THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING »

Get the VeloNews Email Newsletter FREE

  Learn More | Archive
Home » Top Stories » Road »

Jacques-Maynes seizes lead at Mt. Hood

Published: May. 30, 2007
Jacques-Maynes takes a win for his twin
Jacques-Maynes takes a win for his twin
Photo: Ted Turner

NRC individual points leader Ben Jacques-Maynes showed that he is one of the top riders in America by winning stage 2 of the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic Wednesday.

The Priority Health-Bissell team leader's bunch-sprint win, ahead of Navigators Insurance rider Phil Zajicek, came with a 15-second time bonus, propelling Jacques-Maynes into the race lead.

Wednesday's Columbia Hills Road Race, a long, hot affair at 112 miles in dry 90-degree heat, began with a correction in general classification after race officials determined that overnight leader Devon Vigus (California Giant Strawberries-Specialized) had been incorrectly attributed a winning time, exactly 60 seconds faster than he had ridden. Health Net-Maxxis rider Nathan O'Neill was presented with the leader's jersey before the start of the stage.

The mistake was an unfortunate source of frustration and embarrassment for race director Chad Sperry, who had called the result into question Tuesday evening and asked race commissaires to double-check the result. Chief referee Bill Wykoff stood by the official standings as Tuesday came to a close, and teams didn't receive the stage results until well after lights out Tuesday night. It wasn't until Vigus and California Giant Strawberries-Specialized team director Anthony Gallino conferred with chief judge Dot Abbott prior to Wednesday's start that the result was fixed.

“It’s good that it was fixed before the stage began,” said Health Net’s O”Neill. “If California Giant Strawberries were protecting the jersey, there’s no telling what might have happened. I don’t think there’s any way they could have controlled things.”

The doomed break . . .
The doomed break . . .
Photo: Ted Turner

Wednesday's stage, contested in the arid desert climate just outside of The Dalles, Oregon, was a sharp contrast to the lush green stage 1 prologue. Run over flat terrain with only one category-5 climb per 28-mile loop, the scorching day was marked by a daylong breakaway by three amateurs - Justin Rose (Bob's Bicycles), Max Jenkins (California Giant Strawberries-Specialized) and Matthew Johnson (Team 5 Star Fish) - who escaped at mile 4 and quickly opened a gap. By mile 10 the lead had stretched to 4:15, and with Health Net content to let the escapees die on the vine, the gap reached a maximum of 13:20 by mile 33.

After a slow first hour that saw fewer than 20 miles covered, Health Net’s Matt Crane, Doug Ollerenshaw and Roman Kilun slowly reeled the break in with help from Priority Health’s Omer Kem and Navigators’ Matt Cooke. But the heat and long miles had taken their toll, and the field, trimmed to 35 riders, was back together in the final 15 miles.

. . . and the Health Net chase
. . . and the Health Net chase
Photo: Ted Turner

Following a flurry of attacks by team leaders, including Zajicek, Jacques-Maynes and Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United) - some of which O'Neill had to cover himself - Jacques-Maynes had his teammates keep the pace fast in the final 3km, and then came around Toyota-United’s Bobby Lea to take the stage and the overall lead, seven seconds ahead of O'Neill. Zajicek sits third, eight seconds down.

“I’ve been a lead-out man before, but I’m not exactly a sprinter,” said Jacques-Maynes. “But I guess with all the sprinters on the East Coast for Philly Week, this is the best of the rest as far as sprinters go. I just waited and waited, and had to be patient.”

Jacques-Maynes was quick to dedicate the stage win to his twin brother Andy, a Specialized employee who was seriously injured Monday at the Memorial Day Criterium in Morgan Hill, California. Jacques-Maynes crashed into a pole on the final corner of the criterium and was carried off course with a punctured lung and broken scapula, collarbone, ribs and vertebra. After two nights in intensive care, Jacques-Maynes was moved to another wing of San Jose's Valley Medical Center; he is expected to make a full recovery.

"This one was for Andy," Jacques-Maynes said. "I had a little extra motivation. I told him I'd win one for him."

Well-wishers can post comments for Andy Jacques-Maynes on his brother’s Web site at www.jacquesmayniacs.com.

Jacques-Maynes said a few hot words were exchanged on the equally hot roads about whose responsibility it was to bring back the day’s breakaways.

“Health Net was talking a big game today, saying we should take responsibility and help pull the break back,” Jacques-Maynes said. “But I think that was just bully talk. If I had the jersey I would take the responsibility, and tomorrow we will. We have a small team here, no one has extra bullets to fire. At the end of the day Health Net ran out of guys, and if that weakens them later in the race, that will be good for us.”

Health Net will hope for an easier day on Thursday’s 87-mile Cooper Spur Circuit Race, while Priority Health’s men will look to defend the leader’s jersey.

“Of course you’d like to have the jersey, but I have to think of my teammates,” O’Neill said. “Tomorrow, hopefully, they can float on the wheel a little, and Friday Jeff [Louder] and Ryder [Hesjedal] will probably have a go in the time trial while the rest of the guys will just ride easy. All that matters is who’s in the jersey on Sunday.”

In the women's 84-mile road race Australian Katie Mactier proved she is the woman to beat. Mactier (ValueAct Capital), the 2005 world pursuit champion and the winner of the stage 1 prologue, outkicked the rest of the field to take her second win in as many days. With Aaron’s rider Felicia Gomez looking to pick up KOM points, the pace quickened each time over the day’s only categorized climb.

“[Gomez] went red-hottie each time over the hill,” said Mactier, who is guest-riding with ValueAct Capital while building an endurance base for the winter track season. “This team really laid it on the line for me today. They rode so well for me - so committed to keeping the jersey - that I wanted to make sure I got it right. I didn’t want to stuff up the sprint.”

Racing continues Thursday with the Cooper Spur Circuit Race, a tough 18.7-mile circuit that gains 1750 feet per lap. The stage will be the first big test of the riders’ fitness and climbing prowess, working its way through the fertile farmland and orchards of the upper Hood River Valley and into an alpine setting at Cooper Spur Resort. Women will race 66 miles while men will race 87 miles. With between 7150 and 9000 feet of elevation gain, this stage will show which racers have arrived in top form.

Photo Gallery