Although Stage Three was supposed to be the toughest stage in Tour of Missouri history, the Jelly Belly Pro Cycling riders are used to training in mountains much bigger than the Ozarks of Missouri.
“Today was definitely not that hard,” said Jelly Belly rider Bernard van Ulden. “What made it hard was figuring out whether to chase the break or not.”
Within an hour of the start this morning, two Garmin riders took off from the pack.
“It almost seemed like a joke, Garmin attacking two-up like that. Normally teams don’t do that, so that’s what threw us off,” van Ulden said.
After Mike Friedman and Will Frischkorn took off, Matt Wilson from Team Type 1 decided to join them and gave all he had bridging up to the duo. This three-man break stayed away for most of the day before being reeled in in the final miles.
While the entire town of Rolla came out to cheer on the racers, the finish line quickly came into view. The pack was strung out and had finally had enough of Cavendish taking the stage. It swelled over and over again, with each team trying to make a move to block the Columbia train. Finally Cervelo was able to open a gap for Thor Hushovd to take the win for stage three.
Tomorrow will be the only repeat stage from 2008. It’s a road race with circuits, beginning from St. James, last year’s Host City Award Winner, and traveling to the famously challenging uphill finish in Jefferson City.
-Molly Saunders
PR Jelly Belly Pro Cycling Team
