Nature Valley Grand Prix
Red Wing, MN

June 11, 2005

---

Back to Main Page
STAGE 4: Red Wing Road Race

Fraser takes stage, Milne keeps jersey in wind-swept race

Maybe a day later helps puts things in perspective. Or maybe it was just the stage win talking.

A day after losing the leader’s jersey in a wreck in the last three laps of the Minneapolis Downtown Classic, Health Net/Maxxis’ John Lieswyn was far less critical of race leader Shawn Milne of Navigator Insurance after the fourth stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix. In fact, he was downright complimentary.

“I’ve got to hand it to Shawn,” he said, describing how Milne organized a chase in the last four laps of the circuit at the Red Wing Road Race to catch Brian Jensen of HRRC/Saddlewood Bikesource Specialized and Colavita Olive Oil-Sutter Home’s Jonathan Page to limit any time loss to the riders who were 1:41 and 1:49 down on the overall standings.

“He and his team defended pretty well,” he continued. “They had heart and rode well.”
Milne and Lieswyn finished 1 minute, 31 seconds down to stage winner Gord Fraser, Lieswyn’s teammate, but more importantly they lost no time to Page or Jensen, the highest placed riders who made the final selection in a race that saw more than half the field fall in attrition.

And for Fraser and Lieswyn, the stage win – the second of the stage and sixth going back three weeks –healed some wounds left from the wreck of Friday night’s crit.

“This goes a little way to making us feel better,” Fraser said after beating Advantage Benefit/Endeavor Cycling Team’s Karl Menzies and Jelly Belly’s Danny Pate to the line.

What made Fraser happy, though, left Menzies and Pate complaining about the Canadian national champion’s tactics.

“Gord sat on for 50K,” Menzies said. “Then he attacks in the last kilometer. It’s a little disappointing.”

“It’s kind of lame,” Pate said after pulling the two other riders around the 4-mile circuit much of the last two laps. “It’s how it goes.”

Pate, Menzies, and Fraser led the field into the finishing circuit of six laps after 78 miles on the road. However, to say the field followed was a bit of a misnomer, as high winds that stayed after thunderstorms that had rolled through before the start whittled the field down to a select group of only about 35 riders from the 112 who started. The rest of the field was stopped at the entrance to the circuit and given prorated times.

It was a day that Navigator’s director Ray Cipollini said was pretty straight-forward.
“It all comes down to the strongest guys,” he said.

Women's Race

Gina Grain is absolutely, swear-on-a-stack-of-bibles-on-her-mother's-grave certain. She got hit by lightning.

"Ok, you can never be sure," the Victory Brewing rider said laughing, "but this, big, huge thing of lightning came down and my fingers on my right hand were on the shifters-the metal part-and then I felt this buzzing all the way up to my elbow."

The lightning storm was just one delay in the fourth stage of Great River Energy's Nature Valley Grand Prix. Race officials halted the race about 60 miles in and told the riders to take shelter. Most went to a nearby farmer's barn.

"It was a first-time experience for me," Grain said, "I never could have imagined having a coffee break in a barn during a race. It was the safest thing to do-a good call on the officials."

After about 20 minutes and numerous team manager protests, racing outside resumed outside of Red Wing, Minnesota. The 94-mile course was full of rolling hills and savage attacks as teams tried to take the general classification jersey from Webcor Builder's Christine Thorburn. After the stage in Minneapolis, Thorburn's lead was down to 36 seconds over Quark's Laura Van Gilder and 43 and 44 seconds, respectively, over T-Mobile's Kori Seehafer and Kim Baldwin. The first delay came as a result of a wedding at a church across the street from the start/finish, but racing started as soon as mile 21. Quark's Tina Pic and Monex's Lynn Gaggioli went 1-2 in the first couple of sprints. Grain took a flyer off the front.

Webcor set tempo and covered all the attacks. "It was a pretty aggressive race," Thorburn said, "my team did a good job. Errine (Willock) was a superstar."

"Grace (Fleury) from Quark was off," Willock said. "She was motoring. We had to catch her, and then Christine was off with her."

"Webcor was chasing everybody from one side of the road because of the wind," Pic said, "So you ended up being in the gutter all the time."

The group hit a gravel road and that stretched out the entire peloton. Teams tried to take the front ahead of skittish riders, but the rain delay reunited the group. After the delay, Quark's Grace Fleury and Webcor's Cat Malone got 53 seconds on the group, but they got reeled in as the group entered the Red Wing finishing circuit.

"We were trying to save ourselves for the finishing circuit," said T-Mobile's Seehafer. "We were in the threat of losing podium places because Quark had time bonuses. I instigated a break on lap two, bringing four riders with me. Then me and Erinne Willock were working."

"Laura (Van Gilder) and I were so close in the standings," said Quark's Pic, "we wanted to get one of us the win. It was nice to get on when T-Mobile took the front."

Seehafer drove the breakaway group for three laps trying to pop the sprinters. She ended up towing Pic, Quark teammate Annette Beutler, Gaggioli, and Thorburn, and that's how they finished. Pic won the stage and 25 seconds in time bonuses. Seehafer scored second place and 11 seconds.

Thorburn still holds the leader's jersey by 26 seconds over Pic. Seehafer is in third place just 34 seconds back. Baldwin is 44 second behind. Beutler still holds the best climber's jersey. Pic has a 16-point lead in the Freewheel Bike points competition, and Willock has regained the best young rider's jersey.

"It was a hard, tough race," Victory's Grain said, "it's a lot different with the hills this year. It's good hard training. And this year because of the course changes, it's not so much of a race just for the sprinters."

Racers will have to recuperate quickly. The last stage in the hilly, tourist town of Stillwater, Minnesota, is the last chance to gain any time on Thorburn, but riders will have to fight the fatigue of climbing Stillwater's Chilakoot Hill. The grade is twenty percent, and the winding course makes it easy for the group to lose sight of a breakaway.

Race reports courtesy of James Lockwood