Bernard van Ulden dug deep at the end of a grueling Stage 5 at the Nature Valley Grand Prix on Saturday and pedaled on to a solo victory.
The third-year rider for Jelly Belly p/b Kenda finished second overall and earned the Most Aggressive Rider jersey on two stages.
“Bernard was on fire,” said team director Danny Van Haute. “He made all the right moves.”
Van Ulden said he hadn’t been feeling in top form during the race that day, but when he and another rider built a slim lead with just a few laps to go, he didn’t hesitate.
”I just really put my head down and kept it going all the way to the line,” van Ulden said. “It was pretty nice. I was pretty darn wasted by the time I came across.”
Van Ulden, along with teammates Will Dickeson, Alastair Loutit, Brad Huff, Ken Hanson, Emerson Oronte, Sergio Hernandez and Jeremy Powers represented Jelly Belly p/b Kenda in the five-day event, the highest-ranked stage race on the National Racing Calendar.
Hanson also made the podium, placing third in two stages.
“We were ready to race hard and smart,” Van Haute said. “The team did everything we needed to do, and the results show this.”
The Jelly Belly p/b Kenda team also stayed busy off the bike during the event. The riders spoke to kids at the Cannon Falls library about bicycle safety, did a 25-mile ride with employees of Kinetic, a team sponsor, and held a meet & greet with kids in Stillwater, signing autographs and handing out Jelly Belly jelly beans.
This weekend the team will divide and conquer, with riders heading to the Manhattan Beach Grand Prix in California, the Glencoe Grand Prix in Illinois and the Under-23 Nationals in Augusta, Ga.
