June 13, 2005 (Stillwater, Minn.) – A spent Shawn Milne rolled through the finish line of the last stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix, gasping for air after climbing the 20-percent grade Chilkoot Hill for the last time.

“Today was a day you just talk with your legs, and obviously John’s spoke louder,” the Navigator Insurance rider said.

For all the talk that transpired over the last two days between Milne and Health Net/Maxxis’ John Lieswyn over the way the leader’s jersey changed hands between the two of them, on Sunday everything was left on the road. Midway through the Stillwater Criterium, Lieswyn jumped going uphill on the backside of the 1.5-mile course and instead of taking Milne with him, he took the leader’s jersey on the final day of the 5-day stage race.

“I was totally willing to go up the road with Shawn,” Lieswyn said about the surge he put in to reel in an attack put in by Bianchi/Grand Performance’s Ben Raby and Colavita Olive Oil-Sutter Home’s Aaron Olson. “I didn’t want to see him lose it all. “But it is like Shawn said the other night in Minneapolis: I just followed the wheel in front of me,” he said.

In the end, Lieswyn took more than 2 minutes out of Milne, and instead of sitting on the podium, Milne fell down to seventh, leaving second and third overall to Olson and HRRC/Saddlewood Bikesource Specialized’s Brian Jensen.

While Lieswyn was the toast of the event, the day’s spoils went to Advantage Benefits/Endeavor Cycling Team’s Richard England, who overcame a 20-second deficit to the lead pack in the last four laps to take the win ahead of Raby and Colavita’s Jonathan Page.

“That was very impressive,” Raby said of England’s effort. “I was confident if it came down to a sprint, I could take it,” he said. “This hill suits someone like me.”

In the last lap, the surge actually came from Jelly Belly-Pool Gel’s Danny Pate as they crested the summit of the course with a 6-second lead over the field that had been whittled down to eight riders. Lieswyn bridged, and the two pushed it down the hill to the last climb, but not hard enough to pull away from the break.

“I would have liked to have led him out to the finish. I would have liked to have seen him win,” Lieswyn said. “I didn’t realize it was the last lap, or I would have put myself in the red that final lap.”

Instead, it was England’s teammate, Garrett Peltonen, who dug deep.”I jumped, got him halfway up the hill, and he just did the rest,” Peltonen said.

“We finally got one,” said England’s teammate, Pipp, who, himself, came up short in third place in the Friday night criterium.

The win also vaulted the team ahead of Health Net for the team title in the grand prix, an honor England said the team has earned.”Health Net has given us some more respect over the last couple of weeks,” England said when asked if the win helps the team’s standing in the peloton.

As for the rookie rider for Navigators, Milne said while the day did not go the way he would have liked, little in the stage race happened according to plan. “I still have to put it somewhat in perspective. If that wreck in Minneapolis wouldn’t have happened, I probably wouldn’t be in the jersey,” said Milne, who suffered a dropped chain and broken derailleur going up hill, and then a flat tire on a teammate’s bike finishing the lap. “The strongest rider won.”

And for Lieswyn, who won the leader’s jersey for the second time in four years at Nature Valley, the win just added another dimension to an already incredible year for Health Net.

“I’m just enjoying bike racing right now,” he said.

Jersey winners
Overall: John Lieswyn, Health Net/Maxxis
Mountain’s jersey: Danny Pate, Jelly Belly-Pool Gel
Best sprinter’s: Emile Abraham, Monex
Best amateur: Brian Jensen, HRRC/Saddlewood Bikesource Specialized
Top espoire: Tyler Farrar, Health Net/Maxxis


Men Stage 5 Results

1 Richard England (Advantage Benefits/Endeavour Cycling Team) 57.15
2 Ben Raby (Bianchi/Grand Performance)
3 Jonathon Page (Colavita Olive Oil – Sutter) 0.01
4 Brian Jensen (HRRC / Saddlewood Bikesource Specialized) 0.04
5 Danny Pate (Jelly Belly-Pool Gel)
6 Garrett Peltonen (Advantage Benefits/Endeavour Cycling Team)
7 John Lieswyn (Health Net presented by Maxxis)
8 Aaron Olson (Colavita Olive Oil – Sutter) 0.05
9 David Guttenplan (AG Edwards/Alan-Bomba) 0.26
10 Brent Bookwalter (Advantage Benefits/Endeavour Cycling Team) 0.28

Men’s Final GC

1 John Lieswyn (Health Net presented by Maxxis) 9.34.30
2 Aaron Olson (Colavita Olive Oil – Sutter) 0.56
3 Brian Jensen (HRRC / Saddlewood Bikesource Specialized) 1.18
4 Jonathon Page (Colavita Olive Oil – Sutter) 1.20
5 Danny Pate (Jelly Belly-Pool Gel)
6 Shawn Milne (Navigators Insurance Cycling Team) 1.41
7 Karl Menzies (Advantage Benefits/Endeavour Cycling Team) 2.02
8 Tyler Farrar (Health Net presented by Maxxis) 3.40
9 Kevin Miller (Jet Fuel Coffee-Sympatico/MSN.ca) 4.03
10 Brent Bookwalter (Advantage Benefits/Endeavour Cycling Team) 4.12
11 Bernard Van Ulden (Webcor Builders Cycling Team) 4.25
12 Brice Jones (Jelly Belly-Pool Gel) 4.29
13 Steve Tilford (HRRC / Saddlewood Bikesource Specialized) 4.32
14 Ryan Nenninger (ABD Cycling Team) 6.09
15 Garrett Peltonen (Advantage Benefits/Endeavour Cycling Team) 6.32
16 Andrew Crater (Team Wheel & Sprocket) 6.39
17 Solomon Woras (Broadmark Capital) 6.52
18 Dustin Macburnie (Broadmark Capital) 7.06
19 Cameron Hughes (Subway Pro Cycling Team) 7.46
20 Frank Pipp (Advantage Benefits/Endeavour Cycling Team) 8.02
21 Emile Abraham (Monex) 8.41
22 Richard England (Advantage Benefits/Endeavour Cycling Team) 12.00
23 Jake Rytlewski (Advantage Benefits/Endeavour Cycling Team) 16.00
24 Carlos Vargas (Monex) 20.27
25 Ben Raby (Bianchi/Grand Performance) 20.53
26 Ian Stanford (Nature Valley/Penn Cycle) 25.05
27 Reid Mumford (ABD Cycling Team) 29.12
28 Aric Hareland (Salsa Cycles/SuperTeamRacing) 30.25
29 Doug Swanson (Nature Valley/Penn Cycle) 34.12
30 Ciaran Power (Navigators Insurance Cycling Team) 35.07
31 Adam Froemming (Flanders/MBRC) 40.41
32 Erik Saunders (Mcguire/Langdale Pro Cycling) 40.53
33 Michael Olheiser (Memphis Motorwerks/ACCM) 41.15
34 Jeff Hall (Salsa Cycles/SuperTeamRacing) 42.02
35 Bryce Mead (ABD Cycling Team) 42.25
36 David Guttenplan (AG Edwards/Alan-Bomba) 43.29
37 Marc Collard (Webcor Builders Cycling Team) 46.57
38 Lucas Euser (Webcor Builders Cycling Team) 47.03
39 James Schneider (AG Edwards/Alan-Bomba) 50.10
40 Matty Rice (Jelly Belly-Pool Gel) 52.33
41 Sterling Magnell (Monex) 53.11
42 Pat Dunnaway (Mcguire/Langdale Pro Cycling) 53.30
43 Jeremy Powers (Jelly Belly-Pool Gel) 53.53
44 David Pierce (Club One/PMax Racing) 54.15
45 Mark Pozniak (Jet Fuel Coffee-Sympatico/MSN.ca) 56.43
46 Aaron Pool (Midwest Wheelmaster) 57.09
47 Devon Vigus (Mcguire/Langdale Pro Cycling) 57.35
48 Peter Knoop (Memphis Motorwerks/ACCM) 59.14
49 Adrian Hegyvary (Recycled Cycles) 59.48
50 Terry Beenken (All9Yards.com/Ralph Henderson Real Estate) 59.54
51 Roman Kilun (Mcguire/Langdale Pro Cycling) 1.02.25
52 Owen Gue (Broadmark Capital) 1.02.46
53 Gregor Mraz (Club One/PMax Racing) 1.03.18
54 Kirk O’bee (Navigators Insurance Cycling Team) 1.06.12
55 Matt Kelly (Club One/PMax Racing) 1.06.29
56 Sebatian Alexandre (Colavita Olive Oil – Sutter) 1.09.46
57 Ted Huang (Webcor Builders Cycling Team) 1.14.40
58 John Olney (Mercy-Specialized) 1.15.18
59 Dario Falquier (Webcor Builders Cycling Team) 1.16.17
60 Kevin Vanes (Subway Pro Cycling Team) 1.17.12
61 Paul Deninger (Mercy-Specialized) 1.19.02
62 Adam Curry (Broadmark Capital) 1.19.39
63 Benjamin Stafford (Webcor Builders Cycling Team) 1.21.55
64 Brian Bibens (AG Edwards/Alan-Bomba) 1.22.12
65 Jordan Roessingh (IS Corp Cycling Team) 1.22.54
66 Peter Hanna (Bianchi/Grand Performance) 1.26.31
67 Andrew Minier (Nature Valley/Penn Cycle) 1.33.52
68 Adam Biwan (IS Corp Cycling Team) 1.37.15
69 Chris Doig (Flanders/MBRC) 1.38.01
70 Bret Glembocki (IS Corp Cycling Team) 1.47.09