Johnstown, PA - After the second stage of the International Tour de 'Toona ended in a bunch sprint, the Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis was in a perfect position to make a bid for the overall title, despite the leader's jersey moving over to the back of a rival rider.

Mariano Friedick (Toyota-United) won the stage and, with a 10-second time bonus for the win, took over the race lead. His teammate, J.J. Haedo, held on for second ahead of a hard-charging Greg Henderson from Health Net Presented by Maxxis. The two-second time bonus that Henderson earned moved him up to 3rd place overall. Karl Menzies of Health Net Presented by Maxxis, winner of the opening prologue on Monday, moves to second overall, less than two seconds behind Friedick. Jeff Louder of Health Net Presented by Maxxis also retained a top-five spot, and is within six seconds of Friedick on GC.

The mostly flat 22.4-mile circuit, completed just three times, made for a very fast race, and an equally furious finish. Holding the leader's jersey coming in, Health Net Presented by Maxxis controlled the front of the race throughout. The main break of the day got out to a lead of 2:30 at one point, but the team brought it back with 1.5 miles remaining, setting up the chaotic finish.

"It's early in the race, it's a short stage with an easy course profile," said Health Net Presented by Maxxis directeur sportif Jeff Corbett. "There are a lot of guys with fresh legs who want a crack at the sprint, plus the finish was a bit technical."

Henderson and Menzies were well positioned for the sprint until getting swarmed with about 300 meters to go. "At that point is was pretty much every man for himself," Corbett said.

While it's never good to give up the jersey, Corbett said that, "There are plenty of stages left and lots of time to get the jersey back. We have a lot of options as well, with our GC guys Louder, Nathan (O'Neill) and Scott (Moninger) all within striking distance."

The battle for the overall lead heats up Wednesday with a hilly 96-mile stage from Johnstown to Altoona.

Notes

The team entertained associates from the Health Net Federal Services customer service center in downtown Johnstown both before and after the race.

Official Results