Tour de Nez
Reno, NVCandelario takes first in the Mighty Tour Criterium
June 18, 2005
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos © Abbi HoltomWarm skies, sunny weather and crowds of thousands took to the streets for the final race of the Tour de Nez Celebration of cycling in Reno, Nevada. After a fast start around the .08 mile downtown loop, crowd favourite Alex Candelario of Jelly Belly/Pool Gel took the win, coming in seconds ahead of Erik Saunders of McGuire Langdale. Rounding out the podium was Kyle Gritters of Seasilver. The intense race started fast and was strung out from the beginning.
Many attempts were made to get off the front, and Candelario managed to break ahead of the pack. The attacking was vicious and came from all sides - these riders were really out to win. Candelario came off the front about a third of the way into the race and immediately had a twelve-second gap established. Coming on the backside was Sanders following closely behind. The field continued to chase hard and was strung out and splinted the whole race. The lead slowly grew to about twenty seconds and many solo riders made various attacks that resulted in a group of four riders, including Glen Mitchell of Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada, Pete Lopinto of Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada Richard England of Advantage Benefits Endeavour and Kyle Gritters of Seasilver. The field attempted to catch the chaser, but to no avail.
It was between Sanders and Candelario. The chasers made up time on the two leaders but never caught up. Despite strong efforts from Mitchell and Lopinto they couldn't overcome Gritter's successful attempt to take third coming in behind both Candelario and Saunders. First place in the Tour de Nez Omnium was awarded to Scott Moninger of HealthNet/Maxxis, with a total of 252 points. Moninger took first in both the Downtown Truckee Criterium and the 108-mile Truckee/Tahoe Road Race. In second place with 214 points was Andy Bajadali of Vitamin Cottage. Karl Menzies of Advantage Benefits Endeavour rounded out the group with 192 points and a third place overall finish. The 13th Annual Tour de Nez drew crowds of thousand to downtown Reno to celebrate cycling and watch some of the nation's top athletes compete.
Race report courtesy of Abbi Holtom
