April 12/10 8:36 am - Dana Point GP: Pinfold Takes Top Honours

Posted by Editoress on 04/12/10
 

Pinfold wins Dana Point Mayor’s Cup omnium despite late-race chaos

Andrew Pinfold of the UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis finished 8th in the Dana Point Grad Prix, which, combined with his 2nd place in the time trial Saturday, earned him enough points to win the Mayor’s Cup omnium.

UnitedHealthcare Presented by Maxxis had aims on the podium in the sprint, but their train literally got derailed by a late-race crash.

“We tried to get some breaks going earlier but the course was too fast to get anything going,” said Team Directeur Sportif Gord Fraser. “We took over the front of the race with eight to go. It may have been a bit early as we were a man short with Tim (Johnson) not starting today, but the guys accomplished it.”

With yesterday’s time trial winner Brad White, Roman Kilun and Morgan Schmitt rotating through, the front of the race was under control. But with three laps to go, some jostling by some other teams’ riders trying to latch onto the UnitedHealthcare Presented by Maxxis train caused a major pile-up that took down Eric Barlevav. This caused the bunch to split and disrupted the efforts of UnitedHealthcare Presented by Maxxis at the front of the race.

“There was a lot of chaos, a lot of uncertainty,” Fraser said.

As the bunch came around with two laps to go, several riders were still in the middle of the road. A frustrated rider from another team who had been involved in the crash threw his sunglasses at the wheel of Pinfold as he rode past, damaging the wheel.

Pinfold, who was leading out teammate Jake Keough, kept going to the line to post the top-10 result, with Keough just ahead of him in 7th. But the incident apparently also caused other damage to the bike, as Pinfold’s chain broke shortly after crossing the line in the sprint.

“The guys rode really well,” Fraser said. “They took control and executed our game plan. I’m really proud of the way they rode. The result was just a bit frustrating.”

Notes

As Fraser noted, the Team was without the services of its road captain, Tim Johnson, who sustained a fracture to his ankle during the time trial Saturday. Johnson was descending off the main climb at over 40 mph into a 9-degree right turn that went from three lanes to less than two at its exit. Johnson clipped a reflective dot at the apex of the turn along the center line of the road and it was enough for him to lose control of the bike and lay it down.

“I was concentrating hard on the exit point of the turn because the road narrowed and I hit the dot as I was leaning into the turn,” he said. “When I went down, I spun more than slide. I have hardly any road rash, but the spinning caused the fracture. But as fast as I was going, I consider myself lucky the injuries weren’t worse.”

Johnson will have his ankle in a cast for seven to 10 days to keep it immobilized. When the cast comes off, he may be able to begin riding again. “The first seven to 10 days is critical in the healing process,” he said. “Right now, I just want to focus on getting the healing started and we’ll re-assess when the cast comes off.”

UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis press release


Dana Point GP Criterium (90 min)

1 Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Fly V Austrailia, 1:29:49
2 Alejandro Borrajo (Arg) Jamis/sutter Home Prese, s.t.
3 Anibal Borrajo (Arg)  Jamis/sutter Home Prese, both s.t.
4 Kenneth Hanson (USA) Team Type 1, 0:01
5 Justin Williams (USA) Trek Livestrong U23
6 Jeremiah Wiscovitch (USA) Williams Cycling P/b Sc Velo
7 Jacob Keough  (USA) UnitedHealthcare-Maxxis, all s.t.
8 Andrew Pinfold (Can) UnitedHealthcare-Maxxis, 0:02
9 James Williamson  (USA) Two Wheeler/specialized
10 Eric Marcotte  (USA) Team Pista Palace, both s.t.


Final GC (omnium)

1 Andrew Pinfold (Can) UnitedHealthcare-Maxxis

Stage 1 report