Elk Grove, IL – After what team directeur Mike Tamayo referred to as “essentially a 32-kilometer lead-out,” the OUCH Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis delivered Tasmanian Karl Menzies to 2nd place behind Sebastian Haedo (Colavita/Sutter Home) in the Chicago Blackhawks Stage 2 road race at the Tour of Elk Grove today.

The 12-second time bonus Menzies earned on the line propelled him into the race lead. Menzies came into the second stage in 3rd place following Friday’s opening time trial, just 0:04 behind TT specialist Tom Zirbel (Bissell), who he now leads by 0:08. Menzies also leapfrogged 2nd place Brent Bookwalter (BMC), who was one second behind Zirbel entering Stage 2.

“I’ve been doing a bit of training for the TT because I knew it was a fairly short course,” Menzies said. “You go as hard as you can, but you never know. I felt really good and it was a great start. It set us up well for today.”

“The team came into the stage focused on keeping things together for a bunch kick at the end of the stage,” Tamayo added. “We were confident we could take Karl to the line with (John) Murphy and Pinner (Andrew Pinfold).”

Rather than being aggressive and trying to break up the field, OUCH Presented by Maxxis sat back a bit and watched the stage to develop. About two-thirds of the way through the 150 km stage, Glen Chadwick (Rock Racing) and David Veilleux (Kelly Benefits) slipped off the front, eventually opening a gap that reach 1:40.

With Chadwick at 0:24 back coming in, and Veilleux just 0:09 back, both riders posed a threat to the race lead. But it was OUCH Presented by Maxxis that took control of the front with two 16 km laps remaining in the race, lining up all eight of their riders and controlling the race for the final 32 km.

“The guys rolled through really well and rode a solid, steady tempo,” Tamayo said.

“The boys rode a long way on the front to the finish,” Menzies added. “But they rode strong, kept the pace high and prevented us getting swarmed. It took a lot of the pressure off me today.”

As a result of the hard tempo, the gap came down steadily, catching the duo in the closing kilometers.

With the final two kilometers run on a fairly technical route, Tamayo said it simply made sense to “keep things fast and control the race from the front,” he said. “I’m not joking, in the team car the last couple kilometers, it felt like being a gerbil in a cage. We’d make a turn, go 400 meters, make another turn, go 400 meters and make another turn.”

Murphy and Pinfold manned the front and kept the field strung out and under control behind the orange, red and black train of OUCH Presented by Maxxis.

“Big John took over and did a long turn at the front near the end,” Menzies said.

Coming out of the final turn with 500 meters to go, it was Pinfold on the front with Menzies on his wheel. “Pinner gave it full gas and I almost had trouble holding his wheel,” Menzies said.

Menzies opened up his sprint with 250 meters to go, while next to him, Alejandro Borrajo was finishing his lead-out for Haedo.

“I may have gotten boxed in a bit by Borrajo,” Menzies said, “but even so, I’m not sure I could’ve gotten around Haedo. He’s been one of the fastest guys around.”

Despite the 2nd place on the stage, Menzies was plenty consoled by pulling on the yellow leader’s jersey after the stage.

“We have a 110 km criterium Sunday,” Menzies said. “It’s a good situation. The guys are riding strong and we’re confident we can keep the lead tomorrow.”