Day one of the Nature Valley Grand Prix offered fans two-for-one racing in St. Paul, MN, with a morning time trial followed by an evening criterium.
Team Exergy's Andres Diaz finished the morning’s 7.7 mile time trial in eighth place, just 18 seconds off the lead. By the time Fred Rodriguez’s start time rolled around the rain had started, which likely slowed his time a bit. Despite the wet pavement, he still came in at 17th place, just 31 seconds behind first place winner Tom Zirbel of Team Optum.
The day’s second offering of pro racing came in the evening’s 40-lap St. Paul Downtown Criterium. Team Optum rode the front of the peloton the entire night in an effort to keep their man Zirbel in the leader’s jersey. Team Exergy, loaded with great sprinters, took advantage of the situation by sending out Carlos Alzate to win two intermediate sprints. Carlos gained enough points to give him a solid lead in the points competition, an especially sweet prize because the blue Sprinter’s Jersey is sponsored by Exergy Development Group.
With one and one-half laps to go, Carlos again pushed to the front of the pack, this time ushered by Logan Loader and Freddie. Their successful lead-out gave Carlos the stage win and put him solidly in the Exergy Sprinter's Jersey.
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