Aggressive Kiwis in NVGP final stage

Jun 21st, 10.   It was young Kiwis Linda Villumsen and Taylor Gunman who left Nature Valley GP with top placings, but it was other Kiwis who rode aggressively to push the action today.

Villumsen in the Best Young Rider jersey earlier in the tour ©Epicimages.us

The final stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix was a tough circuit race which included an 18% climb each lap.

In both the men's and women's racing the Kiwis led the action from the very beginning and one Kiwi, Mike Northey, earned the title of Most Aggressive Rider after his decisive attack.

Women's race

Kiwi aggressor - Cath Cheatley

In the women's 13 lap race Cath Cheatley (Colavita Baci) rode off the front of the peloton to claim the first Queen of the Mountain points up Chilkoot Hill.  

She then broke free with four favourites (placed 2nd-5th on GC) who jostled for QOM and Sprint points as they tried to stay in front of the peloton where current leader Linda Villumsen (HTC Columbia) was.

Cheatley was 3rd at the other two QOM points and she won the final interim sprint before Evelyn Stevens (HTC Columbia) attacked off the front of the break group.

WIth her Kiwi teammate Villumsen stuck in the chase group and unable to defend her yellow jersey, Stevens knew she had to drop 2nd placed Shelley Evans (Peanut Butter) by 24sec to keep the yellow jersey within the team. 

With two laps to go Stevens had her 25sec gap but a determined Evans pulled back 11sec on the final lap to finish the stage in second place and be crowned the NVGP Champion.

Cheatley finished 3rd, 6th on the General Classification.

Top young rider - Linda Villumsen

Villumsen had to give up her yellow jersey, but she swapped it for a white one.  She finished 5th overall and won the Best Young Rider Classification.

"I was really happy about gaining the yellow jersey", said Villumsen. "I had hoped to defend and win this race overall. It was a very interesting criterium and I was just as happy for Evelyn to go for the win.”

Jo Kiesanowski (Team Tibco), the other Kiwi in the race, had her team's climbing specialist Ruth Corset up in the front group, making her role a little easier today.  She finished with a large group 4m25s down. Her Team Tibco won the Team Classification.

Men's race

Most aggressive rider - Mike Northey ©Pat Sharp

In the men's 20 lap race, with eight Kiwis, Jeremy Vennell (Bissell Pro Cycling) began the action.  On the first lap he stole off the front and stayed there to claim the first two interim sprint wins and place 2nd at the first King of the Mountain point.

When he'd had enough, another Kiwi took to the front.  

Rubicon Orbea's Mike Northey stormed ahead to a 25sec gap half way through the race, forcing the top GC riders to work hard to reel him back in before the finish. His move earned him the Most Aggressive Rider award.

Two time defending champion Rory Sutherland (United Healthcare) attacked off the front of the all-together peloton with one lap to go trying to get a 3sec lead to move from second to first on the GC.  Without time bonuses, he knew he needed an outright gap.

He earned the win and with 9sec back to previous leader Scott Zwizanski (Kelly Benefit Strategies), won the title for a third year in a row.

Top finish for young rider - Taylor Gunman

Finishing one place in front of Zwizanski in today's stage was 19 year old Rubicon Orbea Kiwi Taylor Gunman. This was his first major race since arriving in the US less than a month ago.

"It was to be a hard race from what I had heard, so my plan was to keep safe and out of trouble and hopefully have the legs at the end to mix it up. With Mike riding so strong and spending the time off the front it really helped me to sit in and follow until the end," Gunman told RoadCycling.co.nz

Gunman coped incredibly well with the tough race, finishing 11th on the stage, 15th overall, 3rd Best Young Rider and 2nd Amateur rider.  The list of more experienced Kiwi riders he beat is impressive, let alone the number of US riders.

Riding home after Gunman was Logan Hutchings +1m50s, Mike Northey 3m05s, Jeremy Vennell and Peter Latham +4m13, Roman Van Uden +4m59s and Jason Allen +9m45s.  Heath Blackgrove was recorded as DNF.

Gunman is sharing his first season racing in the US through his blog.  Read the 2nd installment: On the road again.

Related articles

• Full Nature Valley Grand Prix results
• Yellow jersey for Villumsen in NVGP