Heading into the final day of the 2015 Gateway Cup weekend, the field faced the most challenging course thus far with ten technical corners and little room for recovery. Throughout the weekend, the United Health Care team had had mixed results in both the men and women’s field, always taking responsibility for the racing, but sometimes seeing the race turn against them at the finish. As each race started the Benton Park Classic, it was clear that UHC planned to leave no doubt about its collective strength.
From the start of the women’s race, UHC put all its riders on the front and kept the pace steady to discourage attacks. Halfway through the sixty-minute race, Linda Villumsen took a solo flyer while her UHC teammates made sure that any attempted chase by the field was closely monitored. Villumsen’s gap stayed constant with every lap and the organisation of the chase behind grew less and less cohesive as United Health Care kept a tight reign on the race. Heading into the finishing straight, Villumsen was still well clear for a solo win as her teammate Cari Higgins took second place ahead of IS-Corp’s Samantha Schneider.
With her third place, Schneider locked up the Gateway Cup overall ahead of Optum’s Leah Kirchmann and Villumsen.
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The men’s race followed a nearly identical script to the women’s event as United Health Care controlled affairs from the start. As with the women’s race, UHC sent a solo move off at the halfway point with Adrian Hegyvary carving out a solid lead through most of the race. Unlike the women’s race, the counter attacks from the field were given a bit more leeway in their attempts to bring back Hegyvary. Optum's Brad Huff was particularly aggressive; instigating multiple counter attacks both solo and with small groups. Eventually, the Alto Velo/Seasucker team of Daniel Holloway brought the group together, and sparked an immediate counter attack by Huff as the race headed into five laps to go. Huff held a tenuous lead until the final lap of the race, when the collective strength of the entire United Health Care team brought him back into the field to set up the sprint. In the drag race to the line, a well timed bike throw by Carlos Alzate gave him a narrow win over Holloway with stage three winner, Karl Menzies in third.
Alzate’s win secured him second place overall behind Holloway with UHC workhorse Luke Keough rounding out the podium in third.
As the Gateway Cup helps wind down the 2015 season, St. Louis fans were witness to another year of aggressive racing by the biggest names in the domestic peloton. With each passing season, United Health Care continues to show their collective strength, but the rest of the field is starting to take the race to them and eliminate the certainty of a UHC sweep. Time will tell if 2016 shows a changing of the guard at the front of the field, but for now, United Health Care still sets the standard.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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