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Botero wins Redlands opening stage
Colombian Santiago Botero (Rock Racing) took the win in Friday’s Beaumont Circuit Race, the first stage of the Redlands Cycling Classic — and his first win in America.
After working in a break with five other riders beginning in the second of five 17-mile laps, he attacked in the final lap and powered across the finish line a resounding 52 seconds ahead of Sebastian Haedo (Colavita-Sutter Home) and Burke Swindlehurst (Bissell) in second and third.
Botero’s epic ride put him in not only the leader’s jersey, but the sprinter’s and climber’s jerseys, as well — he wore all three on the podium. The resultant shuffling in the GC puts Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United) in second overall, followed by Francois Parisien (Symmetrics) and Swindlehurst. Thursday’s prologue winner, Rory Sutherland (Health Net-Maxxis) sits in fifth place, down one-and-a-half-minutes.
In the women’s race, four laps on the same fast and winding course resulted in a final break of 12 sprinting to an exciting finish. Katharine Carroll (Aaron’s) blazed across the line first, followed by Alex Wrubleski (Webcor Builders), and Leigh Hobson (Cheerwine).
Having come in with the first group, Mara Abbott (Team High Road) retained the leader’s jersey. Still in second overall, Carroll’s strong performance earned her enough bonus time to bring her within just 14 seconds of Abbott. Wrubleski follows closely in third.
Men
While many had predicted that Friday’s tight and windy course with roughly 700 feet of climbing per lap would leave little room for a significant breakaway, James Mattis (California Giant Berry Farms) and his team came into the day with other ideas.
“Our top guy in the time trial was around 50th,” Mattis said, “so it’s like, we’re not in the GC. Let’s go just race our bikes and see what happens.” Mattis rode off the front in the second lap, quickly gaining nearly 50 seconds on the field.
He wouldn’t be alone for long. Back in the field, Swindlehurst could tell that things were revving up. “You could see guys were struggling the first time we were going up through the hill,” he said. “That was kinda my cue to get up to the front for the next time up the hill. And, sure enough, the fireworks started going off.”
He said that Jeff Louder (BMC) was there and “he lit things up,” so Mattis followed him. The field caught them just past the KOM, and they sat up and regrouped. Botero made the next move, and Swindlehurst said, “I saw him and thought, that’s a guy you can’t let get up the road. So I chased him as hard as I could,” and they were eventually joined by Baldwin, Parisien, and Haedo.
Mattis heard on his team radio that five riders were bridging, but he had no idea who they were. And when he saw who was in the group — all serious contenders for the GC — he said he thought, “Whoa! ... This is dangerous. They can’t let us get too far.” He was shocked when they gained a 5-minute gap by the third lap.
With teammate Sutherland in the leader’s jersey, Health Net-Maxxis was one of a number of teams, including BMC, who revved up the pace of the peloton, trying to reel in the break, and at one point, the gap was as little as 1:52. But they weren’t to be caught.
Swindlehurst, Mattis, and Haedo all agreed that everyone in the break gave his full effort, but they also acknowledged that Botero’s pulls were simply stronger.
“You know, honestly, Santiago was rippin’ our legs off today,” Swindlehurst said. “Once we got to that last lap … I think he kinda just decided that he didn’t need us all that much, and he just cut us loose … He attacked so powerfully … on the climb before the park … He was in the middle of his cogset in his big chainring, and he went.”
Things worked out for Rock Racing just as they’d planned. “We spoke last night,” Botero said, “and we said … If we want to win the race, we need a breakaway on the front and Health Net to work a lot.”
Women
Right from the first lap, the women set a fast pace on the tight, winding course, and weaker riders began popping off the back. Just after the first climb, Meredith Miller (Aaron’s) initiated a successful break that included representation from strong teams: Erinne Willock (Webcor Builders), Stacy Marple (Cheerwine), Rachel Heal (TIBCO), and Iona Winter-Parks (Colavita/Sutter Home). Noticeably absent was a representative from race leader Abbott’s team.
“High Road was obviously the team to watch,” Wrubleski said. “Webcor basically just wanted to not let Mara get anymore time, and try to be there [in breaks] and get as many time bonuses as we could.”
Members of High Road took turns with other teams not represented in the break, like ValueAct Capital, to keep the break from increasing. They succeeded in reeling the break in just prior to the feed zone on the third lap.
A variety of teams continued attacking, but it was Aaron’s Miller who once again set up a decisive break. Early in the fourth lap, she went out on a solo break, and gained as much as a one-minute gap, staying free until just before the final turn into the finish line. She was caught by a group of 12 for a sprint finish that included women from the strongest teams: Webcor Builders, Cheerwine, Colavita / Sutter Homes, High Road, and ValueAct Capital.
Hobson said, “It was really fast. Aaron’s had a good lead-in for Kat Carroll, and then it was just basically position yourself properly.”
Stage winner Carroll was incredibly pleased with the performance of her team, and felt they had accomplished what they set out to do — and looked forward continuing on the same path in Saturday’s stage. “We’re racing every day to try to take time out of them [High Road] to try to win the bike race, and hopefully all the other teams are thinking the same way,” she said.
Abbott apparently could feel the level of energy in the field, and was impressed by it. “It was a really challenging day,” she said. “It was fun because a lot of the teams were riding really aggressively. That made the race very interesting.”
Race Notes:
Leah Goldstein (ValueAct Capital) placed 9th on the stage, and is now in 11th place on the GC. At 39 years old, this Israeli citizen is entering her first full season of NRC races after leaving racing in 2005 when she had a horrific crash at the Cascade Classic doing 40 miles per hour on a descent. She landed on her face, sustaining broken teeth, excessive road rash throughout her body, a broken arm, ribs, cheekbones, and pelvis. She has gradually come back to racing, winning the Mt. Hood Classic the last two years as an unattached rider, and is now aspiring to join the Israeli Olympic team in Beijing.
The men’s field will be noticeably smaller in Saturday's second stage, as 27 riders were listed as DNF at the end of stage 1, and 15 riders did not make the time cut, though it was increased to 11%. In the women’s race, five riders did not made the time cut, which was extended to 15%, and three riders were listed as DNF.
