April 17, 2010 (Monterey, CA) – By the time the race began conditions dictated that it was going to be painful – the wind was kicking up and the sun was heating the waffling Laguna Seca track like an omelette that needed flipping. With strong head winds dipping vertically and fast where the asphalt meets the world-famous corkscrew, riders were buffeted from all sides.

It came down to the wire as Alison Powers (Team Vera Bradley Foundation) bested Katherine Carroll (Peanut Butter and Co.) at the line while third place went to Webcor’s Kathy Mattis coming in two seconds later. Almost two minutes later the chasing field came barreling down the straightway with the next 20+ riders placing within a second of each other.

Canadian Alison Testroete (Team Vera Bradley Foundation), who came in 6th on Thursday at the crit, duplicated her performance in the Circuit Race on Saturday. Testroete did not compete in yesterday’s road race. “It was primarily for our sponsors so I’m happy of course that our team won with Alison (Powers). Tomorrow I’m going to race a crit in Santa Cruz (40km north of Laguna Seca) next to the boardwalk and probably just bring my mechanic, it’s a good way to shake my legs up. I’m feeling really good lately.” Fellow Canucks Stephanie Roorday (Southern California Velo) and Cara Gillis (Southern California Velo) were 21st and 23rd respectively.

Men’s Circuit Race
Bissell’s Paul Mach continued to dominate the men’s pro races by pulling off another win as he decided to attack on the very last lap. After racing for almost two hours on a fine sunny day, he shook off the head wind and dug deeper into his pain reserve pulling off a convincing victory by almost a minute over Jared Barrilleaux of California Giant Cycling. Evan Huffman (USA) Yahoo! Cycling Team took third.

For most of the race the lead group of three was precarious as he and his teammates didn’t use the same strategy that brought them up to sweep the podium on Friday. But as fate was on their side, they mopped up with the help of teammates Ben Jacques Maynes and Kyle Wamsley (4th and 5th, respectively) to round out the top five spots.

Perhaps equally exciting was the sprint for 9th place as the field split and did not have to race the last lap, giving the Bissell team another chance to show their sprinters off as Cody O’Reilley and Dan Holloway photo-finished from a  massive wind up while teammate Canadian Rob Britton, who came close to victory on Friday, finished 15th.

Britton remarked, “It was really aggressive from the start, but we got ahead of ourselves and weren’t as aggressive as we’ve been – it could have bit us in the ass if there was a mechanical or a flat. But it’s good for that to happen to keep us sharp. Besides, our guys are riding well so even when we don’t follow the plan it can work out – though we could have done much better today.”

Comparing his race to Friday, Britton commented, “I got food poisoning at St. Ignes, and needed to get back on track and it’s been feeling strong. I’m getting my legs back lately, and tomorrow we’ll race at the Santa Cruz crit with some teammates as a few of the guys are from there.” As far as his 2010 calendar outlook, “My main goal now is to do well at the Gila and hopefully get on Canada’s team for the 2010 Road World Championships.”

Results

Women

1. Alison Powers (USA) Team Vera Bradley Foundation 1:58:34
2. Katharine Carroll (USA) Peanut Butter & Co Twenty12
3. Katheryn Mattis (USA) Webcor Builders 0:02
4. Kelly Benjamin (USA) Colavita/Baci p/b Cooking Light 2:19
5. Coryn Rivera (USA) Peanut Butter & Co Twenty12 2:20
6. Alison Testroete (Can) Team Vera Bradley Foundation
7. Meredith Miller (USA) TIBCO
8. Modesta Vzesniauskaite (Ltu) Colavita/Baci p/b Cooking Light
9. Andrea Graus (Aut) Webcor Builders
10. Dotsie Bausch (USA) Southern California Velo 2:21
11. Ali Starnes (USA) Team TIBCO
12. Carmen Small (USA) Colavita/Baci p/b Cooking Light
13. Lauren Hall (USA) Team Vera Bradley Foundation
14. Melissa Sanborn (USA) 2:23
15. Liza Rachetto (USA) Treads.com/DFT
16. Lauren Hecht (USA) Webcor/Alto Velo
17. Rushlee Buchanan (NZl) Colavita/Baci p/b Cooking Light
18. Amanda Miller (USA) Team TIBCO 2:25
19. Jane Despas (USA) Yahoo! Cycling Team
20. Cody Graf (USA) Wells Fargo Racing Team
21. Stephanie Roorda (Can) Southern California Velo
22. Erika Graves (USA) VANDERKITTEN RACING
23. Cara Gillis (USA) Specialized D4W/Bicycle Haus
24. Kristen Lasasso (USA) Team TIBCO
25. Heather Pryor (USA) TouchStone Climbing
26. Kristina Seley (USA) Touchstone Climbing
27. Molly Van Houweling (USA) Metromint Cycling
28. Angela Mcclure (Aus) Webcor/Alto Velo
29. Megan Hottman (USA) Treads.com/DFT


Men

1. Paul Mach (USA) Bissell 1:55:05
2. Jared Barrilleaux (USA) California Giant Cycling 0:54
3. Evan Huffman (USA) Yahoo! Cycling Team 1:07
4. Ben Jacques Maynes (USA) Bissell 2:13
5. Kyle Wamsley (USA) Bissell 2:17
6. Jonathan Mccarty (USA) Yahoo! Cycling Team 2:19
7. Steve Reaney (USA) California Giant Berry Farms 2:32
8. Jeremy Vennell (NZl) Bissell
9. Cody O’Reilly (USA) Bissell
10. Daniel Holloway (USA) Bissell
11. Adam Switters (USA) Yahoo! Cycling Team
12. Jesse Moore (USA) California Giant Berry Farms
13. Andy Jacques-Maynes (USA) Bissell
14. Tyler Dibble (USA) Yahoo! Cycling Team
15. Rob Britton (Can) Bissell
16. Max Jenkins (USA) United Healthcare
17. Andrew Goessling (USA) ALA Cycling p/b Lombardi Sport
18. Bradley Gehrig (USA) Barbacoa Mi-Duole P/B Millcree
19. Roman Kilun (USA) Bissell
20. Kris Lunning (USA) above category cycling
21. Jeremy Ferguson (USA) Hybrid EP Cycling
22. Nathan Freed (USA) TEAM CLIF BAR Cycling
23. Peter Graf (USA) American Lung Association
24. Samuel Pickman (USA) California Giant Berry Farms
25. Matthew Landen (USA) Adageo Professional Cycling
26. Eric Bennett (USA) Adageo Energy Pro Cycling
27. Philip Mooney (USA) Yahoo! Cycling Team