Cycling Pro Road & Mtb

UnitedHealthcare Presented by Maxxis rolls into Nature Valley following winning weekend in Arlington

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Parent Category: Cycling Pro Road & Mtb

Category: News 2010

Published on Wednesday, 16 June 2010 18:09

Written by Luca Salvatelli

The UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis brings tremendous momentum into this week’s Nature Valley Grand Prix, following its sweep of the Air Force Cycling Classic’s Clarendon and Crystal City Cups last weekend in Arlington, VA.

"The way we’re going right now, we can’t wait to race in Minnesota", said Jake Keough, who took the Crystal City win ahead of teammates Karl Menzies and Hilton Clarke Sunday. Clarke also won the Clarendon Cup on Saturday in his first race for his new team.

UnitedHealthcare Presented by Maxxis brings the same squad from Arlington to the NVGP, with the exception of Andrew Pinfold, who instead is racing the Tour de Beauce in his native Canada starting today. His replacement: two-time defending NVGP champion Rory Sutherland.

"I think it goes without saying that we’re highly motivated to defend Rory’s title again", said Team Director Mike Tamayo. Adding to the motivation is that the Team will take on that task in and around the hometown of title sponsor UnitedHealthcare.

"We’re anticipating having quite a good cheering section from UnitedHealthcare this week,” Tamayo said. “So we especially want to put on a good show for them".

The race kicks off Wednesday with a double day in St. Paul, starting at 10 a.m. local time with a 6.1-mile time trial that ends with a climb up Ohio Street. The day concludes with a criterium in downtown St. Paul starting at 7:45 p.m., where the team will play host to UnitedHealthcare dignitaries.

The race continues the next two days with the 65-mile Cannon Falls Road Race and the Uptown Minneapolis Criterium, which drew huge post-work crowds on Friday evening last year.

The weekend brings a new stage to the race, venturing for the first time out of Minnesota to Wisconsin for the Menomonie Road Race. The 95-mile course packs plenty of rolling hills and longer climbs that have the potential to shake up the overall standings.

The race ends with the traditional leg-breaking Stillwater Criterium, with its notorious 20%-grade Chilkoot Hill. Last year, UnitedHealthcare Presented by Maxxis waited until the last time up Chilkoot to launch Sutherland up the climb in a successful bid to overtake Tom Zirbel (Bissell) to win his second consecutive NVGP title. This year, the Team won’t want to wait until the final two miles of the 200-mile stage race to have the title in its grasp.

UnitedHealthcare Presented by Maxxis for the Naute Valley Grand Prix, June 16-20:

Hilton Clarke

Jonny Clarke

Matt Crane

Adrian Hegyvary

Jake Keough

Karl Menzies

Rory Sutherland

Brad White