Reno, NV - Karl Menzies of the Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis earned enough points in the three-day, four stage omnium (points format) Tour de Nez to finish second overall, despite crashing out in the final turn of the the final stage. He was leading the race coming into the last day.

With Curtis Gunn (Successful Living) and Christian Valenzuela (Monex) up the road and ready to battle things out for the stage win, Menzies had only to finish in the top five in the sprint for third place and he would earn enough points to secure the overall title ahead of Tony Cruz (Toyota-United). After a strong lead-out from teammates Kirk O'Bee and Kyle Gritters, he came screaming into the final downhill turn at about 40 mph with a solid gap on Alex Candelario (Jelly Belly). Unfortunately, Menzies washed out coming through the turn and ended up in the barriers, with Candelario going down as well. Candelario had been sitting third overall coming into the final stage.

"It's definitely frustrating", Menzies said. "I was really disappointed for the guys because they worked so hard for me. But I know it happens." After winning the overall at the Nature Valley Grand Prix a week earlier, Menzies said, "I thought I was going to get my second NRC stage race title in two weeks. But everyone's riding well right now. We'll just come back out and go for the next one."

That next team race for Menzies will be the International Tour de 'Toona, July 13-16. He'll take a few days off this week and then get back to racing prior to 'Toona at some of the races during International Superweek in the Milwaukee/Chicago metropolitan region.

Health Net Presented by Maxxis will also be sending a team to the Cascade Classic in Oregon, July 12-16. Team directeur sportif Jeff Corbett noted that the break between Nez and the two mid-July stage races will give the team a chance to rest a bit from the hard spring and early summer campaigns, and hone form in the run-up to the USPRO Championships Labor Day weekend. "The guys have been racing almost non-stop since early March," Corbett said. "The break in the schedule definitely comes at a good time."