Stage 2: Murphy tries late escape, White continues aggressive riding
Cape Girardeau, MO - On another day that ended up being dominated by the top sprinters’ teams, John Murphy did his best to disrupt the late charge to the line.
With 1 km to go on the technical finishing course in Cape Girardeau, Murphy took advantage of a late hill to put in an attack aimed a upsetting the order at the front of the Columbia-HTC and Cervelo Test Team controlled peloton.
But with race leader Mark Cavendish hungry for another crack at a stage win, Columbia didn’t let Murphy get too far.
“The two or three best sprinters in the world are here for this race,” said team directeur sportif Mike Tamayo. “Columbia-HTC showed during the Tour de France that they’re pretty well drilled when it comes to sprints, and they’re demonstrating it again in Missouri.”
Bradley White was active once again, figuring into a late break that also fell victim to the charge of Columbia-HTC and Cervelo, riding for Tour de France green jersey winner Thor Hushovd.
“We’re going to stay attentive again on Wednesday and keeping looking for the move that will stick,” Tamayo said. “We’ve been aggressive the first two days, but just haven’t gotten in the right move yet We’ll keep after it tomorrow.”
The race continues Wednesday with a 114-mile trip from Farmington to Rolla, with a stage profile that resembles an EKG, with almost constant, leg-sapping rollers the entire route.
Stage 3: Murphy getting closer to podium in Missouri
Rolla, MO — In the chaotic sprint that marked the end of Stage 3 of the Tour of Missouri, John Murphy and Andrew Pinfold changed up their tactics a bit and both wound up in the top 10 on the stage. Murphy took 6th behind stage winner Thor Hushovd (Cervelo Test Team). The winner of the Tour de France green jersey competition also took over the race lead.
“We had a lot of rollers and a tailwind on the run in to the finish, so it was pretty hard and fast coming in,” Murphy said. “Instead of trying to keep all our guys together to try a full lead-out and go head to head with the Columbia and Cervelo trains, Pinner and I decided to key off the other teams and freelance the sprint a bit. We got a bit separated in the last 10 km, but the tactic seemed to work a bit better.”
Coming into the final kilometer, Murphy was fighting for position, and with 300 meters to go, he was able to move himself on to what just about everyone would consider the wheel to be on: that of the race leader and winner of the first two stages, Mark Cavendish (Columbia-HTC).
“I was definitely betting on him,” Murphy said. “I was just going to follow him and try to come off his wheel when he accelerated, but he never really opened up his sprint. I think he got a bit boxed in and never got the chance, so that’s where I ended up. On his wheel.”
Cavendish finished 5th, and Pinfold 9th after finding Murphy’s wheel in the last 200 meters.
“I took a chance on following the fastest guy in the world,” Murphy said. “I’ll try it again tomorrow if it comes down to a sprint. And maybe I can get on the podium or even get around him for the win. But that’s the challenge for everyone in the world right now with Cavendish.
Thursday’s 109-mile stage from St. John to the state capitol of Jefferson City is another hilly affair, though not quite as rolling as today’s stage. While the stage’s profile would suggest another sprint finish, the steep, 300-meter climb to the finish line adjacent to the state capitol building may favor a rider more in the mold of Rory Sutherland.
Stage 4: Long break earns White Most Aggressive jersey
Jefferson City, MO - Brad White lived up to his reputation as one of the most aggressive riders in the pro peloton during Stage 4 of the Tour of Missouri. White earned the Drury Hotels Most Aggressive Rider jersey for stage after instigating and helping to drive the main break of the day. After Floyd Landis got the attacks started from the gun while rolling out of the start town of St. James, it took the first 32 of the 175 kilometers of the stage before the peloton was content to let White and three companions up the road.
“We were going pretty hard when they finally let us go,” White said. The four riders, including Bernard Van Ulden (Jelly Belly), Michael Creed (Team Type 1) and Jeff Louder (BMC), quickly opened a gap that at it’s largest reach around three minutes. From there, White said they worked well together, but also took advantage of time gap reports to measure their efforts.
“When the peloton would start to bring the gap down, we’d start going harder again to get it out,” White said. “All of us were working well together and we really didn’t have to kill ourselves until the last 40 km.”
With overall classification contender Louder in the break with them, White said, “we had a feeling the break wouldn’t stick until the end. And then when we heard that Cervelo, Saxo, Garmin and Liquigas were all putting guys on the front to chase us, we knew the move was coming back.”
Even so, after Creed was dropped, White and his remaining break-mates buried themselves to make it has hard as possible to make the catch, partly in the hope that when they reached the more technical finishing circuits in state capitol of Jefferson City, they might have a bit better chance of staying away. However, the horsepower at the head of the peloton, coupled with the more than 100 km effort in the heat and humidity out front took its toll, and the break was caught with 15 km to go.
After a steady barrage of attacks, the stage came down to a power sprint up the Capitol Wall, with Saxo Bank’s J.J. Haedo taking the win and the leader’s jersey from Cervelo’s Thor Hushovd.
“It was a hard effort, but it was really good to be out there giving it a go, and it was nice to come away from the effort with the Most Aggressive jersey,” White said. “It also gave Chris (Baldwin) and Rory (Sutherland) a good chill day, so they should be good for the time trial tomorrow.”
That individual time trial in Sedalia Friday will cover roughly 31 km, and is likely to determine the top of the general classification.
Notes
White’s Most Aggressive jersey for Stage 4 of the Tour of Missouri - his last race of the season - bookended the season for him. He also earned the Most Courageous Rider jersey in his first race of the season, for his efforts in the break during Stage 3 of the Amgen Tour of California.
Photo: Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us
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