Menzies wins Sunny King Criterium

May 4th, 2009 by Ron Callahan 345 views No Comment

Karl Menzies of the OUCH Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis won a two-up sprint over Kyle Wamsley (Colavita/Sutter Home) to take the win in the Sunny King Criterium in Anniston, Alabama Saturday. OUCH Presented by Maxxis teammates John Murphy and Andrew Pinfold went one-two in the bunch kick by the rest of the peloton to take the 3rd and 4th places.

Menzies was part of what began as a six-rider break that rolled off the front of the field barely a quarter of the way into the 90-minute race.

“We were all covering early moves and sharing the load,” Murphy said. “Karl’s just happened to stick.”

But not by much. “We had a gap that went up to 15 seconds,” Menzies said. “Then it was down to 10 and then seven seconds. With about seven laps to go, I put in a couple hard turns at the front and some of the other guys dropped off, and it was just down to me at Kyle.

“Kyle rode really well,” Menzies said. “He was strong all race. I kind of sat on him for most of the last lap. I just really wanted the win. He led it out into the home straight and I hit out and got by him.”

Murphy and Pinfold led in the field just three seconds later.

“It was a good course,” Murphy said. “It wasn’t a “first guy out of the last corner wins” kind of sprint. It was long, slightly uphill run, and it gave you time to power past people coming to the line. I was leading out Pinner and just kept going to the line.”

“It was good to get the win today,” Menzies said. “It’s been a bit of a frustrating week. We’ve been close. Yesterday at Spartanburg, we were set up perfectly with Bobby (Lea), John and me leading out Pinner. But I took the second to last corner so tight I actually hit the barrier with my shoulder. That threw me off and slowed us up, and Pinner only got 3rd. We definitely could have won yesterday. We’re going well. This win felt like it was a long time coming.”

Menzies and the rest of the four-man squad from OUCH Presented by Maxxis finish up their Southeast criterium swing Sunday at the Sunny Springs Criterium just outside of Atlanta.