The Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis left nothing to chance Sunday in the final stage of the International Tour de ‘Toona, a 30-lap, 30-mile criterium.

“The guys went to the front from the start and stayed there the whole race,” said team captain and super-domestique Tim Johnson. In fact, they literally stayed on the front until the end, when race leader Karl Menzies crossed the line first for his third stage win of the tour, and the team’s fourth, including the opening team time trial.

As was the case in Menzies’ previous stage wins, it was teammate Rory Sutherland providing the final lead-out after Frank Pipp had dropped the two riders off at the 450 meter mark.

“Rory took me to the final corner at 200 meters to go,” Menzies said. “It was the perfect lead-out. After he pulled off the front, I knew I was going to win the stage. Winning again was a reward for all the boys for the work they did this week. To top off the race with a win is as good as it gets.

“Everything went our way this week,” he continued. “All the plans worked. The team just clicked.”

Menzies was quick to give credit to two Health Net Presented by Maxxis teammates who were unable to ride the final stage Sunday. Matt Crane and John Murphy, the two youngest members of the squad, both were outside of the top 100 on GC after Saturday’s Stage 6. Because of the tight nature of the criterium course, the field for the finale was limited to the top 100 riders.

“Those guys stepped up more than anyone,” Menzies said. “They’re just kids, but they rode like bloody superstars. They were super impressive, and it was just a shame they couldn’t start the final stage today.”

Menzies added that the hour-long final stage was a microcosm of the entire week. “We went to the front and no one could get anywhere on us. The first five laps, I had to tell the guys to slow down a bit because they were going so hard. Everyone was motivated every day to win the race. I really wanted to win this last stage for the team.”

Sutherland, who finished second overall to Menzies, was also a prime beneficiary of his teammates’ hard work. “It was pretty special,” he said. “You don’t see this in too many teams. We put it all together. It’s amazing what you can do when that happens. You can’t do what Karl and I did by yourself, and we definitely wanted to do everything we could for Karl.

“Everyone on the team is pretty proud of the effort we all made,” he continued. “You could see a bit of it at the Nature Valley Grand Prix. But it all just came together this week.”

Health Net Presented by Maxxis definitely won the race the hard way. After winning the unusual opening-stage team time trial, Nathan O’Neill found himself in the yellow jersey by virtue of coming across the line first.

After Menzies took out stage two with the help of Sutherland, the two Health Net Presented by Maxxis riders occupied the top two spots overall. And that’s where they stayed for five more days.

“Defending a race lead from day one to the end is one of the most difficult things to do,” commented team directeur sportif Jeff Corbett. “Every other team has, in this case, five days to try and crack you. So for the guys to take over the front from the second day on and never crack is a tremendous achievement.”

“This was the first proper race where all the teams were hitting each other,”  Sutherland added. “Our guys kept the pace high. We had a strong group of guys controlling the race. We had a few things thrown at us, but we never lost control.”

Johnson noted that with Menzies and Sutherland at the top of the general classification, the team’s job was to keep them from working so they were fresh to cover any dangerous moves near the end of the stages.

“I think in the 16 hours of racing we did, those guys were in the wind for about two minutes of it,” Johnson quipped. “Not every team can race like this. It’s taxing. But knowing we have a guy who can finish like Karl, it’s easier for our guys to do the work. It was fun.”

For Menzies, the motivation to win has never been stronger. “What’s happened the last six weeks with my dad has caused me to re-evaluate things a bit more. I’m actually a bit more positive and more motivated.

“It doesn’t end here,” he added. “Every race we do, whether its me or anyone going for the win, it’ll be eight guys working for a common cause. There’s a selflessness on this team. It doesn’t matter if it’s for me, or for Nathan or Rory next time. If you do your job then everyone’s a part of the win.”

Results

Stage 7

1. Karl Menzies (TAS) Health Net Presented by Maxxis
2. Charles Dionne (CAN) Colavita-Sutter Home
3. Martin Gilbert (CAN) Kelley Benefit Strategies

Final General Classification

1. Karl Menzies (TAS) Health Net Presented by Maxxis  15:51:59
2. Rory Sutherland (AUS) Health Net Presented by Maxxis  @ 0:20
3. Chris Baldwin (USA) Toyota-United  @ 0:29