Doug Ollerenshaw, Garrett Peltonen, Roman Kilun, Jeff Louder, Kirk O'Bee, soigneur Kim Budde and assistant DS Gustavo Carrillo, are currently racing the 7-day Tour of Taiwan. Doug O is sending dispatches from the other side of the Big Pond:

Stage 7, Taipei Criterium, 60km

Today ended a long, hard-fought week for us here in Taiwan. There were a lot of riders looking for one last chance at glory in today's finale, a 1km criterium course in the center of Taipei. That led to a fast, attacking race from the very first lap. Our goal was simply to keep some control over the race and, if possible, give Garrett Peltonen and Kirk O'Bee a shot at the stage win.

With that in mind, Jeff Louder, Roman Kilun and I took the front early and traded one lap pulls to keep the pace as high as possible. A number of riders attempted to go clear but with occasional help from teams whose lower GC positions were threatened, we were able to prevent anything from getting too far. The final breakaway riders came back with half of a one kilometer lap remaining and Garrett began the leadout with Kirk well positioned just behind him. But behind Kirk sat the impressive winner of the first three stages, Rob McLachlan. McLachlan started his sprint with 250 meters remaining and managed to hold Kirk off by a matter of inches for his fourth stage win of the tour.

The conclusion of the stage finalized for Kirk, or "Mr. O'Bee Kirk" as they call him here, the first ever UCI stage race win of his career. In addition to the individual GC, Team Health Net Presented by Maxxis also came away with the team general classification. All in all, it was a very good week for us. I think we all look forward to taking the momentum we've built here back to the U.S. and continuing with the success that our teammates back home have already had. The season is shaping up very well so far.

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