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Menzies wins Tour de Nez crit

By Cherie Turner, Special to VeloNews
Published: Jun. 23, 2006

Karl Menzies (Health Net-Maxxis) outkicked Tony Cruz (Toyota-United) and Andrew Bajadali (Jelly Belly) to win stage 2 of the Tour de Nez on Thursday.

The fast, flat, six-corner 1km criterium in downtown Truckee was strung out from the start. And with the first 20 minutes of the hourlong race fraught with numerous crashes, the rear two-thirds of the field shattered in short order; officials eventually pulled 82 riders from the race.

Up front, the lead group of 36 included most all the top competitors. Over the next 20 minutes, Toyota-United, Jelly Belly, and Health Net-Maxxis all tried to send riders away, but nothing substantial transpired until Andrew Bajadali (Jelly Belly) made what became the decisive move. Karl Menzies (Health Net-Maxxis) quickly joined him, followed by Tony Cruz (Toyota-United), and the trio built a margin of nearly 40 seconds as their teammates in the field shut the chase down, save for a flyer by Gordon McCauley (Successful Living), who found himself stuck in no-man’s land.

In the final sprint, Menzies punched it, holding off a hard-charging Cruz; Bajadali came in just behind, followed by McCauley; Alex Candelario (Jelly Belly) took the pack sprint.

Truckee Criterium
Top 10
1. Karl Menzies (Health Net-Maxxis)
2. Tony Cruz (Toyota-United)
3. Andrew Bajadali (Jelly Belly)
4. Gordon McCauley (Successful Living)
5. Alex Candelario (Jelly Belly)
6. Scott Moninger (Health Net-Maxxis)
7. Kyle Gritters (Health Net-Maxxis)
8. Robbie King (Priority Health)
9. Tommy Nankervis (Priority Health)
10. Ken Hanson (BMC Racing)

Overall standings
1. Karl Menzies (Health Net-Maxxis)
2. Tony Cruz (Toyota-United)
3. Andrew Bajadali (Jelly Belly)
4. Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United)
5. Bernard VanUlden (Webcor)
6. Scott Moninger (Health Net-Maxxis)
7. Gordon McCauley (Successful Living)
8. Alex Candelerio (Jelly Belly)
9. Curtis Gunn (Successful Living)
10. Tom Zirbel (Priority Health)