THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
Lowe, Buetler rule wind-whipped Oak Glen at Redlands
Health Net-Maxxis rolled into stage 2 of the Redlands Bicycle Classic as the clear favorites for a stage win. After putting four riders into the top 10 at Thursday’s time trial up Mt. Rubidoux, Health Net seemed a sure bet to defend Chris Wherry’s 12-second overall lead, and even extend its dominance over the Redlands field, in Friday’s 107-mile Oak Glen road race.
That is, until luck and Trent Lowe (Jittery Joe’s-Kalahari) took a hand. The former left Health Net bruised, battered and ill, and the latter took the stage win.
Luck launched the first attack roughly 100km into the race, and sent Health Net’s Mike Sayers and Mike Jones – both of whom had ridden at the front of the peloton for more than 50km - to the tarmac after a gust of wind knocked their wheels together. While both riders would return to the race bloodied and bruised, neither was on particularly good form, with Jones needing stitches for a chain-ring gash on his ankle, and Sayers covered in road rash.
Not long afterward, John Lieswyn and Gord Fraser, both of whom had been suffering from stomach problems, fell off the pace; both would limp into the finish nearly half an hour down.
And finally, heading into the final feed zone, the entire Health Net team was too busy driving the pace to pick up bottles for the final climb up Oak Glen.
“I think our luck was the worst it could have possibly been,” said team director Jeff Corbett. “No one thought John was as sick as he was going into today, and to have Sayers and Jones get that banged up didn’t help us either. We had to make the most of a bad situation.”
There was nothing bad about the situation for Lowe, who waited until the final kilometers to launch his attack. The 20-year old Australian shed both Wherry and Moninger and snatched the biggest win of his career.
“I’ve been staying in Redlands for the past couple of weeks and have ridden the course enough times to know where to attack,” Lowe said. “But my entire team worked hard to get me to the bottom of the climb.”
Indeed, after a relatively uneventful first half of the race, which was highlighted by a stiff headwind and countless flat tires, the Jittery Joe’s-Kalajari team found itself in something of a bind. The only sizable break of the day was more than a minute up the road, and race leader Wherry was in it. So the entire Jittery Joe’s team hammered at the front of the peloton to reel in the move, and as the group reached the base of the Oak Glen climb, Lowe was the only team member with relatively fresh legs.
The young Aussie had his work cut out for him. Moninger was almost a minute up the road with two other riders and only a handful of kilometers left. But after Liam Kileen, riding for the California Giant team, pulled both Wherry and Lowe up to Moninger, the stage was set and when Lowe made his move within the final kilometer, no one could respond.
“He’s a snappy, punchy climber, and when he made the acceleration I couldn’t follow. I’m a big diesel engine,” said Wherry, who crossed second, followed by Kileen in third. “He got 10 seconds on me really quickly.”
Lowe was not the only climber to showcase his skills at Oak Glen. In the women’s event, a group of five elite riders traded punches up the ascent, with Quark’s Annette Buetler taking the win, 10 seconds ahead of Kimberly Baldwin (T-Mobile) and 11 seconds ahead of race leader Christine Thorburn (Webcor).
Buetler and Baldwin, accompanied by Thorburn, Kristin Armstrong (T-Mobile) and Erinne Willock (Webcor), overtook a five-rider breakaway that, despite a gusting headwind, had managed to stay off the front for the majority of the race. Led by Quark’s Tina Mayolo Pic, the break had a 2:30 advantage at the base of the Oak Glen climb.
But the gap started to shrink when riders from Genèvieve Jeanson’s The Bicycle Store squad drilled it at the front, and the break was caught midway up the climb.
“Kim attacked and Erinne covered, then Kristin attacked and I covered,” said Thorburn after the race. “Then all of a sudden Annette was able to go and no one could close the gap.” Baldwin hung on for second, followed by Thorburn in third.
Redlands Bicycle Classic
Stage 1: Oak Glen Road Race
Men
1. Trent Lowe (Aus), Jittery Joe’s-Kalahari, 4:40.14
2. Chris Wherry, Health Net-Maxxis, at 0:12
3. Liam Kileen (GB), California Giant, at 0:18
4. Ben Brooks (Aus), Jelly Belly-PoolGel, at 0:34
5. Cameron Brenneman, Kahala-LaGrange, at 0:52
6. Danny Pate, Jelly Belly-PoolGel, at 1:04
7. Eric Wohlberg (Can), Symmetrics, at 1:13
8. John Hunt, California Giant, at 1:17
9. Anthony Colby, TRC, at 1:39
10. Andrew Bajadali, Vitamin Cottage, 1:39
Women
1. Annette Buetler (Swi), Quark, 4:15:09
2. Kimberly Baldwin, T-Mobile, at 0:10
3. Christine Thorburn, Webcor Builders, at 0:11
4. Erinne Willock, Webcor Builders, at 0:31
5. Kristin Armstrong, T-Mobile, at 0:59
6. Tina Pic, Quark, at 1:15
7. Katheryn Curi, Webcor Builders, at 1:39
8. Chrissy Ruitler, Ford-Basis, at 1:54
9. Christina Peick (Dk), Monex, at 1:54
10. Kimberly Anderson, Colavita, at 2:01
Overall
Men
1. Wherry, 4:49:09
2. Lowe, at 0:04
3. Kileen, at 0:28
4. Brooks, at 0:57
5. Wohlberg, at 1:19
6. Pate, at 1:20
7. Brenneman, at 1:42
8. Scott Moninger, Health Net-Maxxis, at 1:44
9. Hunt, at 1:52
10. Bajadali, at 1:56
Women
1. Thorburn, 4:25:15
2. Baldwin, at 0:06
3. Beutler, at 0:09
4. Willock, at 0:45
5. Armstrong, at 0:56
6. Pic, at 1:40
7. Curi, at 2:23
8. Ruiter, at 2:25
9. Genèvieve Jeanson (Can), The Bicycle Store, at 2:29
10. Anderson, at 2:37
