Manhattan Beach, CA - Greg Henderson and Kyle Gritters of the Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis took 2nd and 3rd places respectively in the Manhattan Beach Grand Prix Sunday.

J.J. Haedo of Toyota-United won the 90-minute criterium on the unusual course that essentially amounts to two long straight-aways, with two switchbacks. The race essentially came down to a numbers game, with Toyota taking advantage of an 8-5 edge in riders.

In the closing laps, they were able to send Mariano Friedick on a late break, forcing Health Net Presented by Maxxis to use Roman Kilun and Garrett Peltonen to close a 15-second gap with just four laps of the 1-mile course remaining. When the break came back on the final lap, Haedo ended up in the ideal position, on the front coming into the final U-turn with just 300 meters to go.

"J.J. was able to shut down both the right and left sides coming into the turn, and then he hit the brakes a bit going through the turn," Henderson said. That caused Henderson and Gritters to check up just enough to give Haedo and advantage coming out of the turn. "I have to give them credit," he added. "They rode a smart race."

Gritters and Kilun were part of an early, 11-man break that, by the mid-point of the race, had opened a 35-second lead on the peloton, which Toyota-United was controlling with two men, Chepe Garcia and Heath Blackgrove, in the break as well. But with Gritters being the fastest rider in the break, Toyota-United decided to line their guys up on the front to bring it back together in an effort to control the race for the sprint. With six laps to go, the break was back in the field, setting the stage for the closing-laps chess game.

Official Results