Mankato, MN - Rory Sutherland made it four consecutive stage wins for the Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis at the Nature Valley Grand Prix.

Sutherland won a sprint out of a late break in the Mankato Road Race initiated by teammate Nathan O'Neill on the second of four laps of the finishing circuit, which included the steep, 0.5 km climb up Main Street Hill.

O'Neill attacked hard the second time up Main Street, with Cesar Grajales (Jittery Joe'S), Anthony Colby (Colavita-Sutter Home) and Darren Lill (Navigators) following his move.

Sutherland bridged up to the lead group of four the next time up the hill. "With two guys up there, the responsibility was on us to do most of the work," Sutherland said.

But when Lill's teammate Phil Zajicek bridged on the final pass up the hill, the dynamic changed a bit. "The Navs started to work a bit more at the end. But Nathan knows how to race in situations like this. He was really strong and did good turns coming into the last corner to set me up."

After his lead-out, O'Neill finished sixth on the stage. The main bunch was lead in by race leader Ivan Stevic eight seconds later. Frank Pipp and Jeff Louder of Health Net Presented by Maxxis were right on his wheel across the line.

Testing Toyota's horsepower

Coming into Stage 5, Health Net Presented by Maxxis had seven riders in the top 15 on GC, with all of them inside a minute behind Stevic. "It was a good situation. It gave us a lot to play with," Sutherland said. The beginning of the stage was "utter chaos," he added. "There were non-stop attacks. We knew what we had to do."

First and foremost was to soften up Toyota-United as much as possible. "Everyone was aggressive," noted Health Net Presented by Maxxis directeur sportif Jeff Corbett. After several small attacks failed, a group of 17 riders that included Louder and Kirk O'Bee, who came into the stage in second overall, just 19 seconds behind Stevic, escaped off the front and began to open a gap. Though their lead never got above 30 seconds, Corbett noted that it took the entirety of Toyota's team chasing full on for 20 km to bring back the group.

Once they re-integrated, Tim Johnson of Health Net Presented by Maxxis was part of a four-man break that extended its lead to 1:45 at one point. But again, Toyota reeled it in.

"Everyone was tired going into the circuits," Corbett added. The first time through the circuit, Toyota lost a couple riders out of the pack.

"Toyota did what they had to do today," Sutherland said. "They rode well in defense of the jersey and were aggressive as well. It could have easily been the other way around. They have serious firepower. They rode their hearts out."

"We definitely wanted to soften them up for Sunday," Corbett added. It remains to be seen how much gas Toyota burned through in Stage 5. The Grand Prix finishes Sunday with the notoriously difficult Stillwater Criterium, a 60-minute leg-breaker with two noted climbs per lap, including the finishing climb up Chilkoot Hill.

Notes

After helping to drive the main break of the day, O'Bee fell off the pace slightly on the finishing circuits, finishing 0:28 behind Sutherland, and 0:20 behind the yellow jersey group. He dropped to 5th overall. However, time bonuses and the gap to Stevic allowed Sutherland to jump up to 3rd overall, 0:27 behind Stevic. O'Neill continues to occupy the second spot on GC, gaining eight seconds on Stevic, and now sits 0:23 in arrears.