Sutherland Takes Health Net, pb Maxxis Fourth Consecutive Joe Martin Title

(May 12, 2008)

Race report filed by Health Net, presented by Maxxis

Fayetteville, AR – A three-day, full-gas effort by the Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis delivered Rory Sutherland to his second consecutive – and the team’s fourth consecutive – overall title at the Joe Martin Stage Race, after the Australian took the race lead in the opening prologue.

In the final-stage criterium Sunday, Sutherland took advantage of teammate John Murphy’s lead-out for Karl Menzies, who finished second in a photo finish, to finish 4th on the final stage to seal the win.

“The guys are well-drilled in defending leads,” noted directuer sportif Jeff Corbett, who has guided the team to all four of those wins. “Everyone on the team was there to defend Rory’s lead last year, and Kyle (Gritters) and Tim (Johnson) were here in ’06 as well. There was never any concern that our guys wouldn’t be able to defend the lead.”

In fact, during Friday’s second stage, they were able to extend the 0:11 lead Sutherland had established in the opening prologue the day before. After spending much of the 110-mile stage patrolling the front and controlling the race, the team was able to line up a strong lead-out, with Karl Menzies dropping off Sutherland inside 200 meters to the line for the sprint. Sutherland earned second place on the stage, and a 10-second bonus to go with it. Teammate John Murphy finished right behind him in third.

Health Net Presented by Maxxis once again patrolled the front of the race for most of the 92-mile third stage as well. Not only did they keep Sutherland well protected, but the team was able to deliver Menzies and Murphy to top-10 finishes on the stage.

“Frank (Pipp), Kyle, Tim and Kirk (O’Bee) spent a lot of time rotating on the front this week,” Corbett said. “Over 100 km on Friday, another 110 km on Saturday, and then another 1:20 during the criterium Sunday.”

Strong defense
The team is no stranger to defending race leads. Earlier this year, four teammates, including Gritters and O’Bee, successfully helped Murphy defend the overall lead of the UCI 2.2 Tour of Taiwan for seven days, with Gritters taking a stage win in the process. Murphy’s overall victory in Taiwan was the team’s third consecutive win. Murphy and Gritters also went on to finish first and second in the Garrett Lemire Memorial Grand Prix shortly after returning from Taiwan.

Both riders have continued their good form in helping the team repeat yet again at the Joe Martin Stage Race.

Notes
Menzies’ consistent top-10 finishes, as well as a strong ride in the prologue, put the big man from Australia in 7th overall at the end of the race. Murphy and Johnson also built on strong prologues to finish 13th and 14th overall respectively.

To view the final overall results of the 2008 Joe Martin Stage Race click here

For additional information regarding the Team, please visit www.teamhealthnet.com, or contact:

JEFF SOBUL, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR
Tel: 510.832.1616
Fax: 510.832.1618
Mobile: 510.334.3949
Email: jsobul@teamhealthnet.com

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