Photo credit - Brian Hodes www.veloimages.com

Los Angeles, USA – Jonathan Cantwell displayed grit and tactical prowess to position himself out of harm and in the best possible position to win the Dana Point Grand Prix and to also win the first National Racing Calendar (NRC) criterium of 2010.

The race started after a minute’s silence and a lap of honour for Jorge Alvarado (Bahati Foundation Racing Team) who was tragically killed in a vehicle accident in the days leading up to the event.

Joining Jonathan, as Fly V Australia teammates were Bernie Sulzberger (Australian criterium champion 2009), Ben Kersten (winner of the US PRO Crit champs 2009), David Kemp (2nd place Australian Championships – Road Race) and Hayden Brooks (5th place Australian Championships – Road Race).

Jonathan said, “The pace was on today, we saw that Rasain Bahati attacked from the start and it really didn’t let up from there.  We lost Kersten and Brooks in that crash with three laps to go so I just had to focus on my position from there.”

Cantwell went on to say, “You really needed to be at or very close to the front coming out of the last right hand turn.  From the front you have to go full gas to the finish.  I was actually third out of the last corner with the two Jamis riders in front of me.  The road opened up on the right and I had the speed and momentum to come over the top and take the win.”

The NRC is a collection of 26 races across America that encapsulates the multi disciplines of criteriums, time trials, one-day races and tours.  Fly V Australia has started the 2010 NRC campaign well by winning the first two events on the 2010 race schedule to lead the individual classification (Ben Day) and be second behind Team Jelly Belly in the teams classification.

Dana Point Grand Prix – results

1            Jonathan Cantwell (Fly V Austrailia)                                    1:29:49

2            Alejandro Borrajo (Jamis/Sutter Home p/b Colavita)

3            Anibal Borrajo (Jamis/Sutter Home p/b Colavita)

4            Kenneth Hanson (Team Type 1)                                                0:00:01

5            Justin Williams (Trek Livestrong U23)

6            Jeremiah Wiscovitch (Williams Cycling p/b SC VELO)

7            Jacob Keough (UnitedHealthcare p/b Maxxis)

8            Andrew Pinfold (UnitedHealthcare p/b Maxxis)                        0:00:02

9            James Williamson (Two Wheeler/Specialized)

10            Eric Marcotte (Team Pista Palace)

Story From: Christopher White