Stage Four of the Tour de Georgia was a hilly 18.9 mile individual Time Trial.  For most of the Priority Health Team, the day’s task was simply to try and use the Time Trial as a day of recovery and to recharge. 

The course was a challenge, but everyone on the team managed to survive the day and our own Ben Jacques-Maynes finished a respectable twentieth place among many of the top riders in the world!

Hopefully everyone will be fresh and ready to go for tomorrow’s brutal 107 mile stage which finishes atop the infamous Brasstown Bald. 

On a side note, the team would like to express their many thanks to the Hilger family for hosting lunch after the Time Trial!

Mark Olson
Team Manager
Priority Health Cycling Team Presented by Bissell

Stage 2 was 140 miles of intense racing.  The team had an excellent ride, perhaps the best team race yet.

Three riders dominated the lead after an easy rolling start.  One of them was our own Garrett Peltonen who kept on the gas and stayed in front with the other two riders for 100 miles! 

From the beginning before Garrett’s break away, the team was in every move.  They covered each other time after time.  All we heard on the race radio was Priority Health this and Priority Health that…. Excellent job boys!!!

The price of success is often paid in skin.  Scott Zwizanski hit the deck hard when a group of guys went down in front of him and he T-boned them, landing on one of their chain rings, OUCH!  We looked up to see Zwizanski hanging onto the medical car, receiving treatment at 30 mph.

We ride in the team car and stay close to our teammate offering encouragement. Zwizanski responds and says, “Since I’m here give me bottles for the guys!”   He grabs eight bottles of water, and packs 16 pounds of H2O to the rest of the team.

Omer Kem is the team’s gutsy work horse and can climb like a goat. As the day grew hotter, Omer must have carried 40-50 bottles of water to the guys. Remember, this is a race of horse power with all Pro Tour teams so even when it’s “easy” the field is rolling at 25-28 miles per hour.  Omer’s great effort was underscored when he blocked wind all day when he wasn’t carrying water!

After racing for 128 miles, the race entered the finishing circuits which contained a WALL of a climb.  This climb was short and steep!  On the climb there was an opportunity to win King of the Mountain, the winner of that KOM would put on the special jersey for the day.  Healthnet put their whole team on the front and drove the pace hard.  We rode into town, setting it up for one of the guys to get a shot at the KOM.  Ben Jacques-Maynes keyed off the Healthnet train to give it a go.  BOY DID HE GO!  Ben Jacques-Maynes hit them so hard he blew passed Healthnet and crossed over the KOM line with a three bike length to spare!  He has SERIOUS POWER!  Jacques-Maynes was presented with the KOM jersey and will ride with it on his shoulders.  ANOTHER PODIUM FOR THE TEAM!

To sum it up, it was a great day for the team and fantastic effort by all the guys. Today, we taste the test of mountains and while we can’t wait, we know it will be another long one!

A message from Mark Olson, manager of the Priority Health Cycling Team presented by Bissell

The Priority Health Cycling Team Really Performs in the Redlands

The Team really performed well in the Redlands Bicycle Race in California.  Here is a brief recap of the weekend’s events:

Prologue

The course was a 5 KM, basically uphill time trial.  It was a gradual climb for the first 3 KM then BAM super steep to the finish.  All the major players were there, everyone brought their A squads, so the very best pure climbers in the US would be setting some serious times.

Cesar Grajales of the Jittery Joe’s set the fastest time of 9:37 that stood all day until our own Ben Jacques-Maynes ripped up the climb in 9:33.  We kept our fingers crossed as the best of the climbers were yet to go…  One by one Ben time stood up.  Then one of the best to come out of Canada, Sven Tuft set the time of the day at 9:29.

So we settled for 2nd on the day, which is a fantastic result.  In the first 3 NRC time trials of the season, Ben has won two and took 2nd in the third.  That is a fantastic result!

Stage 1 – Oak Glen Road Race

Stage 1 of the race includes 156 KM, 3 CAT2 climbs and a finish up the notorious CAT 1 Oak Glen climb.  It was a very tough day and the boys rode GREAT!  They supported Ben all day and the race came down to the final climb with Ben in great position.  From there the peloton just exploded into small groups.  Ben had a great ride but couldn’t quite hold onto the pure climber specialists that scampered out at the end.  Ben came in less then a minute down in 11th place for the day.  That moved him into 8th on GC going into the Stage 2 Criterium. 

Stage 2 – Criterium

The team rode great for the first 30 minutes of the crit and then we missed a move that contained a number of riders that were not in GC contention.  With no riders in the break threatening the GC standings none of the major teams were willing to chase it down.  The break stuck and Healthnet scored the victory.

We managed to get through the race with no crashes or injuries and we saved up energy for the showdown on the Sunset loop in Stage 3.

Stage 3 – Sunset Circuit Race

Going into the final stage we were sitting in 8th on GC with Ben.  This was awesome, with Redlands the way it is, stage podiums and a top 10 GC were the aim.  We planned to attack the race today in hopes to setup Ben for an all out assault in the second half of the stage.  Many teams had the same idea and the race exploded in the very first lap.  A group of about 12 came thru the feed zone on lap one and Ben was in it! The break was working hard and opened up a 2 minute gap which contained many of the GC leaders.

In the final laps Ben attached the break over and over again. They had to kill themselves to keep him from running away with it.  It was awesome!  At the end of the day, we were back on the podium!  We had moved Ben from 8th on GC to 3rd!!!!   An amazing feat….

It was another great weekend for the team.  We have been on the podium every weekend we have raced since the beginning of the season starting with the Tour of CA.  The guys have been outstanding and they are all heading home for a much deserved break.

Look for us to continue our success on April 7th at the US OPEN which will be on TV and in the Tour of Georgia!