Racer's power output at the NVGP

Saris tracked power output from four racers during the NVGP, check out the results here!

Stillwater Criterium and Overall, Men

By James Lockwood
Photo by: Matt Moses

Healthnet–Maxxis came into the last stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix with three objectives: win the leader’s jersey, win the stage and win the team’s classification.

“We got two out of three,” said Tim Johnson, the elder statesman on the team. “That’s not too bad.”

Johnson and his team were all smiles after teammate Rory Sutherland not only defended his lead coming into stage six – the Stillwater Criterium – but also came in second, losing the sprint up the course’s famed Chilkoot Hill by a bike length.

“I would have liked to have helped John [Murphy] win the stage,” Sutherland said unselfishly after the race. “But if I don’t go, there would have been time gaps.”

With Toyota-United’s Ivan Stevic and Bissell’s Ben Jacques-Maynes in the lead group with Sutherland and Murphy, those gaps were something Sutherland couldn’t afford to let develop. Stevic entered the day in third place overall, 15 seconds behind Sutherland, while Jacques-Maynes was only another nine seconds down in fourth place.

Not winning the stage didn’t seem to bother Murphy, who finished second overall behind his teammate. “We didn’t want to risk losing any time,” Murphy said. “The overall lead was more important than the stage win.”

Instead of Murphy winning the stage, those honors went to the surprise of the tour, Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast’s David Veilleux, who came into the day wearing the Boost Best Young Rider jersey and sat seventh overall.

“I didn’t know,” the young Quebecois said of his expectations for the race. “Because I am young, I don’t know what I can really do.” He proved himself on this course, though.

“The kid deserved it,” Sutherland said. “He’s been working hard all week.”

“He was impressive,” said Stevic, who finished fourth on the stage and lost his title as Nature Valley champion to Sutherland this year.

More impressive were Sutherland and Healthnet, who controlled the race from the start, keeping all of its riders save sprinter Kirk O’Bee at the front of the race. From that vantage point, they kept the pace just hard enough to control any attacks from the general classification threats while letting those who didn’t pose a threat dangle at the front.

Successful Living.com’s Bradley White took advantage of Healthnet’s plan to stay out front much of the first half of the 18-lap race. “I knew they were going to let something go,” said the winner of the last Freewheel Bike Most Aggressive Jersey. “I thought I would give it a try.”

What surprised him, though, was the fact that Bissell didn’t send someone to join him until late into the race. “That’s the way they win races is from the break,” White said. “Jacques-Maynes is really clutch at these kind of races.”

That move didn’t come until four laps to go in the 18-lap race, with Jacques-Maynes’ teammate Aaron Olson and Garrett Peltonen up the road along with White, Toyota-United’s Caleb Manion, Colavita-Sutter Home’s Luis Amaran and Davide Frattini, and Kelly Benefit Strategies’ Andrew Bajadali.

Healthnet wasn’t fazed, and with two laps to go, all the leaders were together. “They made sure nothing got out of control,” Murphy said. “We have the right guys who are willing to sell out to each other,” Johnson said, describing the teamwork it took to keep Sutherland in the leader’s jersey.

Sutherland returned the compliment. “We were conserving a little
bit,” he said describing how they worked until the end. “These guys rode every single meter all week.”

As the group crested Chilkoot Hill with one lap to go, Veilleux saw his opportunity to move up after using Healthnet’s train all race. It was not the team’s original plan, but it was a move that proved to work.

“My job was to just stay in there the whole race,” he said. “We were actually trying to set Bajadali up for the win.”

Sitting in fifth wheel into the last lap, he was able to carry the momentum on the steep down hill through the seventh and eighth corners to pass the leaders and take the win.

“That’s the key to this course,” he said. “You need the momentum to get up the climb. I just hit it. It was perfect for us.”

“It was a good move,” Stevic said. He also tipped his hat to Sutherland, who proved a worthy winner of the Nature Valley Grand Prix.
“Losing the race overall to Sutherland and Healthnet, it doesn’t make you feel bad,” he said.

In addition to winning the leader’s jersey and team competition, Healthnet also took the Wheaties Sprint Jersey with O’Bee, winner of the Cannon Falls Road Race and the Minneapolis Downtown Classic. Nick Reistad of Jelly Belly took the Sports Beans King of the Mountains Jersey, and Keil Reijnen of Team Waste Management captured the Nature Valley Top Amateur Jersey.

Stillwater Criterium and Overall, Women

By Lindsey Dickinson
Photo by: Matt Moses

If the past five days of women’s professional racing at the Nature Valley Grand Prix are any indication, the women’s Olympic cycling field had better sit up and pay attention: Kristin Armstrong is coming. No really, Kristin Armstrong is coming.

The Great River Energy Bicycle Festival featuring the Nature Valley Grand Prix wrapped up under perfect sunny skies in Stillwater today, with Kristin Armstrong winning the punishing 12-lap criterium on the 1.5-mile course featuring the tortuous Chilkoot Hill. With a grade of more than 20 percent, many of the riders probably hoped the fan dressed as the grim reaper would take action and end it for them by about lap three in the race.

Consequently, lap three was about the same time Armstrong took control, dusting the field with a solo breakaway, chased for the rest of the stage by a pack of seven, including second and third place finishers Leigh Hobson of Cheerwine Cycling and Joanne Kiesanowski of Team TIBCO. Armstrong’s victory was definitive, as she beat Kiesanowski and Hobson by a margin of 77 seconds.

In addition to winning the stage and the Nature Valley GP Overall Leader victory, Armstrong took the Jelly Belly Sports Beans Queen of the Hills Competition and the Freewheel Most Aggressive Rider jersey for the stage. Katharine Carroll of Aaron’s Professional Women’s Cycling Team took second in the general classification and Anne Samplonius of Cheerwine Cycling took third.

“When you’re out here at a bike race, especially me without a team, I’m just here to race my bike and so I want to be aggressive,” said Armstrong, who rides with Cervélo-Lifeforce. “I want to get the fitness in and I’m just trying to throw a little bit of animation in.”

And animate she did. Armstrong pounded the field during the Saint Paul Downtown Criterium, which was neutralized due to poor weather, and went on to stage victories in the Time Trial, Mankato Road Race and again in Stillwater. Anything but “squeakers,” Armstrong’s victories were impressive efforts demonstrating her champion-level mentality and abilities. Her huge victory in Stillwater cemented Armstrong’s position at the head of the pack for American women’s cyclists, and earned her the admiration of the more than eight thousand fans present along the course.

The Wheaties Sprint Competition went to Joanne Kiesanowksi of Team TIBCO. “It was really great to be on the podium every day, having the jersey,” said Kiesanowski. “My team worked really hard for it and it was great because it meant that I had it sewn up going into today’s stage so I didn’t have to waste any extra energy doing that...We have a really strong team at the moment. We’ve just been racing together the last couple months and it’s showing how we’re just really gelling together. Everyone’s happy to sacrifice themselves for other people on the team. It’s a good group of girls.”

Kristin McGrath, of Colavita/Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light completed the Nature Valley Grand Prix with both the BOOST Best Young Rider jersey and the Nature Valley Top Amateur jersey. “I just kept an eye on the girls I was in the jersey races for and made sure I was ahead of them…part of my strategy was picking off the riders Kristin dropped and it ended up working out…hopefully now I’ll get my upgrade.”

As an alumnus of the Ryan Collegiate All-Stars, a composite team of the best unsigned college cyclists in the country, McGrath demonstrated the value of the opportunity provided to these women by the Ryan Companies. This year, Anna McLoon, Ryan rider and Harvard University Ph.D. student, came in 23rd overall, just 6’23” behind Armstrong. All of the 2008 Ryan Collegiate All-Stars appreciated the experience. “It’s great experience, being able to ride with top riders and huge fields. In women’s cycling you don’t get that very much at the regional level.”

Cheerwine Cycling walked away with the Touchstone Energy Team Competition prize. “For us, it’s one of the competitions each race that we try to focus on,” said Cheerwine rider Anne Samplonius, who also came in third in the general classification. “A lot of people don’t realize that this is a team sport, and a big focus for us is always to try to win the team GC. For us to do it again here, it just shows the strength of our team.”

Fans in Stillwater were treated to quite a Father’s Day show, and the racers appreciated it. “It just made so happy to see all the fans out here today,” said Armstrong. “It was an amazing crowd and the community’s amazing. It wasn’t hard to get up that hill today, because of all the thousands of people out here. I had a great time. If I had to go up there by myself 12 times it would have been a lot more difficult but all those people just brought me up there. It was a great way to end the week.”

Why did Shelley Olds ride the TT of her life?

(by Giana Roberge, PROMAN/Paradigm, Team Speed Queen)
Thanks BMC for providing the super fast TT03 for Shelley. Its not about the bike? It was this time. Olds was 6th place in the Riverfront time trial.

Stage 2: Cannon Falls Road Race from Com 2

(by Jennifer Reither, aka Racer X)

For today’s Cannon Falls stage, I had the opportunity to sit the Women’s Com 2 (the officials car that follows the front of the lead peloton) to watch some exciting racing. The women’s race today started off with a bang as the all the teams were extremely active launching attack after attack of today’s late afternoon stage. Just how aggressive were the women today? The race pace average was 24 m.p.h. for over 2 hour of racing. Today’s Q.O. M points were dominated by Felicia Gomez of Aarons as she placed 2nd, 1st and 1st. The only other rider to challenge her was Ruth Corset of Jazz Apple, who is sitting second in the QOM competition. The dirt section leading into the finish circuits shed a few riders as the teams of Cheerwine, Cervelo-Lifeforce and Tibco drilled the pace at the front of the peloton. Each lap of the technically challenging circuit lost riders off the back of the lead peloton each time through the finish line. The final time through the finish line Tina Pic (Colavita) launched her most successful move of the day winning the Cannon Falls stage ahead of Joanne Kiesanowski (Tibco) and Laura Van Gilder (Cheerwine)

The men’s race didn’t see much action during today’s stage, as they cruised through the 60 miles of Goodhue County enjoying the warm sunny weather and spectacular views. All that changed when the boys hit the finishing circuits, then it was all business as HealthNet took control sending its power to the front, keeping it single file through the technical circuits. As Kelly Benefits was obviously working hard for the sprinter, in the end it was Kirk O’Bee by a wheel length in front of Alex Candelario (Kelly Benefit) and John Murphey (HealthNet)

Women’s review-

Cannon Falls Podium 1st Tina Pic (Colavita) 2nd Joanne Kiesanowski (Tibco) 3rd Laura Van Gilder (Cheerwine)

Tina Pic (Colavita)– Yellow Jersey pb Nature Valley

Joanne Kiesanowski (Tibco) – Sprinter's Jersey pb Wheaties

Felicia Gomez (Aarons) – Climber's Jersey pb Jelly Belly

Katherine Cheatly (Cheerwine) Best Young Rider pb Boost

Amber Rais (Tibco) Most Aggressive pb Freewheel

Kristen McGrath (Colavita) Best Amateur Rider pb Nature Valley



Men’s Review

Cannon Falls Podium 1st Kirk O’Bee (HealthNet) 2nd Alex Candelario (Kelly Benefits) 3rd John Murphy (HealthNet)

Kirk O’Bee (HealthNet)– Yellow Jersey pb Nature Valley

Kirk O’Bee (HealthNet)– Sprinter's Jersey pb Wheaties

?? (Jelly Belly) – Climber's Jersey pb Jelly Belly

Keil Reijnen (Waste Management) Best Young Rider pb Boost

Jeremy Vennell (Bisssell) Most Aggressive pb Freewheel

??(Waste Management) Best Amateur rider pb Nature Valley

Stage 1: St. Paul Lowertown Criterium

(by Jennifer Reither, aka Jenn X)

Weather played a significant role at the St. Paul criterium tonight for the men and women’s races. Officials decided to shorten the women’s race from 40 laps to 30 laps, given the news that a significant “storm cell” was on its way. As the women lined up for call ups, the clouds open up and rain poured on the women making for a soggy start when the gun fired. Kristen Armstrong (Cervelo-Lifeforce) wasted no time immediately launching an attack and gaining 15 seconds on chase rider, Joanne Kiesanowski (Tibco) with a small pack including Brooke Miller (Tibco), Lauren Franges (Tibco) and Racheal Lloyd (Proman) about 45 seconds behind Armstrong. From a spectator's view, the race was complete chaos, as Armstrong lapped fields, riders were pulled and Kiesanowki was in no mans land, between chase groups. It was not until the race was finished when the crowd actually knew who was 2nd through 4th place. But the winner in the women’s race was clearly Kristen Armstrong whose strength and savvy this evening put her in the sprinter’s jersey, climber’s jersey and the leader’s jersey.

The men’s race started off with ominous skies and wet streets. Kirk O’Bee (HealthNet) made a great attack on lap two with Aaron Olsen (Bissell) glued to his wheel. The two riders gained a significant gap until Andrew Bajadali (Kelly Benefits) and Rory Sutherland (HealthNet) made a great bridge to O’Bee and Olsen. Unfortunately 20 laps into the race a significant crash caused the peloton to sit up and reevaluate the safety of the race. Officials called the race and the peloton agreed that tomorrow’s stage in Cannon Falls would be stage 1. Danny Van Haute (Director Sportif of Jelly Belly) suggested giving tonight’s stage money to the Children’s Hospital. The peloton and crowd cheered for the donation as the Children were the real winners tonight.

Final Recap Women St Paul Criterium

1st Kristen Armstrong Cervelo Lifeforce

2nd Joanne Kiesanowski Tibco

3rd Brook Miller Tibco



Final Recap Men’s race

No result, the stage is a wash. Stage 1 will be tomorrow in Cannon Falls.

Emile Abraham on the Fixed Gear Classic

(by Emile Abraham, Team Type 1)
2004 (Monex Pro Cycling Team): 2nd on Stage 4, Red Wing Road Race

After leaving Atlanta where the weather was 100 degrees and sunny it was nice to be racing in somewhat cooler weather. This was my first time racing on a wooden outdoor track and I absolutely loved it! Initially I thought my weekend would be a disaster as my bike did not arrive in Minneapolis just hours before I was schedule to race the first event. Luckily for me it was sent on the next flight from Atlanta which I received at 5:15pm and racing started at 6pm. A close call but very happy of the outcome…. There was a small reunion as I had not seen a few riders since the track World Cups and raced with Roberto Chiappa at my local West Indies vs the World cycling series in Trinidad and Tobago.

Not being a pure sprinter I was told I needed to start every event in order to be in the running for the omnium. This weekend was my first flying 200TT in many years and recorded 11.732 seconds which was a personal best for me. I had motivation from there on and told Chiappa to watch out! LOL

By the end of the night I was leading the omnium by a mere 2 points over Ben Barczewski and Reberto. Then it was off to the wrong side of the track for what was the icing on the cake for the weekend, a cook out with some really cool people who like to have a good time…. For me that’s right up my ally! I was able to go to bed well relaxed after a great evening of racing and liming (hanging out).

Day 2

Now I have made new friends and excited to compete again looking to defend my overall omnium placing. I knew all I needed was 11 points to secure my position in the omnium, with no stress the atmosphere was very relaxed…. By now I had fans in the crowed cheering for me and what more can an athlete ask for than people in the stands yelling their name? The answer…. More people yelling their name….haha

Winning the miss and out event would have most of the points I need to secure the omnium, but not having the position in the group where I would normally race the miss and out had me punching other riders tickets from the back bringing it down to a match sprint. The crowd cheering for me gave me that extra to pull of the win, now I need at least a fourth in the kerin. My legs were tired so I knew that a smart race would be a necessity and BAMM!!!! I pulled it off and was very happy. This surely made the fact that I was not riding Philly all good. The MN Fixed Gear Classic is probably the most fun I have had racing for the year.

Special thanks to everyone who made the race possible and went out off their way to ensure that the out of state riders were comfortable and had everything they needed. I would definitely come back….

Thanks for reading,
Emile Abraham

Terms from the race radio

(by Giana Roberge, PROMAN/Paradigm, Team Speed Queen)

Many up-close pictures of professional cyclists show them with a radio cord traveling from behind their neck to an earpiece tucked neatly away, usually behind a piece of tape. These radios allow the riders to talk to their teammates in the race as well as their directors driving the car in the caravan behind the peloton. The radios provide information as well as direction from the person driving the car. Below is a list of some of the terms used and what they mean from the director and rider’s perspective.

Attack: When told to attack, riders on the team (who are usually selected at the prerace meeting) look for an opportunity to try to escape from the pack with as few other riders as possible. They do this by sprinting hard away from the group at a time when they might get the biggest gap possible or when it will take enough effort for someone to chase them down that there is a hesitation allowing for a gap to open.

This can also be a warning that there is an attack, and it is usually given with the side that the attack is coming on and, if there is enough time, who or what team it’s coming from.

Bridge: This means that a rider needs to get from the group he or she is in to the group or rider that is up the road. When a rider “bridges” a gap, they typically do it solo or with only one or two other riders. They use an “attack” to bridge the gap. By doing this, the team ensures they have someone in the break, which can either negate the break, or help to keep it away. When someone bridges to the break, he or she has left his or her team behind but has a better chance of winning the stage. However, if a team has a rider in the overall race lead, and the break they are in gains enough time to threaten their team’s overall lead, they may be asked to “sit on” (see below) or to “situp” out of the break and let the main field catch them to assist in the chase.

Cover: Typically used in a prerace plan: “We are going to cover important breaks.” This means that when a split does occur and a break forms, or an attack happens that creates a break, the team needs to have presence there.

Bring Back: This means that the team, working together, needs to bring the attack or group up the road back by riding at the front at a pace that is faster than the break up the road. This is to protect the team’s marquis or protected rider. When the team is bringing back a break, they are doing it in such a manner that their protected rider and most of the field is sitting behind the “train” of riders at the front. Typically, this is done only when the team has a rider in the lead or when they are riding for the race to come down to a field sprint.

Counter Attack: Something that happens when one attack is brought back. It is an effective tool for creating a break, or within an already established break, getting rid of one of the threatening riders.

Chase: Used to “bring back” a break. This is a methodical use of energy, usually timed to precision so that the break is brought back at the perfect time, either to set up for a final field sprint, or when the team can best contain any counter attacks that happen when the break is finally brought back to the main field. Sometimes, a chase can happen almost throughout the race with the team riding “tempo” at the front (see below), with the director keeping close tabs on the time split and notifying the team of exactly the time difference, and the distance to the finish, so that mathematically, the team knows how much energy to invest in the chase. Typically, when a team chases it means there is someone of threat in the break. If there is a break that is no big threat but they want to keep it in a certain time range, the team will ride tempo (see below) at the front of the race. By doing this, they may sacrifice a stage win, but maintain the overall lead of the race.

Tempo: This refers to the speed at which a team rides at the front. When the team has a rider in the yellow leader’s jersey, there are times that the best way to protect the lead is to have the team ride at the front fast enough that it deters any attacks. If there are attacks and a break does form, the team maintains its organized pace line at the front and just picks up the speed enough to bring back the break. The team in the lead will ride tempo until they are close enough to the finish line that they know their lead of the race will not be threatened if an attack does go away and stays clear until the finish.

Sit on: Once in a break, a rider may sit on. This means they will pedal at the back of the break and not assist in the pace making. This is done to either negate the break, or to help slow it down by not assisting in the pace making or a rider will do this in order to rest so that later he or she can have a better chance at winning the stage or attacking the break. If the rider’s team is chasing behind, the rider in the break will never work the break and will sit on. Typically, if a rider has covered a break and the rider’s team has the overall lead of the race, race etiquette dictates that the other riders in the break do not expect the rider whose team has the lead to work the break.

Work the Break: Opposite of sitting on the break, if a rider is working the break, he or she is assisting in the pace making. This also means that his or her team is not working in the peloton behind, and is getting a chance to recover. If the team approves of the break, they will be very attentive in the pack behind the break to make sure no one else bridges to the group in front, or if they do they bring another of the team members with them.

Other information that comes across on the radios is if someone has flatted or had a mechanical, if there has been a crash, when feeding is allowed, where the intermediate sprints are, who is in the break and where they are in the overall rankings and what is for lunch back in the caravan car.

Let’s get ready to race

(by Jennifer Reither, aka Jenn X)
Without further ado, it’s finally here. The 2008 Nature Valley Grand Prix and the fans are in for a treat. Just by looking at this year’s start list you can see that the NVGP is regarded as one of the most prestigious women's stage races in the U.S. This SOLD OUT field brings world class racers from the teams of Cervelo Lifeforce, Tibco, Aarons, Ryan’s Collegiate All Stars, Value Act Capital, Cheerwine, Colavita, Proman and a handful of solo riders including Minnesota’s favorite local Teresa Moriarty.

What is it that brings to best racers to Minnesota? As a former racer, here is what I considered the reasons to race the NVGP:

#1 The fans! As a professional cyclist we understand it’s a spectator sport, the bigger and louder the crowd, the better the race. We aim to please and love to have packed sidelines.

#2 The courses. The courses are challenging and result in unexpected surprises. It’s not a climber’s race or a sprinter’s race. It is the most well-rounded rider and well oiled team that win stages and the overall classification.

#3 The Jerseys. There is more going on than a stage win and general classification. There is a sprinter’s competition, climber’s competition, most aggressive rider, best young rider and overall team classification. With Twin Six’s cool designs, the jersey are a coveted prize.

#4 Management and Staff. The staff of the NVGP has taken suggestions of the racers and made the event better every year. Is everyone in Minnesota so friendly? Well, Minnesota is considered the “bike friendliest state”.

#5 The Bike Festival sponsored by Great River Energy. The expo and festival is fun for fans and racers. There is cool product to try and buy. Great River always passes out clapper hands during the crits, the Wheaties Fan Zone ambassadors are located throughout the course to answer “cycling 101” for inquiring fans, Nature Valley gives out tons of tasty granola bars and Jelly Belly gives out tons of yummy sports beans.

#6 The Kids. They are the future of the sport and have always been a part of the Minnesota Festival with all proceeds going to Children’s Hospitals and Clinics. This year the NVGP has taken a bigger step toward the future, adding the Hoigaard’s Tour de Kids to the event. I am not sure of all the details, but I think this is a first time ever Tour for Kids. What I wouldn’t do to be a kid again. By what I have heard, this is gonna be FUN!

Come on Down with the whole family and be sure to say hi. I’ll be the blonde with the microphone!

JennX

MN based Kelly Benefits' Jonny Sundt on crit racing

Good read on the Pezcyclingnews.com site. Jonny Sundt will be part of a full 8 man contingent representing Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast at the Nature Valley Grand Prix.

Keeping up with the competition

Can’t make it out to all the races of the Great River Energy Bike Festival?

Well don’t worry because we’ve got you covered with webcasts and live updates via twitter.

Webcast Schedule:
June 7 6:30 PM CST MN Fixed Gear Classic www.myfox9.com
June 8 1:00 PM CST MN Fixed Gear Classic www.nscsports.org/velo
June 13 6:45 PM CST Nature Valley Grand Prix www.myfox9.com
June 15 12:00 PM CST Nature Valley Grand Prix www.myfox9.com

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/grebikefestival

Nature Valley Grand Prix Lineup

The Nature Valley Grand Prix is invitational for the men this year! Here's the men's lineup.

Men:
Toyota-United
Hagens Berman LLP Cycling Team
Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast
Successful Living.com P/B Parkpre
Team Type 1
Bissell Pro Cycling Team
Team Healthnet Presented by Maxxis
Jelly Belly Pro Cycling Team
Rock Racing
Colavita Sutter Home
Battley HARLEY-DAVIDSON/Sonoma Bar
Fiordifrutta
Metra / Victor Homes / MHP
Nature Valley Cycling Team
Team Clif Bar
Team Waste Management
HRRC / Trek Stores
THF Racing
IS Corp Cycling Team
Wheel & Sprocket
TIME Pro Cycling

The women's race filled up for the first time as well!

At 145 riders, the Nature Valley Grand Prix field is likely to be the largest women’s race of the year, compared with 140 for the Montreal World Cup, 120 for the Liberty Classic and 84 for the Mount Hood Classic.

Women:
PROMAN Racing
Team Revolution
Colavita / Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light
Team TIBCO
Team Kenda Tire
ValueAct Capital Cycling Team
Aaron's Professional Women's Cycling Team
Cheerwine Cycling
Jazz Apple Cycling Team
Webcor Builders
Team Advil-ChapStick
Ryan Collegiate
HPC powered by Altarum
Flanders/MBRC
Verducci/Breakaway Racing
Nature Valley Cycling Team
SouthBay Wheelmen
Cervelo-Lifeforce Professional Cycling Team
America's Dairyland
Verve Racing
Metromint Cycling
Metro Volkswagen Cycling Team

June Podcast and More

Don't forget to check out the new June Podcast over at our website and while you're there you can also listen to racer interviews from the KDOG Morning Show in Mankato, site of our Queen Stage.

The June podcast takes you inside the Nature Valley Grand Prix peloton with Jeff Corbett, former team director. Find out if there's a connection between the Nature Valley Grand Prix and the Giro d'Italia - in our trivia segment much more from Super Rookie and Company.

The Former "Racer X"

(by Jennifer Reither, aka Jenn X)

Only weeks away from the much anticipated 2008 version of the NVGP, I sit back and relax my legs and train my vowels.... AAAA EEE III OOO UUUUUU. As I am no longer a competitor in the NVGP, but a commentator. As my heart is torn from the high of racing, my legs are happy to sit and watch the pain the wall of Mankato and Stillwater inject on the racers. I have raced the NVGP with great teams such as Colavita, Red 5, and Tria. Now I give insight and perception as I commentate all of the fantastic stages of the Nature Valley Grand Prix.

While out in Minnesota many fans have asked me how does one go from Pro Racer to Race Commentator? I tell them lots of pageant talent and a knack for early morning TV appearances. But the real story is that by my second year of participating in the NVGP, I was doing TV appearances for Fox9 out in Peevy Plaza. That same morning they needed a live radio cast for KCLP94.1, with me being the only rider with professional experience I was the interviewee for a live radio broadcast. The broadcast was a hit. This same year, they needed a commentator to help with the men's race at Stillwater. Without hesitation, I grabbed the mic and in my cycling shoes ran up and down Chilkoot Hill, talking to spectators, answering questions about bike racing. By my third year into the NVGP I was being scheduled for radio and T.V. appearance talking to listeners about the NVGP and the Great River Energy Festival and suggesting the head on down to Stillwater on Sunday and ask me more bike racing questions. All this media work and I was racing too!

In early 2007 Dave LaPorte asked me to come on as an additional commentator for the event. Without hesitation, I accepted. Besides, when Dave LaPorte asks you to be part of the event you ask how high. This year would be different, all mic and no bike! The 2007 edition of the NVGP and Bike Festival was a huge success. Spectators asked question about the race, while I answered their inquiries to huge crowds that line the finishing circuits.

I expect more out of 2008 as sponsorship and ridership has increased. I look forward to seeing everyone on the streets on Minnesota in June.

See you on the road.

The former RacerX