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Stage 5
Sunday, May 3
The Gila Monster
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The BISSELL Pro Cycling Team wins Team Classification: 4 BISSELL in top 25
The BISSELL Pro Cycling Team continued their outstanding effort on the final and most demanding stage, the Gila Monster. Bissell had two of their strongest riders, Ben Jacques-Maynes and Paul Mach, in the early break of 11. The lead group was riding well together and held a 3:30 gap on the chasers until Astana used its connection with the Livestrong Team to form an alliance to pull them back. Shortly after Astana launched their pursuit of the lead group which included Scott Nydam (BMC), there was horrific crash that required Nydam to be airlifted to the hospital. The group was visibly shaken by the accident but continued on. The lead group was gradually splintered due to the blistering pace set by Ben and Paul. As anticipated, hard tempo from a relatively fresh Chris Horner (Astana/Mellow Johnny’s) in the chase group ripped the field apart on the last climb. The remnants of the break were caught, and other GC threats came off the group as Tom, Ben, and Paul did a great job of neutralizing Baldwin (Rock Racing) and Stetina (Felt-Garmin). As the pace quickened only the 6 strongest climbing specialists remained including Burke Swindlehurst (BISSELL), Phil Zajicek (Fly V), Levi Leipheimer(Astana/Mellow Johnny’s), Lance Armstrong (Astana/Mellow Johnny’s), Chris Horner(Astana/Mellow Johnny’s), and Chad Beyer (BMC). As the climb neared the top, the group of six was reduced leaving only Zajicek, Leipheimer, and Armstrong. Phil used his years of experience riding the Gila Monster to perfectly plan his escape and crossed the finish 12 seconds ahead of Levi and Lance who crossed together. Beyer, Horner, and Swindlehurst rolled across seconds behind them.
The BISSELL Pro Cycling Team unequivocally won the team classification for the five day race. Burke Swindlehurst again demonstrated his strength in this event with a 6th place finish in the final stage and 4th for the overall general classification. Tom Zirbel brought the team its highest stage result with his 2nd place finish in the individual time trial and had a great final result of 7th in the GC. Paul Mach rode an amazing race of support and finished with an outstanding result of 16th in the GC. Ben Jacques-Maynes demonstrated his commitment as team leader and frequently sacrificed himself for the overall results of the teammates. Ben finished 25th in the GC. Omer Kem, Sheldon Deeny, Graham Howard and Jeremy Vennell were consistently in moves and contributed to the exceptional team tactics which delivered these great results.
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| photo: veloimages/brian hodes |
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photo: veloimages/brian hodes |
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photo: veloimages/brian hodes |
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