Cannon Falls Road Race: Men

Colavita Olive Oil makes it two in a row as leaders maintain positions in stage 3 of Nature Valley
By James Lockwood

One good turn deserves another.

So it was for Colavita Olive Oil-Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light, who used its two star sprinters to perfection to take its second win in a row in Stage Three of the Nature Valley Grand Prix. 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.

“He came through for me,” Borrajo said of Haedo, his friend of more than 10 years. “With 40 meters to go, Sebastian led out, and it was perfect for me.”

“Ale has been riding good,” said Colavita’s director Sebastian Alexandre. “He has been leading out Sebastian for many races, and today, I told him it was his turn. With the hill at the end, it was a course that was good for him.”

“They are a classy outfit,” said Bissell Pro Cycling’s Peter Latham, who overcame a crash nearly halfway through the race to help his teammate, Tom Zirbel, keep his leader’s jersey.

OUCH-Maxxis’ John Murphy, who finished third on the stage, said Colavita is taking full advantage of the fact that OUCH and Bissell are currently sitting atop the standings while it sits in the wings.

“They’ve got a little more room to win the sprints, and they are doing a good job of it,” Murphy said.

Still, OUCH did not give the win to Colavita. After spending 54 miles in the east central Minnesota farmland staying out of trouble and monitoring attacks, the team entered the two-mile finishing circuit intending to set up Murphy for the win. With three laps to go in the five-lap finish, OUCH went to the front of the peloton to push the pace.

Murphy said he got jammed up in the sprint coming off of his teammates’ wheels, but he wasn’t totally disappointed with the finish. His third place came with a six-second time bonus, erasing the six seconds he lost in the second stage crit and moving him into the top five in the overall classification.

“It was good to get a little time back,” he said. “We wanted to try to put a little pressure on Bissell, but it didn’t work out.”

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. In addition to having Latham hit the deck, Frank Pipp also was involved in the crash. With no breaks allowed to get away, it kept the team on edge the whole race.

“People wanted to get in a break the whole day,” he said. “That just made it hard.”

The most successful break of the day was made by Chad Gerlach, riding for Amore e Vita presented by Life Time Fitness-Velo Vie. After trying twice in the first half of the race, Gerlach finally made a break look promising 31 miles into the race. Soloing for 10 miles, he built a lead of 50 seconds, but with 15 miles to go, it all came back together.

“I just wanted to make the ride harder,” said Gerlach of his non-stop attacks. His effort earned him the Freewheel Bike Most Aggressive Rider jersey. “I had really good legs.”

Alexandre said he was not surprised that no breaks got away. With a rolling course with no real hills, perfect weather conditions, and top teams with an eye for the overall win, he said this is a race of strategy, not necessarily of tradition.

“Today, everyone wanted to sprint. Everybody wanted the stage,” he said. “With three stages coming up, as soon as a team does something wrong, it’s over for them.”

Borrajo said, though, it won’t be over for Colavita.

“We plan to win again,” he said. “It’s important. If we win one more stage, we are maybe on the podium.”

 

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