.4km long course as nearly half the peloton went down. After 20 minutes, the race re-started at a shortened 10 laps to go.

“The restart definitely threw a little bit of a curve ball into everything,” said Rivera. “It shook up our rhythm. Going into the final we lost our footing a little bit, were a little shuffled around, but Alison [Powers] and my teammates got me up there. With one to go Alison drilled down the front, I stuck on her wheel and she pretty much delivered me to the line.”

“The crash affected the [race’s overall results] a bit,” said Kirchmann. “The field was strung out, then the crash happened, so things got reshuffled. We were able to come back from that crash and execute the race how we planned.”

Team Optum lined up at the front of the race with seven laps to go, immediately after the second and final intermediate sprint competition.

“We had control of the race until a lap and a half to go when Alison jumped us with Coryn,” said Kirchmann. “I was able to slot in with Lauren on my wheel and we followed them as Alison gunned it on the last lap. It was chaotic in the last corner but Lauren and I were happy to hang on for second and third.”

Carmen Small (Specialized-lululemon) started the stage seven seconds ahead of Powers in the general classification, so the stage’s time bonuses were a critical piece of the race.

Small won both intermediate time bonus competitions for a total of 10 seconds of time bonus. Powers was hot on her wheel at the first competition at 23 laps to go, giving her three seconds of bonus on the day.

The stage also featured 12, eight, and six seconds of time bonus for first, second, and third place.

“The last three laps were very stressful,” said Small, who’s Specialized-lululemon team has only five riders compared to other team’s eight-person squads. “Optum was a good challenge. It’s hard for me by myself when there are two lead out trains. It was hard to take position for the sprint and I was too far back to put in a good sprint.

”But it’s ok, our goal was to keep the jersey, and I actually gained time [ahead of Powers].“

Small now sits 14 seconds ahead of second-placed Powers on the general classification, and Kirchmann sits third at 22 seconds back.

Allison Arensman (Kakookie’s Collegiate All-Stars) was awarded the day’s Penn Cycle Most Aggressive Rider jersey, testing out her legs against the pro racers with an early solo flyer.

”My legs felt good tonight,“ said Arensman. ”I think I’m finally opening up after the last two days. I definitely wanted to test it out up there, definitely wanted to get the sponsors called out. I’m just so excited to be here at this huge event. The crowd tonight – oh my gosh, it was so loud, it was just great to be out there and racing with these big teams.“

Rivera widened her Xcel Energy Sprint Competition lead from one point to 17 points over second placed Olivia Dillon (Colavita-Fine Cooking).

Kirchmann widened her Tria Orthopedic Best Young Rider lead from 10 seconds to 26 seconds over second placed Tayler Wiles (Specialized-lululemon).

There was no change in the North Star Best Amateur competition or the Jelly Belly Queen of the Mountain competition, which will be worn by Kelly Catlin (Kakookie’s Collegiate All Stars) and Wiles, respectively.

Weather permitting the North Star Bike Festival’s race and events  continues in Menomonie, Wisc. with a 82.3-mile road race on Saturday.

Continue to follow HaveFunBiking.com’s coverage of the North Star Bicycle Festival!