Cycling: Menzies Sprints to 2nd in Beaufort Memorial Criterium Karl Menzies of the OUCH Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis sprinted to a 2nd place finish at the Beaufort Memorial Criterium Tuesday evening, winning the bunch kick.
Beaufort, S.C. – Karl Menzies of the OUCH Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis sprinted to a 2nd place finish at the Beaufort Memorial Criterium Tuesday evening, winning the bunch kick behind solo winner Tom Soleday (Team Mtn. Khakis), who also won Sunday’s Historic Roswell Criterium.
Menzies was in a late move with Soleday that was absorbed, however Soleday went solo, “and there really wasn’t anyone left to chase, from our team or the others,” Menzies said.
Instead, Menzies found the wheel of teammate John Murphy on the back stretch in the last lap. Murphy took him through the final corner and Menzies handily took the spri nt for 2nd place.
“All our guys rode well today,” Menzies said. “We were just a bit outnumbered, but a few other teams were in the same boat, too.”
The teams with the numbers did their best to take advantage of it, with Soleday’s team being one of the aggressors.
“We were all covering moves at the start of the race,” Menzies said. “There were so many early moves and you need to try to cover everything. Pinner (Andrew Pinfold) covered a couple early moves. I was in a few. John covered a few. Bobby (Lea) covered some, too. Nothing stuck, but it still takes energy to get in them.”
When a group of four finally went off the front, OUCH Presented by Maxxis wasn’t represented. “We put Bobby on the front and he worked with guys from a couple other teams to keep it to maybe 12 seconds, with the intent of bringing it back to set up a sprint,” Menzies explained.
The move came back, but just as soon as it was re-absorbed, the counter-attacks started. “John and I were covering moves with six to go, five to go. I got in the last one, but give Soleday credit. He’s riding really well here. This series is a big focus for their team.
“It’s frustrating not to get the win, but we’ll keep after it,” he said.
Menzies and the rest of the four-man squad get their next shot soon – Wednesday night at the Downtown Walterboro (S.C.) Criterium.
