The penultimate stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix was an 86-mile tour through the cornfields of Southern Minnesota. But in its final miles, the route dropped into the river city of Mankato, and finished on a brutal 1000-meter climb that was repeated three times. It was the Midwest's approximation of a mountain-top finish, particularly after a long day on hot and humid rollers.

For the women, the cornfields were all prelude, with two small breakaways — one for 25 miles by Rushlee Buchanan (Apple Jazz) — that turned out to be fruitless. When the women hit the first circuit, Kristin Armstrong relieved her team of its duties and took over the race, churning up Mainstreet Hill. A cruel climb with three steep ramps, the last is 300 meters long at a 14 percent grade.

At the top, Armstrong already gapped the field by 20 seconds. Three laps later she'd put nearly a minute into second-place Catherine Cheatley (Cheerwine) and third-place Shelley Olds (PROMAN). It was a clear statement: The race leader after Friday's time trial is the most powerful cyclist in the domestic women's field by an order of magnitude.

"It was pretty subdued," said Olds about the 77-mile approach. "But when we got to this hill, it was all Kristin. You could only sit there and watch."

Armstrong sealed her win on this stage last year as well.

"It always hurts, you just dig as deeply as you can," she said.

Health Net erodes Toyota-United's strength
If the women's race is a foregone conclusion, the men's is a riddle that won't be answered until Sunday. While Toyota-United dominated Friday's criterium, Health Net wrote its name all over the road Saturday.

The early break

Photo: Casey B. Gibson

From the first mile of the race, the peloton boiled with attacks, counterattacks, and covering moves. It was like a game of speed chess, with pawns and kings moving quickly around the board, and then being taken. A feisty group of local amateurs was not shy about slapping the clock, either. For the first 50 miles, it was one of the most animated road races witnessed by at least one race referee.

Toyota did its best to manage the chaos, which had been engineered in part by Health Net. "We were absolutely trying to create confusion out there,” said Health Net's Tim Johnson.

It appeared to work. On a gently banking curve at mile 48, Kirk O'Bee, just 19 seconds out of yellow and wearing the orange sprinter's jersey, charged to the front and formed a break that included some fearsome names: Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health), Nathan O'Neill (Health Net), James Meadley (Jelly Belly), and a dozen others.

Toyota had placed three riders into the break, so race leader Ivan Stevic should have been safe back at the head of the peloton. "But I was feeling terrible, really tired," said Stevic. He'd worked hard on Friday night to win three sprint bonuses and buy a more comfortable lead. In a remarkable defensive move, Toyota sent Justin England and Heath Blackgrove back to the peloton to drive the chase and close the 30-second gap. It appeared that Stevic was in real trouble just halfway through the stage; O'Bee had become the leader on the road.

Eventually, though, the sun broke out of a heavy summer haze, Stevic was helped back onto the back step and the lead group were demoralized. Toyota had survived.

O'Neill on the front

Photo: Casey B. Gibson

Five miles later, the recovering gruppo compatto let Pat Lemieux, a powerful and enthusiastic local amateur with Bianchi-Grand Performance, get away. Soon he was joined by another young hopeful, Ian Stanford (Abercrombie & Fitch). VMG's Ben Bradshaw also bridged up, at which point a senior member of the peloton decided to supervise. Health Net's Johnson jumped across the 20-second gap, and helped encourage and drive the escapees — the better to keep Toyota under pressure. The gap maxed out at 90 seconds.

The circuit of pain
All but Bradshaw held out for 25 miles to the city limits of Mankato and the notorious circuit. But by now Toyota-United had lost its patience and hammered back to the leaders, getting within striking distance on the first climb of Mainstreet Hill. LeMieux's parachute went out on the first ramp, while Johnson and Stafford survived to the top. But a strong chase group absorbed them shortly thereafter, and it was anyone's race.

The Australians of Health Net moved to the front and hunted each climb with extreme prejudice. O'Neill and Rory Sutherland worked together, eventually setting up Sutherland for the win at the line in a pack of six, and putting O'Neill into second place on the GC. For Health Net, that makes four wins, out of five stages.

"We're all friends off the bike," he said. "But when we race? We take no prisoners."

Though he managed to cross only 8 seconds back — and another 20 seconds in front of second-place O'Bee — Stevic was visibly shaken afterward. While he remains in yellow, the effort Toyota-United has made in the past two days is clearly taking a toll on team strength.

Sunday's final stage in Stillwater is a formidable criterium that features Chilkoot Hill, a 24 percent grade for 300 meters believed to be the steepest hill in any American crit. How steep is that? When race organizers tried to place barricades along the road for the first time, the barriers merely slid down the hill. Needless to say, racers will use everything they have to keep from doing likewise — and fans get to watch without barriers.