The original plan for HTC-Highroad was to put Madison world champ Leigh Howard in position to take the field sprint win in the TD Bank International in Philadelphia. Everything was going according to plan into the final short circuit before the finish, until Howard suffered a mechanical and was out of the running. But ready to take up the flag was Alex Rasmussen who jumped off the UnitedHealthcare lead-out train to grab the win ahead of Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Robert Förster (UnitedHeathcare.)
"It was not exactly what we planned but it turned out good," said Rasmussen after the race. "I liked the race and The Wall -- it's not too hard for me so I can get over it, because it's not that long and only a short steep climb."
Both HTC-Highroad and the other ProTeam Liquigas-Cannondale were under-manned compared to the domestic teams, starting only five and six riders respectively. And early in the race American Ted King of Liquigas-Cannondale crashed out with a suspected broken collarbone, leaving them with only five. This resulted in a less-controlled race compared to previous years where the big Euro teams hit the gas and shredded the field half-way through.
"We could not go up and control the race like we normally would, so we had to count on the other teams like Liquigas and UnitedHealthcare to work as well," said Rasmussen. In addition to that, the traditional heat and humidity were not present so the attrition rate was quite low, meaning a much larger field for the sprint. "A lot of other teams thought they had a good sprinter too so it was going to come down to a sprint."
As directeur sportif Allan Peiper explained afterwards, the team’s Plan A was affected by a mechanical at a crucial point. "Leigh Howard's derailleur failed at Lemon hill with three kilometres to go," says Peiper, "But we had maintained a dominant presence in the peloton and the guys were able to keep the group together."
Off the Lemon Hill climb the field came into the final two kilometres with UnitedHealthcare driving the front, looking to set up Förster. But their plan fell a few meters too short as the long drag to the line from the final turn, some 700 meters, was a little too long.
"The boys made a very good lead-out," the German said. "They worked for me all day and I even had a crash once on the wall. But the lead-out was a little too early. I started the sprint a little too early and it was a headwind, so they caught me five meters before the line. But this is the sport and thanks to my teammates for doing a perfect job today."
The pre-race favorite coming off an impressive Tour of California was Peter Sagan who finished second here last year. But the Liquigas-Cannondale rider was again a runner-up, due in part to his smaller team. "It was very difficult because we had only six riders and one rider crashed, so after that we only have five for the finish," Sagan said.
"I don't know if I will come back next year. Now it is two times I was second [here], so maybe..."
In addition to third place, the domestic teams also took home the King of the Mountain prize with Alex Hagman (Jelly Belly) who soaked up enough points riding in the breakaway. "We just wanted some television coverage and if we get in the breakaway then maybe go for the KOM," said Hagman. "I lucked out and it worked in my favour."
Once he had the prize sewn up, the reality of domestic races versus European races was illustrated for him. "The last time over the hill I was popped so I just had to ride in to the finish. This is one of the longest one-day races we do in the country so the last three circuits were just survival for me."
Jelly Belly also had another positive result with Ken Hanson taking fourth in the final sprint.
A familiar name was on the start line and also near the top of the finish results as former winner here Freddie Rodriguez (Team Exergy) is making a return to racing, and finished impressively just outside the top-ten.
Earlier in the race Glen Chadwick (Pure Black Racing) made his familiar early attack and was solo for a half-lap, building a gap of more than a minute on his own. He was joined later by four other riders and pushed their gap to more than nine minutes. But like previous years enough teams had a sprint hope to pitch-in with the chasing work, and that brought things back together for the final gallop and Rasmussen’s win.