La Jolla Grand Prix Bicycle Criterium : Pierce Edges a Couple of Friendly Rivals

Clairemont’s Jeff Pierce got a little help from his friends Sunday as he edged Harvey Nitz and Alex Stieda in a 20-meter sprint to the finish of the Bud Light La Jolla Grand Prix bicycle criterium.

Pierce completed the 83 laps of the 0.6-mile course (50 miles) through the streets of downtown La Jolla in 1 hour 35 minutes. Nitz, who won the Wheat Thins Mayor’s Cup criterium Saturday in Carlsbad, finished half a bike length behind Pierce. Stieda finished third. The three riders finished nearly 20 seconds ahead of the pack.

In the main women’s event--a 41-lap, 25-mile race over the same course--Marianne Berglund finished first. Rebecca Twigg-Whitehead was second and Valarie Simonet third.

Pierce, Nitz and Stieda broke away halfway through the race. With 11 laps remaining, the three caught the back of the field. With six lap to go, they lapped the entire field of about 70 riders.

The three riders agreed from their first breakaway to work together for the remainder of the race, even though Pierce rides for a different team than Nitz and Stieda.

“There was no hesitation (to work together). We were all just happy to be out of that big group,” Pierce said. “We knew we would have the first three spots wrapped up that way.”

Pierce, 28, said knew he would have to work on his own on the final lap to counter the teamming up he would face from Nitz and Stieda. But the two teammates had communication problems going into the final laps, which may have helped Pierce.

“There was a little lack of communication,” Nitz said. “I was trying to help Alex and he was trying to help me and maybe that’s where we blew it.”

Sunday’s event also marked the end of competitive cycling for Eric Heiden, who finished in the middle of the pack.

Heiden, who won five gold medals in speed skating during the 1980 Olympics before switching to cycling later that year, will begin classes at Stanford University next week toward a degree in medicine.

Heiden, who had said earlier that this would be his last race, said he would spend five years at Stanford and then work in sports medicine after graduation.