Reversing his fortunes of 2005, Jittery Joe’s sprinter Jeff Hopkins took his first NRC win in the US 10K Classic on Labor Day in Marietta, Georgia.

Edging out last year’s winner Emile Abraham (AEG-Toshiba-JetNetwork) and 26 other riders who got away from the remaining 140 finishers, Hopkins began his sprint not completely aware what was at stake.

"I thought that there were still two dudes away from the (previous) break, so I thought we were sprinting for third. I didn’t get a chance to do a victory salute or anything." Hopkins said minutes after he came across the line.

With three other teammates along with him in the front group, including set-up man Evan Elkin, The Bean Team was in reasonably solid contention for a win.

"Those boys kept it rolling and covered the attacks, and then Evan did a big turn to try and keep it together at the top of the hill there, and then I just lined them up and off we went," Hopkins said.

For his part, Abraham knew that Hopkins was laying in wait, which prompted some hesitation on his part.

"Coming down to the sprint I knew Hopkins was on my wheel. We had it out last year and I managed to get him on the line (but) this year I waited a little too long and he managed to get it at the finish," Abraham said.

Repeating his third-place finish of 2002 was Navigators Insurance rider Siro Camponogara, who also slightly misjudged his sprint on the deceptive downhill towards the line.

"I was feeling very good." Camponogara said. "I was thinking I could win the race, but I made a mistake on the sprint. You see the finish and it looks close, but you’re still far away."

The considerably smaller pro women’s field knocked out their 10km run (the pro men raced a full 100km) in just over 15 minutes. Duking it out for the win were Rachael Heal (Victory Brewing) and regional rider Debbie Milne (Tupelo Bicycle Club).

Heal attacked for a prime two miles in, which solicited a response from Milne and prompted the two to work together for the remainder of the race. Maintaining a 10-second gap from there forward, Heal eventually won the day.

"It was a hard race, harder than you’d expect for 10km," said Heal. "We went into the race with a plan to be aggressive, so we pretty much attacked from the start. "

Pro men
1. Jeffery Hopkins, Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team
2. Emile Abraham, AEG-Toshiba-JetNetwork
3. Siro Camponogara, Navigators
4. Alex Candelario, Jelly Belly
5. Sean Sullivan, Toyota-United

Pro women
1. Rachel Heal, Victory Brewing
2. Debbie Milne, Tupelo Bicycle Club
3. Kelly Benjamin, Cheerwine
4. Sarah Caravella, Team Lipton
5. Shannon Hutchison-Krupat, Aaron's