BISSELL continued its domination by taking another stage win in the final day at Merco. Ben Jacques-Maynes wrapped up a perfect race weekend for BISSELL with his repeat victory at the Almond Blossom Road Race and the overall race win. Teammate, Jay Thomson, finished third for the day.
The fourth and final day at Merco was held under cold and wet conditions with winds that increased over the course of the day. The pro men’s race was five laps of a 24 mile circuit, totaling 120 miles on undulating roads. On the opening lap, 2 riders got away but BISSELL was comfortable allowing them a bit of distance. On the back side of the first lap, a huge crash took down a third of the field allowing the lead duo to increase their gap to almost 3 minutes. No BISSELL riders went down in the crash, and the field sat up and allowed everyone to regroup. On the next lap another unforeseen situation developed when the field was neutralized for 4 minutes in order to let the master’s field pass while the lead group pressed on. This allowed the gap to blow up to 11 minutes! Going into the final lap, BISSELL launched the chase and brought the gap back down to 6 minutes. The catch was made on the final rollers leading into the finish. Teammates, Frank Pipp and Jay Thomson, led Jacques-Maynes out for the sprint. BJM jumped across for the win and Thomson took third in a photo-finish.
This final day capped off an outstanding tour for the team. BISSELL swept the GC podium with BJM taking first, Thomson second, and Rob Britton third. Jay also secured the sprint/KOM combination jersey.
-BISSELL Pro Cycling
