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Jacques-Maynes, Thorburn clinch Central Valley titles

Vogels, Pic win final stage

By Kathie Reid
Published: Mar. 11, 2007

Henk Vogels (Toyota-United) took his first win in three years on Sunday at the Tower District Criterium, the final stage of Bentley's Central Valley Classic. Multi-time national criterium champion Tina Pic (Colavita-Sutter Home) celebrated her second win in three days when she flew across the line to take the women's crit.

Alejandro Acton (Colavita-Sutter Home) and Ricardo Escuela (SuccessfulLiving.com) powered to the second and third spots behind an ebullient Vogels, while Suzanne de Goede (T-Mobile) and Kori Seehafer (Team Lipton) secured the second and third spots behind Pic.

Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health-Bissell) and Christine Thorburn (Webcor Builders) both ended safely in the pack, maintaining their overall leads and clinching the final GC. In three days of racing in sunny Central California, Jacques-Maynes never let anyone else wear the leader's jersey, while Thorburn had it sewn up the last two days.

The 1.45km course in Fresno's historic downtown Tower District had five turns, including a chicane and a 180-degree hairpin. Noted Jacques-Maynes: "I personally think that hairpin is a love-hate thing, and most of the riders hate it." The hate must have been boiling over on Sunday, as there were numerous crashes in that turn, the first of which came just three laps in and resulted in a neutralized race when the downed rider was not off the course by the time the peloton came back around.

The sketchiness of the tight corners didn't damp the speed, though, as numerous teams launched attacks throughout the 80-minute race. "Everyone was throwing guys up the road," Jacques-Maynes said. "This was a racer's race today."

With just two laps to go, the pack was completely back together, with the stars and stripes of Toyota-United all over the front, as well as the colors of Colavita-Sutter Home. Toyota-United played it picture perfect as they set Henk Vogels up for the win.

"Chris Wherry, he just did a perfect job for me in the final," Vogels said. "And the rest of the teammates rode the breakaway back in at the decisive time. It was nice to finish it off with some spirit. Super emotional, that win."

This was the first win for Vogels since his crash at Fitchburg three years ago. "Oh, it's good,” he said. “It's giving me chills. It's nice to be back in the winner's circle."

Teammate Chris Baldwin shared in Vogels' elation at the win. "Henk Vogels spends a lot of time leading out other guys, and leading them to victory, so it's nice to see him win,” he said.

Women go to war
The women's crit had its share of aggressive riding and attacks by numerous teams, too, drawing the admiration of overall winner Thorburn. "You know, U.S. [women's] racing has just gotten better over the last few years. The quality, the depth, is a lot better now. You see that when there are multiple teams sending riders off the front. I've really been impressed with these first two weeks of [NRC] racing,” she said.

Starting the crit with the top five GC spots shared by two teams, Webcor Builders and Colavita-Sutter Home, other teams anticipated a shoot-out between the two.

"Today is gonna be fun, you know," said Brooke Miller (Team TIBCO) prior to the start. "I am so excited ... it's going to be an interesting battle. It's basically Webcor versus Colavita."

But a variety of other teams took their best shots, too, with attacks coming from the likes of Team Lipton's Kori Seehafer and Lara Kroepsch, Aaron's Katharine Carroll and Felicia Gomez, ValueAct Capital's Martina Patella and Sharon Allpress, and T-Mobile's Chantall Beltman.

With one lap to go, the powerhouses for T-Mobile, Team Lipton and Colavita-Sutter Home secured spots at the front, and it was Tina Pic's women who got the job done.

"It was teamwork, huge teamwork ... everyone was just covering all day long. And then they were there again at the finish, too," she exclaimed after the podium ceremony.

And Pic's second stage win at the CVC helped secure a cash prize for more than herself due to a commitment made by team sponsors Sutter Home, Colavita, and Blue Competition Cycles.

"For every win, they put $1000 into City of Hope, and every race mile, they put a dollar in — and it's all for breast cancer, which is awesome."

Race note
The men’s top 10 included two amateurs: Brian Buccholz (BPG-Montano Velo), who finished sixth overall, and Karl Bordine (5 Star Fish), who wound up 10th. Stellar time trials for both in the previous day's second stage catapulted them into the top ranks. Buccholz, a finance manager for Google, often trains with two of the top five GC holders from the CVC: Jacques-Maynes and Eric Wohlberg (Symmetrics).

Bentley's Central Valley Classic
Tower District Criterium
Men
1. Henk Vogels, Toyota-United
2. Alejandro Acton, Colavita-Sutter Home
3. Ricardo Escuela, SuccessfulLiving.com
4. Russell Downing, Health Net-Maxxis
5. Ivan Stevic, Toyota-United
6. Kyle Wamsky, Navigators
7. Rory Sutherland, Health Net-Maxxis
8. Luca Damiana, Colavita/Sutter Home
9. Cesar Grajales, Jittery Joe's
10. Josh Thornton, Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada

Women
1. Tina Pic, Colavita-Sutter Home
2. Suzanne de Goede, T-Mobile
3. Kori Seehafer, Team Lipton
4. Brooke Miller, Team TIBCO
5. Mackenzie Dickey, Colavita-Sutter Home
6. Sarah Caravella, Aaron's
7. Nichole Wangsgard, Vitesse Cycling
8. Laura Yoisten, Webcor Builders
9. Kelly Benjamin, Cheerwine
10. Chrissy Ruiter, Cheerwine

Overall
Men
1. Ben Jacques-Maynes, Priority Health-Bissell, 5:51:22
2. Rory Sutherland, Health Net-Maxxis, at 0:14
3. Chris Baldwin, Toyota-United, at 0:49
4. Tom Zirbel, Priority Health-Bissell, at 1:11
5. Eric Wohlberg, Symmetrics, at 1:13
6. Brian Buccholz, BPG-Montano Velo, at 1:15
7. Cesar Grajales, Jittery Joe's, at 1:28
8. David Vitoria, BMC, at 1:46
9. Ivan Stevic, Toyota-United, at 1:52
10. Karl Bordine, 5 Star Fish, at 2:00

Women
1. Christine Thorburn, Webcor Builders, 4:49:46
2. Dotsie Bausch, Colavita-Sutter Home, at 0:23
3. Katheryn Curi, Webcor Builders, at 0:53
4. Alison Powers, Colavita-Sutter Home, at 1:15
5. Kori Seehafer, Team Lipton, at 1:26
6. Rachel Heal, Webcor Builders, at 1:34
7. Tina Pic, Colavita-Sutter Home, at 1:44
8. Lauren Franges, Team Lipton, at 2:03
9. Mara Abbott, Webcor Builders, at 2:12
10. Felicia Gomez, Aaron's, at 2:14