Altoona, PA - The International Tour de 'Toona returned to Altoona this afternoon, and the yellow jersey returned to Karl Menzies of the Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis. Menzies wore the leader's jersey after the opening prologue, but lost it on time bonuses after Stage 2.

His second place on today's stage, won by Frank Pipp (TargetTraining), and the six-second bonus that came with it, enabled him to take back the lead, with Pipp using the 10-second time bonus for the win to move up to second overall, 0:05 back . Menzies' teammate Greg Henderson moves down to 3rd overall, 0:16 back.

Attack after attack

The 96-mile stage, which included the first serious climbing of the race, left the peloton riddled from attacks. An early break of nine riders that included Jeff Louder of Health Net Presented by Maxxis looked as if it had the potential to be the winning move, with Navigators and Toyota-United also represented. But with Health Net Presented by Maxxis not liking the mix, Louder stopped working, which prompted Chris Baldwin of Toyota-United to also shut it down.

With the break appearing doomed, Glen Chadwick (Navigators) took a flyer out of the break. Dominique Perras (KodakGallery-Sierra Nevada) bridged, and the two rode together over the first climb, working to extend their lead as much as possible by the start of the second climb up Blue Knob.

When the peloton got to the base of the climb, Toyota-United went to the front and hit the gas. The field began to come apart on the ascent. Over the top, Baldwin and Chris Wherry (Toyota-United) joined Chadwick and Valeriy Kobzarenko (Navigators) in a dangerous move, but Health Net Presented by Maxxis chased that down.

Another break of three took off with 20 km to got, but again, Health Net Presented by Maxxis brought it back. Kobzarenko countered that catch and was joined by two other riders, but that was caught with 10 km to go.

The depleted peloton stayed together approaching the finish, however, after going under the 3 km to go banner, riders kept looking for the 1 km to go banner, but it wasn't there. This led to confusion, as Health Net Presented by Maxxis was setting up Henderson for the win, with a leadout provided by Tim Johnson and Menzies.

However, after a hard left turn, the entire peloton was surprised to see the 300 meters to go sign. Pipp dove inside the Navigators train, while Menzies took Henderson with him around to the right. Henderson never had a chance to wind up his sprint, but Menzies was able to get around the Navigators train to secure second, while Ciaran Power (Navigators) got third. Henderson came in fourth.

The International Tour de 'Toona continues Thursday with a short but hilly circuit race in Hollidaysburg.

Official Results