BISSELL Commands Control

The BISSELL Pro Cycling Team continued to take command of the Nature Valley Grand Prix. Friday night’s criterium was a new course which moved uptown to race in front of a very fervent crowd. BISSELL ruled the race and was very selective in who was allowed to move up the course. Thomas Soladay (Mountain Khaki) did get ahead to capture all 3 intermediate sprints and further his hold on the sprinters jersey before getting reabsorbed.  Meanwhile, BISSELL and Mountain Khaki’s kept the speeds very high to deter any escapes. With 9 laps to go, BISSELL handed over the reigns to Jelly Belly who was setting up their rider, Brad Huff, for the sprint finish. Jelly Belly continued to keep the pace high and the pressure on. Again, Sebastian Haedo (Colavita) came through for the win with Brad Huff (Jelly Belly) in 2nd, and Andrew Pinfold (OUCH) in 3rd. To further validate BISSELL’s domination of the race, Cody O’Reilly won the most aggressive jersey, and Frank Pipp, Andy Jacques-Maynes, and Cody took points for intermediate sprints. Tom Zirbel maintained his 7 second lead over Rory Sutherland (OUCH), but by nature of the winning time bonus Haedo bumped Peter Latham back to 4th overall. Saturday’s Mankato Road Race will likely make the final selections for the GC.  The 137k queen stage is well suited for BISSELL’s strengths with the grueling climb on each of the 4 short finishing circuits. The BISSELL Team is totally committed to their goal to maintain Tom’s position as the overall leader.

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Photo by Casey B. Gibson