Stillwater, MN - It's unusual for one team to sweep the final podium of a hotly contested NRC stage race. It's just as unusual for the leader's jersey to rest on three different riders from the same team in three days. But with his fourth place finish in the final stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix, Karl Menzies of the Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis took over the lead from teammate Greg Henderson, who in turn, had taken over the lead from teammate Nathan O'Neill on Saturday.

"It was a hard day," Menzies said. "We just wanted to control things and make sure our top four guys were there at the finish." That fourth person was Gord Fraser, who came into the day sitting 5th overall.

Wedged into the Health Net Presented by Maxxis crew was Bernard Van Ulden (Navigators), sitting 4th place overall, and the one true threat to take away one of the steps on the final podium.

So when Ivan Stevic (Toyota-United) and Jason Donald (Einstein Bagels) took off on the attack early, Health Net Presented by Maxxis directeur sportif Jeff Corbett noted that they were more than happy to let them go, as Stevic was over six minutes back on GC, while Donald was more than 11 minutes back. Soon, Caleb Manion (Jelly Belly) joined in and began pushing the pace with Stevic.

But Health Net Presented by Maxxis was doing a good job of controlling the front and keeping the gap manageable. "Tim (Johnson), Gord and Kirk (O'Bee) rode tempo most of the day to keep things close," Menzies said.

Things got slightly more tense when Shawn Milne (Navigators), sitting only 0:54 back of Henderson coming into the day, bridged up. But with five laps remaining of the brutal 1.2-mile circuit remaining, Navigators changed their plans and finally launched Van Ulden on the attack. Milne dropped back to help out his teammate, but Menzies was quick to cover the move. "We knew what we had to do," Menzies said. "We had to mark Van Ulden."

Though the threat was over at that point, the attack served to break up the main bunch, leaving about 20 riders at the front, while the gap to Stevic and Manion closed.

On the final lap, it was O'Neill on the front pushing the pace. When they got to the base of the final uphill sprint up 18% Chilkoote Hill, Jonathan Page attacked to take third place behind stage winner Stevic and Manion. Menzies was just behind Page.

The only disappointment belonged to Henderson, who thought that everyone in the front group of 15 was given the same time. "He got chopped a bit in the second to last turn and lost some momentum," Menzies explained. However, the judges determined that gaps had formed. Instead, Henderson finished 15th, 0:12 behind Stevic, and 0:08 behind his teammate Menzies. It was just enough for Menzies to take the top step of the final podium, while Henderson finished second overall. O'Neill maintained his third spot.

Notes

The Nature Valley Grand Prix was Menzies' first career NRC stage race overall title. "It's good to win," he said, "but maybe not that way. At least the jersey stayed with us. It was a good week for the team."

In addition to sweeping the top three spots on the podium, Fraser finished 8th overall, while Tim Johnson finished 12th. The team also won three of the four stages (Friday's evening criterium was canceled due to horrible weather), and earned three additional podiums.

Official Results