Portland, OR - The steak continues. Ever since title sponsor Health Net began sponsoring the Portland Twilight Criterium, the Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis has won the event each year.

On Friday evening, downtown in front of a crowd of nearly 20,000 that including a huge contingent from the home office of Health Net of Oregon, the team took first, second and fourth places against a solid field of local and regional pros and elite racers.

The one surprise perhaps was that it wasn't the wearer of the stars and stripes jersey of national criterium champion, Kirk O'Bee, who won it. He came fourth, while young John Murphy took top honor ahead of teammate and local hero Doug Ollerenshaw in second.

"We pretty much took the front from the start," Murphy said. "If one of us wasn't off the front, then one of us was attacking.

That went on for more than half the race. At that point, O'Bee was off the front with Johnny Sundt (Jittery Joe's). But O'Bee flatted and they came back to the pack.

With under 20 laps to go, Murphy countered an attack with one of his own and opened up a gap. Teammates Ollerenshaw, O'Bee and Roman Kilun patrolled the front of the pack behind him. Any time someone tried to bridge they covered the move, leaving the chasing to the other teams.

Meanwhile, Murphy opened a gap that reached 20 seconds, and hovered between 10 and 20 seconds the rest of the way. With a lap to go and Murphy still well ahead and on his way to victory, Ollerenshaw took off on his own in front of the home-town crowd. He also opened a gap on the field and cruised in six seconds ahead to earn the second step on the podium.

O'Bee was on his way to the final step on the podium until he was hooked in the sprint. Instead, Chad Hartley (BMC) took third ahead of O'Bee. Kilun kept working to earn 10th place.

"It was a great race all around," Murphy said. "The crowd was great. We won the race and put all four guys in the top 10. We pretty much destroyed it."

Health Net Portland Criterium Results
1. John Murphy (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis
2. Doug Ollerenshaw (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis
3. Chad Hartley (USA) BMC
4. Kirk O'Bee (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis
...
10. Roman Kilun (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis

Weekend Notes

Jeff Louder of Health Net Presented by Maxxis continued his friendly rivalry in the local Utah racing scene with Burke Swindlehurst (Toyota-United)on Saturday at the Sanpete Classic in central Utah. This time it was Swindlehurst getting the better of Louder, but he may have been a bit distracted. Saturday was his wife Soorya's due date for their first child. She didn't have it, he said, "but I had the cell phone in my pocket and I kept checking it to make sure there was cell service and she hadn't called."

The way the course was set up, essentially criss-crossing its way around the county, he could've been back at his car quickly and on his way back to Salt Lake City. "My dad would've had to find a ride back home, though," he noted, only half-jokingly. Louder's father competes in many of the Utah races in the Masters 55+ category, and also wins his fair share of them. He finished 9th at Sanpete.