Nature Valley Grand Prix – Stage 4, Minneapolis, MN | Moses Images | Matthew Moses

After stage 3′s cancellation due to weather, stage 4 brought us to the Uptown Criterium held in Minneapolis. It is a fast crit course with lots of room to move around. The women’s race saw Optum working to keep thing under control and along the way Carmen Small even added to her lead. Theresa Cliff Ryan (ExergyTWENTY12) added another stage victory and holds an 8 point lead in the Exergy Sprint Competition. After having lost the leader’s jersey Wednesday night, the men’s Optum team played the aggressor with lots of attacks as the Kenda team tried to keep control. Optum put Michael Creed and Jesse Anthony into a four man break that looked promising. However, Kenda with the help of Bissel was able to pull the break back setting up for a sprint finish which Brad Huff of Jelly Belly won with Alejandro Borrajo and Frank Pipp rounding out the podium.