Cantwell wins Virginia stage, Zapata holds lead
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Aussie Jonathan Cantwell claimed a sprint victory at stage 5 of the Tour of Virginia Friday, as Argentinean Alejandro Borrajo continued to whittle down Colombian Javier Zapata’s overall lead.
Taking second and the resulting time bonus in a group sprint, Borrajo (Rite Aid) shaved six seconds off Zapata’s (Caico) lead, bringing the Colombian’s GC advantage to just 12 seconds.
Cantwell, originally riding support for Kahala-La Grange, was able to take advantage of the group sprint, thanks to the peloton re-materializing in the final kilometers of the race.
Early on in the drizzly, 99-mile stage from Waynesboro to Staunton, three riders went clear, including 15th-place Eddie Hilger (Priority Health-Bissell). The trio managed to keep a 90-second lead through much of the stage until the 50km mark, when the Zapata’s Caico squad began to close the gap.
At 10km to go, the catch was made. With a full peloton once again, Hilger and Josh Dillon (Fiordifrutta) attempted another breakaway, but they were quickly caught.
Rolling into downtown Staunton, it came down to a group sprint. Cantwell took first in the uphill stretch, with Borrajo taking second and American Ben Raby (Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada) taking third.
“It was gnarly coming into the sprint,” Cantwell said “My team worked hard, and I’m glad to get the win for them.”
Zapata finished 15th, three seconds behind Borrajo, and he also lost time thanks to Borrajo’s time bonus.
With an afternoon start time set for Saturday’s 35-mile criterium, stage 6 looks to be the closest thing to rest that the racers will see for the rest of the tour.
The flat, 1-mile loop in downtown Harrisonburg won’t provide the same endurance challenge racers have seen the past few days, but a technical, 30-degree turn at the south end of the course should make things interesting as sprinters jockey for the points classification.
Borrajo will again be looking to challenge Zapata here. Rite Aid team director Jonathan Wirsing said the team is looking forward to it.
The Tour of Virginia wraps up Sunday with a 100-mile ride through Albemarle County and into Charlottesville.
2007 TOUR OF VIRGINIA
Stage 5 (road race). April 27
1. Jonathan Cantwell (Aus), Kahala-La Grange, 99 miles in 4:11:34
2. Alejandro Borrajo (Arg), Rite Aid
3. Ben Raby, Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada, both s.t.
4. Kayle Leogrande, Rock Racing
5. Eric Boily, Eva-Devinci
6. Mike Olheiser, Memphis Motorwerks-Carve, at 0:01
7. Wendy Cruz, Caico, at 0:02
8. Russ Langley, Battley Harley-Davidson-Hudson Trail, at 0:02
9. Todd Henriksen, AEG-Toshiba-Jet Network, at 0:02
10. Ryan Baumann, Abd Cycling Team, at 0:03Overall, after 5 stages
1. Javier Zapata (Col), Caico, in 14:22:51
2. Alejandro Borrajo (Arg), Rite Aid, at 0:00:12
3. Dan Bowman, Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast, at 0:01:00
4. Christopher Jones, VMG, at 0:01:10
5. Mike Olheiser, Memphis Motorwerks-Carve, at 0:01:20
6. Alejandro Cortes (Col), Caico, at 0:01:32
7. Daniel Vaillancourt, Colavita-Sutter Home, at 0:01:45
8. Andrew Guptil, Colavita-Sutter Home, at 0:02:00
9. Matt White, Firodifrutta, at 0:02:44
10. Jake Rytlewski, Rite Aid, at 0:02:44
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