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| Mitchell had a great ride
to a well-earned 5th place. |
San Francisco (September 4, 2005) - With two-time
New Zealand Olympian Glen Mitchell finishing 5th and 2003 Canadian National
Champion Dominique Perras in 10th, the Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada Professional
Cycling Team had arguably its best day of racing all season in today's Barclays
Global Investors Grand Prix SF -quite possibly the most difficult race of
the entire year.
Soon after the race got underway on a gray San Francisco morning, Kodak
Gallery/Sierra Nevada's Ben Jacques-Maynes jumped in the early breakaway,
joined by his twin brother, Andy (Webcor Builders).
Behind the early break, a group of around 30 riders including Perras and
Mitchell - but missing pre-race favorites like Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner)
and Chris Horner (Saunier Duval-Prodir) - split off the front of the main
field.
Not long after, Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada's Tim Larkin rolled away from
the main pack and bridged, giving Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada four riders
in a front group of about 30 riders behind solo leader Mike Creed (Discovery
Channel).
On the sixth and seventh laps, Larkin and Jacques-Maynes went to the front
and provided some crucial impetus to keep the front group rolling along
at a pace that proved sufficient to keep the chasing groups at bay.
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| Mitchell in the break
with Lieswyn and McCartney |
On the seventh lap, Mitchell and John Lieswyn (Health
Net p.b. Maxxis) followed an acceleration by Discovery Channel's Ryder Hesjedal
and Jason McCartney and the quartet soon caught and dropped the spent Creed.
Hesjedal was dropped on the next lap, leaving Mitchell, Lieswyn and McCartney
as the leading breakaway, 2 minutes ahead of a group of 20 riders including
Perras.
The breakaway worked smoothly together, but Mitchell was unable to stay
with McCartney and Lieswyn on the third-to-last trip up Taylor St.
Meanwhile, Gerolsteiner's Fabian Wegmann and Andrea Moletta were chasing
at 30 seconds back, followed by a group with Colavita-Sutter Home's Mark
McCormack and Davide Frattini, CSC's Luke Roberts, and Health Net-Maxxis'
Mike Sayers.
 |
| Dominique pushes over
the top of the Taylor St. Hill. |
The Gerolsteiner duo caught and passed Mitchell,
but the New Zealander hung tough and rolled in fifth, 1:58 behind Wegmann
- who won a 3-rider sprint after catching Lieswyn and McCartney - and with
a minute in hand ahead of sixth place Sayers.
On the final time up Taylor St., Perras and Danny Pate (Jelly Belly-PoolGel)
got away from the remaining 12 riders in the group, with Perras taking 10th
behind Pate.
Back in the main field, Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada's other finishers were
Jackson Stewart in 65th and Scott Zwizanski in 71st.
Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada also took 4th in the team classification and
Mitchell placed 4th in the ñMaster of the Mountainî classification.
Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada Racing Manager, Robin Zellner commented, ñGlen
and Dominique showed the experience and ability that make them true professionals
today. I'm proud of them and how Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada rode as a team.î
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