Press Release
Menzies, Miller score wins in Alabama
Velonews
May 2, 2009
Moving one step up on the winner’s podium from his place in 2008, Karl Menzies of the OUCH Pro Cycling Team beat out Colavita-Sutter Home speedster Kyle Wamsley to win the 2009 installment of the Sunny King Criterium in Anniston, Alabama Saturday.
“This is a great town (to race in).” Menzies said after his win. “I finished second here last year to Hilton Clarke, and I didn’t want to finish second here again.”
Despite early bouts of heavy showers, the weather was once again ideal for racing by the time the pro squads took to the 1.1 km course.
Menzies was part of what began as a six-rider break that rolled off the front of the field barely a quarter of the way into the 90-minute race.
After that break was reeled in, Menzies again joined a four-man breakaway that left the main field with approximately 30 laps remaining.
“We were all covering early moves and sharing the load,” teammate John Murphy said. “Karl’s just happened to stick.”
Along with Menzies was Wamsley, Kirk O’Bee (Bissell), and O’Bee’s teammate Andy Jacques-Maynes. That foursome was able to maintain a gap that hovered near the 18-second mark for much of the remainder of the event.
With five laps to go O’Bee made an attempt to leave his companions behind, but a lap later he found he had no gas left in the tank and was caught and disposed of by the remaining trio. The intense pace soon also got the better of Jacques-Maynes, which left Menzies and Wamsley to duke it out for the finish.
Menzies very judiciously sat on Wamsley’s wheel throughout the last lap, and waited for the appropriate moment to strike and ensure his victory.
“Kyle led into the home straight, and I just hit him from behind and just held on comfortably for the win.”
Behind Menzies and Wamsley. Murphy managed to secure third place out of the main field and join his OUCH teammate on the podium.
In the pro women’s race it was Brooke Miller (TIBCO) who once again got the drop on her biggest rival of the season, veteran crit specialist Tina Pic (Colavita-Sutter Home). In a drag race to the finish, the current U.S. criterium champion who was able to get half a wheel advantage over the former champion.
The two came to the line after a race that saw two separate breaks emerge throughout the course of the race. Unrepresented on either occasion, Colavita worked extremely hard to reel each getaway attempt in.
“It was a pretty rough race for us.” Pic said afterwards. “We were a little low on numbers, but the team was incredible.”
The TIBCO squad played their hand to perfection, however, ensuring that Miller had a strong leadout in order to contest what was shaping up to be another sprint challenge from Pic.
As Pic and Miller approached the line, the TIBCO rider hit a small bump in the road that jostled her bike and forced the two heavy hitters to re-start their sprint. At the line, it was virtually impossible to determine the winner, but the photo finish revealed that Miller had thrown her bike in time to grab yet another win from Pic.
Laura Van Gilder (Mellow Mushroom) who was riding without any teammates also put in an incredibly strong performance throughout the day, and got third place for her efforts.