Bend, OR - After winning Stage 5 of the Cascade Classic, Jeff Louder of the Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis came into the final stage of the race Sunday sitting 4th overall, 1:16 down on Phil Zajicek (Navigators).

"We weren't going to go down without a fight," Louder said.

They didn't. "The team rode aggressively all day," said Health Net Presented by Maxxis directeur sportif Mike Tamayo.

The race didn't really heat up until the first bonus sprint out on the road, when Toyota-United tried to set up 2nd overall Chris Baldwin for the sprint to take back time on Zajicek. However, when Zajicek won the sprint, with Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health, 3rd overall) and Louder taking the bonus time, T-U shut down their control of the front of the race, and the attacking began. Ryder Hesjedal and Roman Kilun of Health Net Presented by Maxxis were early animators, taking off with several other riders and staying off the front for the next 30-35 miles.

"That took a bit of the pressure off me," Louder said.

But with Navigators keeping the break within a minute the whole time, the catch was inevitable. And on the final trip around the 17-mile circuit, they reeled in the break. In the closing kilometers, Louder attacked to try and get time on the leaders. "I got a good gap, then Jacques-Maynes bridged up to me and got my wheel," Louder said. "I accelerated again and got a couple hundred meters. Next thing I know, Kirk was with me."

This presented a quandary. "I did the math," Louder said. "We could either work together for a bit and probably have gotten caught, or I could drop back and let Kirk go and try for the stage win."

And so Louder sat up and drifted back to the peloton while O'Bee soldiered on alone. As the finish line drew closer, Scott Moninger (BMC) tried to bridge, but only closed down half the gap and returned to the pack. On the last little climb it was Jacques-Maynes again doing the work to close to O'Bee's wheel.

This finally lit a fire under Baldwin, who chased hard to preserve his 2nd overall placing, pulling the rest of the race leaders with him. But O'Bee held on and dug deep enough to get around Jacques-Maynes and hold off a charging Ricardo Escuela (Successful Living) to take the win. Louder led in the next group three seconds later to take 5th on the stage and hold his 4th overall.

Finding the right wheel

Louder took out the win in Stage 5 by "doing as little as possible" until the final 3km. "They guys took really good care of me (Saturday)," Louder said. "Roman was attacking and Ryder was riding tempo. Doug (Ollerenshaw), Kirk and Frank (Pipp) did a lot of work as well."

Kilun went off the front on the descent of the first climb and stayed away for the next 15 km. Pipp attacked with a Priority Health rider and bridged to Kilun, holding a one-minute advantage. "They held on as long as they could," Tamayo said.

With 10 km to go, the gap was at :40 and coming down. In the final five kilometers they were absorbed.

That left a select group of about 15 riders heading up the slopes of Mt. Bachelor to the finish at Sunrise Lodge. With 1.5 km to go, Burke Swindlehurst (Toyota-United) had a dig. When he was brought back, Moninger had a go. Louder glued himself to the veteran's wheel. In the closing meters, Louder jumped around Moninger and sprinted for the stage win, followed closely by Zajicek and Baldwin. "I was just fortunate enough to follow the right wheel," Louder said.

Solid Week

Despite coming to Cascade with only a six-man squad, Health Nett Presented by Maxxis was aggressive throughout the week, challenging every day for a stage win.

Louder opened the six-stage race with a 5th place behind stage winner Escuela. The next day he went one better, finishing 4th as Jacques-Maynes took out the uphill sprint. The Stage 3 individual time trial saw both Louder and Hesjedal in the top 10.

O'Bee nearly pulled off a win in the Stage 4 criterium Friday evening, benefiting from great work by teammate Ollerenshaw, who took off with Ryan Trebon (Kodakgallery-Sierra Nevada) on lap one and proceeded to stay off the front for the next 80 minutes of the 90-minute race.

The duo achieved a maximum lead of :35, with Navigators riding tempo for Zajicek, who had taken over the race lead early that day after riding one of the best time trials of his career.

The peloton finally overtook Ollerenshaw and Trebon with 10 laps to go. From there, Toyota-United took over the front of the race, setting up the train for Ivan Dominguez. "Kirk and Frank got on the back of their train," Tomayo noted. Coming out of the final turn with 350 meters to go, O'Bee got the jump on the T-U train with a surprise attack. But Dominguez put in a late charge and narrowly beat O'Bee on the line in a photo finish, much to the surprise of both riders. Pipp finished the stage in 5th.

Notes

Despite spending a lot of his time protecting Louder, Hesjedal still put in a strong ride to finish 8th overall.

Oregon native Ollerenshaw won the competition for the top Oregon rider in the race. He finished 22nd overall. Kilun also finished with a solid 20th overall despite spending much of his time in breaks.