Sun returns for final day of Joe Martin event
Posted on Monday, May 12, 2008
Seeing the return of sunny skies on Sunday morning didn't bother Joe Martin Stage Race director Bruce Dunn one bit. In fact, it made the final day of the 31 st rendition of the event that much more satisfying.
"Any time you have beautiful weather, it's always a success," Dunn said of the race. "With it being Mother's Day, that made it even better. And we had a lot of kids come along with their mothers for our kid's race."
Dunn is referring to the kid's ride that was held for children ages 3-12 about midway through Sunday's race schedule. Numerous amounts of kids were in downtown Fayetteville on Sunday enjoying a pleasant bicycle ride and other fun activities and games.
But the main events that fans were there to observe were the final day's criteriums that would determine the individual and team winners of the Joe Martin Stage Race.
The Pro Men 1 classification had the largest audience of the day and the most storylines heading into it.
Coming into Sunday's criterium, Rory Sutherland of Health Net presented by Maxxis was looking to hold onto the top spot he had earned in the first three stages.
For most of the day, Sutherland stayed within a steady pack that was about midway through the field.
As the race wore into its final stretch, however, Sutherland started to dig into the small lead pack and threatened to make it interesting.
Sutherland wouldn't have quite enough to pull off the upset victory in the stage, but finished high enough to pull off a repeat triumph in the overall individual standings of the Joe Martin Stage Race.
"Rory did very, very well at the Tour de Georgia two weeks ago, and he's really riding well," Dunn said. "So with him coming back to defend here when the Colavita / Sutter Home Cycling presented by Cooking Light team had the intention of shaking things up, that's a testament to Rory and the entire Health Net squad."
Colavita / Sutter Home Cycling presented by Cooking Light ended up winning the overall team points award, and got a big boost from Lucas Sebastian Haedo's victory in Sunday's criterium.
In the professional women's division, Cheerwine Cycling dominated by holding a majority of the top spots, and Robin Farina of Blowing Rock, Co. eventually won the individual title.
Dunn feels that the event was a success and is proud of the status it holds with some of the top cyclists in the country and even the world.
"There are a series of big races coming up out on the East Coast in two weeks," Dunn said. "So a lot of these cyclists use the Joe Martin as one of their key prep races."
See www. joemartinstagerace. com for complete results.
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