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Sutherland, Armstrong take Nature Valley
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The 2009 Nature Valley Grand Prix concluded on Sunday in Stillwater, Minnesota, with a GC shake-up in the men’s race and a win by women’s race leader Kristin Armstrong.
Philip Mamos (Amore e Vita) and Armstrong (Cervélo TestTeam) both took stage wins by attacking from small breakaways. Armstrong sealed up her fourth consecutive overall victory with her win, and Rory Sutherland (Ouch) took home his third overall victory in as many years by ousting Tom Zirbel (Bissell) with a late attack.
The Stillwater “Killer” Crit’ brought the ninth edition of the Nature Valley GP to a close with a bang. Doing the damage was the severe grade of Chilkoot Hill, which the riders had to power over each time around the course. The finish line was perched atop the short climb of only about one quarter of a mile, but with an average gradient of 18 percent and a maximum of 24 percent, it tested the limits of the riders on each lap.
The Stillwater Criterium not only offered a General Classification shake-up on the last day of racing, but also provided a fitting conclusion to the criterium-heavy five-day race. The racers had to navigate the most technical circuit of the week in addition to the challenging elevation profile.
Grabbing the lead
Mamos took the win in dramatic fashion, sprinting full-bore up Chilkoot Hill, parting cheering fans all the way to the finish. Two seconds later, Anthony Colby (Colavita) crossed the line for second place with Sutherland on his wheel claiming third.
Sutherland began the day second on GC, seven seconds behind the overnight leader, Zirbel. With a late attack, Sutherland was able to take over the GC lead from Zirbel, finishing 10 seconds ahead of the Bissell strongman. The powerful move netted the defending champion a mere three-second winning margin.
“We had our plan this week, and we were always just one off,” Sutherland said. “Finally, we made our plan work.”
The day began at the bottom of Chilkoot Hill, with the riders sent directly up the steep grades to start off the race. Immediately Bissell set a furious tempo at the front in an effort to keep control of the race dynamics, which had the intended effect, as it seemed the task of climbing with the group was enough for most of the riders behind.
The first big shot of the race was taken by Floyd Landis (OUCH-Maxxis), who made a solo move about five laps into the race, much to the delight of the crowd. Bissell maintained a steady tempo at the front, but Landis was able to grow his lead to around 20 seconds over the next several laps. On the climb, Landis was spurred on by a raucous crowd chanting, “Floyd! Floyd, Floyd!”
An answer finally came from the pack in the form of a three-man chase group, comprising Kyle Wamsley (Colavita), Jim Camut (Land Rover - Orbea), and Volodymyr Starchyk (Amore e Vita p/b Lifetime Fitness-Velo Vie). The trio quickly caught the lone leader, and together the four men maintained a steady gap over the Bissel-led peloton.
Halfway through the 20-lap race, the lead group began to reshape. As the lead group dropped riders from the front, teams sent fresh legs up the road to replace them, with Colavita and Amore e Vita being the most active. Over several laps the breakaway was entirely transformed, with a totally new set of riders representing their teams at the front.
Behind, the Bissell train maintained its steady rhythm, all the while holding the leaders within about 15 seconds. In the process, the main group became more and more select, until only about 25 riders remained of Sunday’s 136 starters. Meanwhile Ouch exercised great patience, waiting for the right moment to play their cards.
“It’s different to have to wait and hedge your bets,” said Sutherland of the plan for a late-race attack. “The longer you wait, the more daunting it gets.”
Colby attacked his breakaway companions with five laps to go and only Mamos could answer. Together the two leaders maintained their tenuous advantage over the peloton. Meanwhile, the teams behind began to jockey for position and the fireworks were about to begin.
With three laps to go, Ouch set a blistering pace over the top of Chilkoot and around the backside of the course. OUCH kept the race on the rivet for the entirety of the next lap as well. The breakaway ahead continued their hard riding, but only the two leaders were able to withstand the pace of the GC race behind.
“Our tactic was to go as hard as we could the last three laps,” revealed Ouch’s director Mike Tamayo after the race. “We knew that going in to the hill that few people could stay with Rory. So, we set a lead out for Rory to go as hard as he could.”
The plan worked, and coming up to the finish line to get the bell signaling one lap to go, Sutherland was launched into orbit by his teammates. Zirbel was slow to respond, giving Sutherland all the room he needed to make his winning move. The Aussie bridged up the two escapees and without any thought of his place on the stage, drove the break towards the finish, perfectly setting up Mamos for his sprint.
“Rory came through and it was perfect,” explained the stage winner. “I knew he was strong and thought, ‘Just stay on his wheel.’ I waited as long as I could and then I just attacked.”
Nonetheless, Sutherland’s phenomenal, last-lap effort put him just out of reach of Zirbel. Having led from the first stage, Zirbel could be seen shaking his head in disgust in the final meters of the climb as he watched the clock tick over the necessary margin for Sutherland to overtake him on GC.
Afterwards, Zirbel seemed dejected.
“It was a matter of exploiting my weakness,” said Zirbel, who is known to be less experienced in criteriums. But there may have been more to the story, “Today, it wasn’t for a lack of legs that I lost. If I could have kept my momentum going up the hill, I could have stayed with Rory. They are smart racers.”
The lead out train for Sutherland apparently caused Zirbel to touch his breaks going to the climb when Sutherland attacked, opening a crucial gap between the two men. It was all Sutherland would need.
Sutherland walked away with the yellow jersey in Minnesota yet again. Tom Soladay (Team Mountain Khakis p/b EP-No) won the Wheaties Sprint Competiton, Chad Gerlach (Amore e Vita) took home the Jelly Belly Sport Beans Climber’s Jersey, while Bob Sweeting (Land Rover-Orbea) and Matthew Busche (ISCorp Cycling) won the APC Best Young Rider and Nature Valley Best Amateur Classifications, respectively.
The GC podium was the same, save for the flip at the top, with Sutherland claiming the win, Zirbel second, and Sebastien Haedo (Colavita) maintained his position in third place thanks to hefty time bonuses earned on Stages 2, 3 and 4. Bissell would have to settle for second place on GC, but won the Team Classification by a slim lead over Colavita.
Armstrong ... who else?
Armtrong wasted no time stamping her authority on the final stage of the Nature Valley GP leaping away from the group on the second lap of the race, despite being heavily marked. Joining her were two escape companions, Shelley Olds (PROMAN Hit Squad) and Andrea Dvorak (Colavita), who claimed second and third place on the stage.
After almost losing her yellow jersey in Saturday’s stage, Armstrong seemed eager to reassert her dominance.
“Originally I was going to go out from the gun, but I ended up going at 85 percent to calm my nerves,” explained an emotional Armstrong afterwards. “When I saw it was strung out I felt that I had some control back and took the hill as hard as I could on the second lap.”
Behind the leaders the race exploded almost immediately with the steep grades of the Chilkoot Hill being too much for some of the competitors to handle. As the pack shattered a chase group of nine riders formed ahead of the peloton. The tactics became very simple, as each rider struggled to ride within herself to make it to the finish line.
“Today was a race of attrition,” said an exhausted Amanda Miller (Lip Smackers), who took home the APC Best Young Rider Jersey. “I was just riding, and I didn't even know where the leader was.”
The race was a difficult trial for the women up front, too. Armstrong dictated a brutal pace up the climb each lap, taking the race by the reins. In the process she single-handedly drove the pace of the break, with her breakaway companions just trying to survive.
“Kristin was keeping a good tempo up the hills,” said Olds. “I would have loved to have helped, but it took us the whole downhill to recover.”
Armstrong held the group behind at a comfortable distance, aiming to clinch the GC win, but also aware of her break-mates’ desires for a stage result.
“I didn’t want to leave them so the peloton would catch them,” said Armstrong sympathetically. “I thought that if I waited until the last lap they would be able to hold off the peloton.”
With one lap to go, Armstrong let it rip, cruising over Chilkoot alone. By the time she made it around to the hill again for her final ascent, she had time to savor the victory, waving to the crowd as they parted for her. Olds and Dvorak came in just behind her, with the chase group hot on their heels.
For Olds, the gap was enough to move her ahead of Alison Powers (Team Type 1) for second place on GC, which comes on top of her win in the Wheaties Sprint Competition. Alison Powers (Team Type 1) retained third place on GC, while Team TIBCO won the Team Classification and Sydney Brown (Nature Valley Cycling Team) took home the Nature Valley Top Amateur Award.
The win was a triumphant salute for Armstrong in what was her last race on American soil. After showing her strength and determination on the bike, Armstrong left the race with a teary goodbye. For her hard work, Armstrong took the Freewheel Most Aggressive Rider Jersey, as well as her yellow jersey for the overall win and the Sport Beans Climber’s Jersey.
