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Milne takes Univest in chaotic finale

by VeloNews.com

• September 09, 2006
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By Ryan Newill, Special to VeloNews

Navigators second-year pro Shawne Milne closed out the North American UCI season in style, taking a close victory in Souderton, Pennsylvania’s Univest Grand Prix. Milne came around breakaway companion Fausto Munoz (Tecos-Alderfer Auction) in the steep uphill sprint to the line following an arrow-straight, screaming downhill. The pair made the winning move with three laps of the race’s three-mile finishing circuit remaining, escaping from a small lead group and just holding off a late charge by Sean Sullivan (Toyota-United), who pursued his solo bridge attempt all the way to the line to secure third place.

While Milne made his winning move during the hectic skirmish on the13 finishing circuits, it was Munoz’s Tecos-Alderfer Auction teammateswho provided the bulk of the action on the 68-mile long lap through Souderton’ssurrounding countryside. Hector Zimarron was the first rider fromthe Mexican squad to try his hand, working his way into a four-man movethat went away just 21 miles into the 107 mile contest.

With J.J. Haedo (Toyota-United) and Mike Friedman (TIAA-CREF) in thebreak along with Zimarron and Bruno Langlois (AEG-Toshiba-JetNetwork),it looked like an attempt to capture points at the third sprint of theday. Friedman took the points—the first strike in a consistent daythat would see him take the sprint title—and the rest of the break droppedback, but Zimarron pushed on alone. With the major players waitingfor the finishing circuits to pounce, the 26-year-old Mexican scooped upfirst place points at the first two KOM points, and stretched his leadto 1:25. Zimarron nearly lost that margin in one swoop, running offthe road on a twisting, high-speed descent, but somehow managed to keepthe bike upright and get back on the road with most of his lead intact.

Zimarron restored his lead to 1:25 by the feed zone at mile 42, withthe field behind constantly fracturing and reforming on the narrow, windingroads of the KOM hills. A 15-rider chase trimmed the gap to15 seconds, allowing Tyler Wren (Colavita), Mike Creed (TIAA-CREF), andZimarron’s Colombian teammate Gregorio Vega to jump across.

With 15 miles remaining until the start of the finishing circuits, Vegatook over the reigns for Tecos, attacking the break repeatedly until hewas able to rip a 20-second gap for himself. As the race enteredthe finishing circuit for the first time, Vega was finally caught by ItalianDavide Frattini (Colavita), who could only remain with the Colombian fora single lap. In the first volley of a hectic finale, Vega jumpedon the small circuit’s steep hill, remaining clear for another lap beforebeing joined by Friedman. Two laps later and with a narrow gap stillholding, the break got reinforcement in the form of Matthew Cooke (LSV-KellyBenefits Strategies), who helped stretch the break’s lead to 45 secondsover an ever-changing series of chase groups.

Vega’s time at the front took its toll, and he was the first to pop,losing Friedman and Cooke on the uphill. A lap later, Friedman sufferedsevere leg cramps on the same climb, leaving Cooke alone. With justthree laps remaining, the deck reshuffled yet again, with Cooke being caughtby a chase containing a recovered Friedman, Fausto Munoz (Tecos-AlderferAuction), Jose Garcia and Sean Sullivan (both Toyota-United), and KevinMiller (Fiordifrutta).

At that point, Milne was hopping from chase group to chase group.When he finally arrived at the tail of the six-man group, he picked upMunoz, and the pair set off to sort out the victory for themselves.Sullivan’s late reaction scored the final podium spot, but also helpedkeep the front pair moving.

“I think having [Sullivan] coming up from behind really made [Vega]keep working, and that really helped me in the end,” said Milne, who plansto end his season with his Univest win. “I didn’t do anything afternationals last week, I was so exhausted. So I’m going to stop now– I want to end on a high note. My teammate Hilton [Clarke] has beenwinning everything, and I was getting a little jealous, so this is good.”

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Univest Grand Prix
September 9, 2006
Sounderton, PA1. Shawn Milne, Navigators, 107 miles in 4:15:17
2. Fusto Munoz (Mex), Tecos-Alderfer Auction, 0:01
3. Sean Sullivan (Aus), Toyota-United, 0:11
4. Frank Pipp, Targetraining, 0:57
5. Jhon Celada (Col), Tecos-Alderfer Auction, 0:57
6. Edward King, Priority Health, 0:58
7. Gregorio Vega (Col), Tecos-Alderfer Auction, 1:00
8. Mike Friedman, TIAA-CREF, 1:13
9. Jose Garcia (Mex), Toyota-United, 1:14
10. Bryan Smith, TIAA-CREF, 1:14
Team Classification: Tecos-Alderfer AuctionSprint Classification: Mike Friedman, TIAA-CREFKOM Classification: Fco. Javier Matamoros Navarro (Mex), Tecos-Alderfer AuctionBergey’s First USA Award: Shawn Milne, NavigatorsClements Family Markets Young Rider Award: Edward King, Priority HealthSparta Youth Award: Graham Howard, Abercrombie & Fitch