May 17, 2010 - Santa Rosa, CA – Rory Sutherland of the UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis narrowly missed out on the podium in the 2nd stage of the Amgen Tour of California.
Sutherland was one of four UnitedHealthcare Presented by Maxxis riders who made a select front group over the final climb of the day, the steep and treacherous Trinity Grade 20 miles from the stage finish. Sutherland was joined by Marc de Maar and Max Jenkins over the climb, while the lead group caught Karl Menzies, one of two survivors of the day’s main break, on the Trinity descent.
“Those guys were there climbing with the top guys in the race up Trinity,” said Team Director Mike Tamayo. “We couldn’t have asked for anything more from them. They rode fantastic.”
Jenkins had a bit of trouble coming off the climb and fell behind the front group, but that still left the Team with three riders in the lead group, with Menzies being one of the best sprinters in the group.
With two teammates to lead him out, the Team was looking to be in good position for the sprint. However, coming through the last corner with about 800 meters to go, Menzies nearly washed out on the wet roads. While he was able to keep contact with the front group, he lost his position and it took him out of good contention for the finish.
That changed Sutherland’s role from lead-out to sprinter coming to the line.
“Karl and I got together coming into the last kilometer and we were set to work together for the sprint,” Sutherland said. “It’s something Karl and I do well together. But then he had his mishap and I had to switch roles.
“I followed Lancaster but I just missed the jump,” he continued. “But the fact that I managed to come through that last descent and the sprint without crashing and then get 4th, I feel pretty good about. We’ve had some misfortune so far, but for the most part, the goods outweigh the bads.”
More Break Time
As with the race’s first stage, UnitedHealthcare Presented by Maxxis was attentive and aggressive in trying join or establish a break today. With half the team set to cover any moves, it was a matter of which rider would make the one that stuck.
Yesterday, it was de Maar. Today, Menzies found himself in a five-man move that dashed off the front within 10 miles of the start of the 110-mile stage.
“I was solo at first and waited up a bit, and when the other guys attacked, I got on,” he said. “We worked well together, and I think Radio Shack was happy with the make-up of the break so the gap went out pretty fast.”
Within a few miles, the gap had opened to over 4:00, with Menzies scooping up top honors, points and bonus seconds on the first intermediate sprint in Winters 13.6 miles in.
The break continued to motor along, opening the gap out to 6:30 by the first KoM, which Menzies came through in 2nd place. With a steady rain falling and no likely threats to the final overall classification in the break, the main bunch seemed content to give the five riders a bit more leash, with the lead growing to over 7:00 by mile 50.
By the second climb up over Howell Mountain, the gap began to come down, with Menzies again taking 2nd on the KoM to Thomas Rabou (Team Type 1). But coming off the climb, Menzies took the second intermediate sprint handily.
By the time the break hit the third climb it began to splinter, with Menzies and Rabou going over the top together, again with Menzies taking second on the climb. When the duo hit the final, painful climb up Trinity Grade, they were still holding a two-minute gap.
“We went pretty hard up the last climb,” Menzies said. “All the while between Oakville and Trinity I was telling myself it was only 9 km from the top of one climb to the next. I just wanted to get to the top of Trinity without getting caught by the main bunch. We got over and could descend at our own pace. We got caught just as we got off the climb.
“I know if I hadn’t been in the break I wouldn’t have made it to the line with the front group after that last climb,” Menzies said. “Being up there allowed me to ride the climbs at my own tempo without going too far into the red.
“We were looking good for the finish, but we just had a bit of bad luck with the wet roads,” he said.
“Karl rode amazing today,” Tamayo said. “We saw at the Southeast crits and at Joe Martin a week ago, that his form was really coming up. It gives us a lot of optimism for the week.”
Notes
Menzies was by no means alone on the Team in the rain-induced misfortune. Andrew Pinfold, who got caught up in a crash in stage one, went down coming off the third climb of the day and was forced to abandon. While he didn’t sustain any breaks, he did suffer “road rash on top of road rash,” he said.
Matt Crane, who also went down yesterday, hit the deck today a few turns ahead of Pinfold on the Oakville Grade descent. Jenkins went down on the final descent, but was able to get back up and join the second group that came in 1:17. Chris Baldwin also found the tarmac today. He was in a group of 10 chasing the second group off the last climb, “and seven of us went down,” he said. He was able to finish as well.
“The team really rode a perfect stage today,” Tamayo said. “It’s unfortunate that we had the mishaps with the rain. We were in a good position to contest the sprint. But we’re also really optimistic about the remainder of the week.”
With the help of six seconds of bonus time for the two intermediate sprints, Menzies jumped up to 3rd overall, 0:04 back of race leader Lancaster. De Maar, by virtue of his bonus seconds from yesterday’s break time, slotted into 6th overall, at 0:07. Sutherland sits 16th overall, 0:10 back.
UnitedHealthcare Presented by Maxxis also leads the overall team competition.
The Tour continues Tuesday with a 113-mile stage from San Francisco to Santa Cruz.
Photo: Jonathan Devich, Epic Images
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