THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
Epic road race fails to shuffle overall at Mt. Hood
The Mt. Hood Cycling Classic’s Wy’East Road Race lived up to all expectations, delivering suffering, anguish and heartbreak for many of the day’s stage and overall contenders, and ultimately relief for the GC leaders of the pro men’s and women’s fields.
Saturday’s epic 89.5-mile slog from Cooper Spur Mountain Resort to Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort dished up 9200 feet of elevation gain and saw a pair of first-time Mt. Hood stage winners in Darren Lill (Navigators Insurance) and Felicia Gomez (Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings). Neither rider was able to take over the general classification, however —Nathan O’Neill (Health Net-Maxxis) and Leah Goldstein (Symmetrics) held onto their respective leader’s jerseys. Both won the overall here last year.
After an onslaught of attacks by Gomez and teammate Kristin Sanders, two-time Mt. Hood winner Goldstein — a former Israeli soldier and world bantamweight kickboxing champ — called Saturday the “most painful day of my life.”
Gomez soloed across the line to win the stage, but her 1:24 advantage over Goldstein was well short of the 2:47 needed to take the race lead.
The 38-year-old race leader finished second, then collapsed on the ground near the finish line, where she remained until the podium presentation nearly 30 minutes later.
“They just kept attacking me and attacking me,” Goldstein said.
Five seconds was all that separated O’Neill from 2006 runner-up Phil Zajicek (Navigators Insurance) heading into Saturday’s stage. But it proved to be five seconds too many for Zajicek, whose repeated attacks in the closing kilometers could not shed the Aussie. On a stage with no time bonuses available, Zajicek sprinted across the line to take fourth, with O’Neill right behind in fifth.
What proved to be a day of relief for O’Neill, proved a day of frustration for Goldstein and Lill, and a day of “what could have beens” for Zajicek, the Aaron’s team, and Toyota-United’s Burke Swindlehurst and Stefano Barberi, the survivors of an eight-man breakaway. Swindlehurst and Barberi tried to use their numerical advantage against Lill in the closing kilometers, but the South African was too strong, winning the stage by 21 seconds ahead of Swindlehurst. Justin England (Toyota-United) surged out of a thinned-out field to take third on the day, 28 seconds down.
“I knew Lill was the danger man in the breakaway,” Swindlehurst said. “Stefano was awesome today, really working hard for me, and I wanted to pay it back with a stage win, but Lill was just too strong. He was working hard in the break all day. He deserved the win.”
Respect went all the way around the finish line, as Zajicek congratulated O’Neill, and the Aussie likewise praised Zajicek’s efforts.
“I lost count of how many times Phil attacked me,” O’Neill said. “He did what he needed to do, and I did what I needed to do, which was sit on his wheel. He rode a great race.”
Gomez, who locked up her Queen of the Mountains jersey, had similar words of praise for Goldstein.
“If Leah ends up winning the overall, she deserves it,” Gomez said. “We threw everything we had at her. She is very tough, very, very tough.”
All that remains in the 2007 Mt. Hood Cycling Classic is Sunday’s technical downtown criterium, which starts in front of title sponsor Full Sail Brewing Company. It’s a course that race organizers describe as “incredibly challenging,” and one that will “throw everything at the riders.” It’s also Zajicek’s last opportunity to take five seconds from O’Neill.
“The race isn’t over yet,” Zajicek said. “We’ll do everything we can to win.”
Navigators stack early break
Overcast skies and cooler temperatures greeted the riders at Cooper Spur Mountain Resort, positioned at 3400 feet elevation, and the finish point of Thursday’s demanding circuit race.
The day’s primary breakaway was established 5 miles in, just before the field turned off Highway 35 and onto the bumpier two-lane Forest Service Road 44. Navigators Insurance was on the move, clearly looking to give Zajicek a free ride. The eight-man group contained Navigators’ Lill, Matt Cooke and Bernard Van Ulden as well as Swindlehurst and Barberi (Toyota-United), Ryan Trebon (Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada), Sam Johnson (Hagens Berman) and Morgan Schmitt (Priority Health-Bissell). The highest placed rider in the group, Lill, sat 4:10 behind O’Neill.
Initially it was solely the three Navigators riders driving the group, but as their lead stretched to over one minute, the rest of the break began to contribute. Health Net-Maxxis didn’t have a man up front, and immediately positioned Matt Crane, Doug Ollerenshaw and Roman Kilun at the front to lead the chase. Zajicek sat behind O’Neill, flanked by his teammate, stage 3 winner Glen Chadwick, who began the day fourth overall, 1:56 down.
By mile 12 the leaders’ gap had stretched to 1:45 as the course led up the day’s first category 1 climb over Forest Service Road 44. At the day’s first KOM point Barberi took the maximum points uncontested. As the breakaways descended down Forest Service Road 44 at speeds over 50mph, their gap had extended to 2:40.
At the bottom of the nearly 20-mile descent the gap reached 3:30 as the leaders rolled through the day’s first feed zone at mile 33 toward the second categorized climb of the day, the category 2 Tygh Ridge Summit, where Barberi again took the KOM points. The Health Net-led field passed over the KOM, 42 miles into the stage, four minutes later.
As the cloud cover burned off, temperatures reached 85 degrees and riders began dousing themselves with water. With the exception of a few flat sections and quick downhill grades, the following 35 miles was nearly all uphill, with a 4500-foot ascent to the finish at Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort.
As the gap came down to 3:05, Van Ulden was first to show signs of fatigue, yo-yoing off the back of the break at mile 65. Three miles later he was dropped, and Schmitt began to trail off. Two miles later Trebon had a mechanical, and the breakaway was down to six riders.
“My cogset came unthreaded,” said the Kodak Gallery rider, who was racing without a team or support. “My legs felt good, but a mechanical like that deflates you. I knew I wasn’t going to catch back on, so I just got neutral support and waited for the field.”
Behind, the field also began to whittle down. Chris Lieto (California Giant Strawberries-Specialized) and Aaron Tuckerman (Team Rubicon-Orbea) attempted to bridge. But after a few miles the pair had only gained 35 seconds.
Cooke was next to come off the break at mile 71, followed quickly by Johnson. Ahead, Swindlehurst, Barberi, Lill and Schmitt pushed on with Tuckerman and Lieto 1:30 back and the field at 2:10. The dynamic changed, however, when Johnson rejoined the break on a slight descent while Lieto and Tuckerman were absorbed by the strung-out peloton.
With 17 miles to go, the gap was down to 1:30, and the front of the field grew antsy. A move formed with Ryder Hesjedal (Health Net-Maxxis), Chadwick and England. In that group were both Navigators’ and Health Net’s next-best placed GC riders, as well as England, the winner of Mt. Hood’s climbing stage in 2005. Though they were reeled in, the same trio would go off the front later in the stage.
Johnson was again dropped from the break as the field approached with 1km to the day’s final feed zone at mile 77. Upon hearing the field was within one minute, Swindlehurst took to the front and upped the pace, causing Schmitt to trail off. Only three of the original eight breakaways remained: Swindlehurst, Barberi and Lill. The advantage was Toyota-United’s, but with Zajicek five seconds behind O’Neill, Navigators had a bigger goal in mind.
Behind, Health Net backed off the pace.
“For a while we were focusing on the break, and on Lill,” O’Neill said. “But the break started to take care of itself, and we switched to focusing on Zajicek.”
The gap stretched to two minutes at mile 81 with just 10km remaining. The headwind the riders faced on the climb up to Mt. Hood Meadows was evident in their unzipped jerseys, which flapped behind their backs. The field had been broken down to just 25 riders.
With 9km to go, Lill and the Toyota-United riders began to disagree about the shared work in driving the break. Arms were waved, heads were shaken, but the riders pushed on, while behind England, who sat 3:03 down on GC, attacked and was again joined by Chadwick and Hesjedal. Six miles remained.
As the field made a right turn on to Highway 35, the England group was pulled back, but the field was strung out single file. Chadwick led the bunch, followed by Hesjedal, England, Zajicek, O’Neill, Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health-Bissell) and Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United). As Zajicek began what was the first in a series of attacks, England jumped again with 5km to go.
Tired of Swindlehurst and Barberi’s efforts to shed him, and aware that Toyota was sending reinforcements, Lill attacked the breakaway and quickly gained 100 meters with 4km to go. One kilometer later, his lead had stretched to 16 seconds. Barberi was dropped, while Swindlehurst pushed on alone with England gaining.
Behind the four solo riders Zajicek attacked O’Neill repeatedly. But the 5-percent grade and steady headwind worked against the Navigators rider. Zajicek’s repeated efforts never shed O'Neill, but did lose everyone else, and the two sprinted to the line, passing Barberi at the end. Hesjedal finished in the same time as Barberi, with Jacques-Maynes crossing two seconds later.
“People don’t usually think of me as a climber, but I can fight for my life when I need to. Phil has improved a lot of the last few years, but so have I," said O'Neill.
Zajicek was gracious in defeat, shaking O’Neill’s hand following the stage, but lamented the lack of a steeper pitch in the final 10km. This year’s race replaced the famed Three Summits Road Race course, which was lost last November when floods washed away a small bridge at the base of the second major climb.
“This course was meant to be harder than last year, but last year’s course was actually more challenging,” Zajicek said. “It was tough. A 5 percent gradient and a headwind made it the perfect climb to just follow my wheel. I would accelerate and open a small gap, but I couldn’t get away.
“We rode a great race. We stacked the breakaway, and I did everything I could. And it’s great that we got the stage win. But five seconds is so close. We have 60 minutes left [in Sunday’s criterium] to try to make it up.”
Goldstein takes a hundred punches
After Goldstein’s dominant performance in Friday’s time trial, the Aaron’s women knew what they needed to do — attack her early and often. And they did just that, but the dual Israeli/Canadian citizen responded to each and every attack for the first 60 miles until only Gomez and Sanders remained.
“They killed me from the start,” Goldstein said. “I never rode so hard in my life. I was the world kickboxing champion in 1987, and it was easier than this. I tried to make some allies, but nobody would help me today. So finally I made a deal with Aaron’s. I told them I would pull through with them to the base of the final climb if they would just stop attacking me.”
With 5km to go Sanders attacked and Goldstein responded. Once back together Gomez counterattacked and rode in to take her first NRC win. Goldstein, who said she burned over 4000 calories and ate only one energy bar during the stage, cut her losses and kept within 90 seconds of the Aaron’s rider.
“I knew I was in trouble,” Goldstein said. “I just tired to keep Felicia in my sight.”
Aussie Katie Mactier, the winner of stages 1 and 2, faltered in her first road race since returning to the road after racing an international track schedule. Mactier finished 19th, 18:33 behind Gomez, and dropped to 14th overall.
“It was a long, hot, hard stage,” Mactier said. “And it was surprisingly on the rivet from the start. Aaron’s was attacking straight away. I was suffering a bit from cramps and nutrition. To be honest I was running blind a bit all week in terms of how my road-racing fitness might be. Towards the end of the stage I just found a group and rode it in.”
Mt. Hood Cycling Classic
Wy’East Road Race
Men
1. Darren Lill (RSA) ,Navigators Insurance, 89.5mi in 3:46:08 (23.08 mph)
2. Burke Swindlehurst, Toyota-United, at 0:21
3. Justin England ,Toyota-United, at 0:28
4. Phil Zajicek, Navigators Insurance, at 0:36
5. Nathan O'Neill (Aus), Health Net-Maxxis, same time
6. Ryder Hesjedal (Can), Health Net-Maxxis, at 0:40
7. Stefano Barberi, Toyota-United Pro Cycling, s.t.
8. Ben Jacques-Maynes, Priority Health/Bissell, at 0:42
9. Aaron Tuckerman, Team Rubicon, at 0:53
10. Glen Chadwick (NZl), Navigators Insurance, s.t.
Women
1. Felicia Gomez, Aaron's, 89.5mi in 4:43:43 (18.4 mph)
2. Leah Goldstein (Can), Symmetrics, at 1:23
3. Kristin Sanders, Aaron's, at 2:05
4. Katharine Carroll, Aaron's, at 6:29
5. Marg Fedyna (Can), Bicycle John's Serious Cycling, s.t.
6. Julie Beveridge (Can), Bicisport, s.t.
7. Flavia Oliveira, Team TIBCO, at 6:35
8. Beverley Harper (GB), Webcor Builders, at 6:44
9. Carmen McNellis, Aaron's, at 6:57
10. Suz Weldon, Wines of Washington, at 6:59
Overall
Men
1. Nathan O'Neill (Aus), Health Net-Maxxis, 12:47:28
2. Phil Zajicek, Navigators Insurance, at 0:05
3. Ben Jacques-Maynes, Priority Health-Bissell, at 0:32
4. Glen Chadwick (NZ), Navigators Insurance, at 2:13
5. Cameron Wurf (Aus), Priority Health-Bissell, at 2:44
6. Justin England, Toyota-United, at 2:55
7. Ryder Hesjedal (Can), Health Net-Maxxis, at 3:01
8. Chris Lieto, California Giant-Specialized, at 3:03
9. Ben Kneller, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, at 3:33
10. Darren Lill (RSA) Navigators Insurance, at 3:34
Women
1. Leah Goldstein (Can), Symmetrics, 13:16:48
2. Felicia Gomez, Aaron's, at 1:24
3. Kristin Sanders, Aaron's, at 3:32
4. Beverley Harper (GB), Webcor Builders, at 6:53
5. Katharine Carroll, Aaron's, at 7:01
6. Julie Beveridge (Can), Bicisport, at 7:15
7. Suz Weldon, Wines of Washington, at 8:41
8. Carmen McNellis, Aaron's, at 10:38
9. Flavia Oliveira, Team TIBCO, at 11:15
10. Marg Fedyna (Can), Bicycle John's Serious Cycling, at 11:24
