By Lyne Lamoureux, Nature Valley Grand Prix
St. Paul, Minn. – The UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team controlled Wednesday’s Stage 2 St. Paul Downtown Criterium from start to finish and topped it off with a sweep of the podium.
After a perfect leadout from his teammates that included yellow jersey owner Rory Sutherland, Jake Keough took the win, Hilton Clarke placed second and Robert Förster was third.
“I think we’ve proven tonight that we’re one unit, whether it’s off the bike or on the course.” Keough said after his win. “The team is one unit, we do everything together. The dedication from the whole team is perfect. Each one of those guys is a specialist in what they do throughout the whole race to perfection.”
After rain fell earlier in the evening, welcomed glimpses of blue sky could be seen for the men’s race in the entertainment district of Downtown Saint Paul on a flat, fast, six-corner course that featured brick sections around Rice Park and some of the most beautiful architecture in the Midwest.
Only three laps into the 40-lap race, Bernard Van Ulden (Jelly Belly presented by Kenda) and Carlos Alzate Escobar (Team Exergy) escaped the fast-moving peloton. One lap later, two more riders, Alex Candelario (Kelly Benefit Strategies-OptumHealth) and Tyler Wren (Jamis/Sutter Home) joined to form a breakaway. The complete UnitedHealthcare team assumed position at the front of the field, with Jonny Clarke and Adrian Hegyvary keeping the pace high.
Lap after lap, it remained the same, with Keough’s teammates always in control, holding the gap at a very manageable 20 seconds. Cooperation was not perfect in the break, but the four stayed mostly together for 31 laps of the 1.4-kilometer course. During this time, Alzate took top points in the intermediate sprint competition while Van Ulden, Wren and Candelario contested the intermediate time bonus.
With seven laps to go, the BISSELL Pro Cycling Team swarmed the UnitedHealthcare train to take over the front and the already fast pace was revved up even further, dooming the breakaway.
Keough took it in stride. “I just kind of called the guys to be really calm and to wait until the other guys burned their matches so we could go back around them,” he said. “We’re getting well drilled at this. We’ve been putting it to some good effect. Each one of the guys did a perfect effort at the end.”
One lap later, the blue train was back at the front while the sprinters jockeyed for position behind. The battle was on for controlling the front of the pack with the inevitable bunch sprint finish rapidly approaching. Every lap the speed ramped up until Sutherland took over with one lap to go.
“He’s a vital part of our leadout as well,” Clarke said about having the yellow jersey pull at the front. “Adrian worked all day and he was second overall and Rory is leading the race but he’s helping us win the stage. We’re all helping each other all tour. The roles are reversed each day and we work as a team.”
Then it became a matter of executing the peel-off as practiced successfully in many previous races.
“The order we’ve been putting into the leadout train for the past few weeks has been Frosi (Förster), Hilton and then me and it’s been working,” Keough said. “We’ve been going 1-2-3 and we’re just going to try to keep doing it.”
The UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team finished 1-2-3 in Wednesday's St. Paul Downtown Criterium. Winner Jake Keough (far right) acknowledges his teammates at the finish line. (Matthew Moses)
Finishing fourth on the stage, Alzate took over the Wheaties FUEL Sprint jersey, while Van Ulden was awarded the Freewheel Bike Most Aggressive Rider jersey. Chad Haga (Team Rio Grande) will wear the green jersey as the Nature Valley Top Amateur and Joey Rosskopf (Team Type 1-Development), the white jersey for the TRIA Orthopaedic Center Best Young Rider.
After two stages, Sutherland remains in the lead with nine seconds on Hegyvary and Tom Zirbel (Jamis/Sutter Home). The defending champion also holds the Sports Beans King of the Hills jersey.
Thursday brings the Cannon Falls Road Race. The 67-mile course through gently rolling, but wide open farmlands, finishes with six laps on a circuit that includes a short, steep climb to the line. Even a gentle wind can tear the pack apart.
Keough says his team is ready to defend the yellow jersey. “I think tonight was a lot of bullets used so we need to make sure we’re conservative and make sure we have the legs but the guys proved that they’re strong and we’re going to keep it up.”
