While the order of the stages changed from 2008, beginning the five-day, six-stage race with the Saint Paul Time Trial did little to change the outcome of the stage. Bissell Pro Cycling dominated the standings with Tom Zirbel setting the fastest time and Rory Sutherland in second place.
In the second stage St. Paul Lowertown Crit, Colavita Olive Oil-Sutter Home rode a textbook race to deliver Sebastian Haedo, its sprint ace, to victory. It was Team Mountain Khakis Thomas Soladay, however, who really put on the show for the fans. Soladay set out to redeem himself from a flat he incurred in the morning time trial in the first stage of the six-stage race. Representing one of the smaller teams in the grand prix, Soladay attacked six laps into the 45-lap race and ended up staying out in front the rest of the race, only losing to Haedo in the closing meters of the race.
After leading out his teammate, Sebastian Haedo, for the win in Wednesday’s Downtown St. Paul Criterium, it was Alejandro Borrajo’s turn to take home the spoils Thursday in the 64-mile Cannon Falls Road Race.
Tom Zirbel kept the leaders’ jersey, maintaining his seven-second lead over OUCH-Maxxis’ Rory Sutherland, but he said the race was not easy for the team. With no breaks allowed to get away and multiple teammates getting involved in crashes, it kept the team on edge the whole race.
Colavita Olive Oil-Sutter Home continued their winning ways in the inaugural Minneapolis Uptown Criterium with Haedo taking his second win of the six-stage race.
Much of the race was uneventful with few riders able to break away from the Bissell Pro Cycling controlled peloton. With 10 laps, Jelly Belly moved forward with its train trying to set up Brad Huff for the win. As the laps counted down, however Jelly Belly started to fade, and it opened the door for Colavita Olive Oil-Sutter Home and Haedo.
OUCH-Maxxis knew the fourth stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix well, having won the course the previous two years in its former incarnation as Health Net. Bissell Pro Cyling knew this course well, too, having lost the leader’s jersey last year on the course’s mile-long climb during the four laps of the finishing circuit.
But what transpired surprised most people, turning the showdown between powerhouse North American teams into the amateur hour – or 3 hours and 30 minutes, as the case may be.
Winning one of the biggest races of his career was Wheel & Sprocket’s Andrew Crater, who, at 31, continues to race on an amateur team despite having a professional background. He, along with Chad Gerlach of Amore e Vita presented by Life Time Fitness-Velo Vie and Mike Nothey of Land Rover-Orbea benefitting the Lance Armstrong Foundation outlasted a breakaway of 14 riders to take the top three places in the stage.
Going into the last stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix, seven seconds separated Bissell Pro Cycling’s Tom Zirbel from OUCH-Maxxis’ Rory Sutherland. But in the end it wasn't enough.
Sutherland used his teammates to lead him out two laps to go at the bottom of the infamous Chilkoot Hill in the Stillwater Criterium to launch him ahead of Zirbel, who got caught out of position behind Sutherland’s teammates and had to dig deep to match Sutherland’s momentum.
The tactic was enough to propel Sutherland, the defending champion of the Nature Valley Grand Prix, 10 seconds ahead of Zirbel at the finish and win him the overall championship of the Nature Valley Grand Prix by three seconds.
On the day, Sutherland finished third and Zirbel fifth. Both came behind Phillip Mamos of Amore e Vita p/b Life Time Fitness-Velo Vie, who sprinted up the finishing climb to win by two seconds ahead of Anthony Colby of Colavita-Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light.