THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
Serbian outkicks Health Net as Pic nicks T-Mobile at Sea Otter
When it comes to pro road racing at the Sea Otter Classic, you can always expect the unexpected. Things are just different at the Otter. On Thursday the pro stage race kicked off in Monterey, California, with a rollicking downhill time trial that sent riders spiraling through the famous “corkscrew,” a twisting section of banked turns at the Laguna Seca Raceway. On Friday, more than 100 riders in the pro men’s field were pulled after a Health Net-Maxxis-fueled break lapped the majority of riders in the 96.5km, 27-lap race.
As expected, Health Net overpowered the watered-down pro men’s field of 126 riders (some of the top domestic teams chose to skip Sea Otter to focus on the upcoming Tour de Georgia). But even though the team ended the day with Chris Wherry at the top of the GC standings, it wasn’t an entirely satisfying performance for the men in green.
However, it was an entirely satisfying day for a Serbian rider named Ivan Stevic, who beat the odds and won the stage with a wicked finishing kick. Stevic, who rides for Aerospace Engineering-VMG, a team made up of a combination of American and European riders, survived the Health Net onslaught and won a four-man sprint at the end. The former Serbian national champion beat Wherry and Doug Ollerenshaw of Health Net, and an impressive David Clinger of Webcor.
“Until this day, I was an unknown,” said Stevic. “But not anymore.”
Health Net riders went to work early in the race, establishing the decisive break, and then shelling riders from the lead group one-by-one until, with 36km left, they had four — Wherry, Fraser, Ollerenshaw and Jones — in a nine-man break that was shredding the field. With Wherry pushing the pace on the climb, the break ended up lapping most of the field.
“In the middle of the race, I felt great,” said Wherry. “But I have to say, I don’t like climbs like that, those short, steep climbs.”
With its fierce sprinter Fraser in the break and three teammates to help deliver him to the line, the race appeared to be securely in Health Net’s hands as dozens of lapped riders packed it in. But with four laps left, suddenly there was a split in the group: Wherry, Ollerenshaw, Clinger and Stevic were in front, but Fraser was not.
Clinger said he was mystified at Health Net’s decision. “Health Net set off the attack, and that ended up spitting Gord off the back,” he said. “And that was basically a sure win for him. They did that themselves, I was really surprised.”
Wherry said the goal, delivered to him from team management, was to “attack and blow it wide open.”
“I thought we had such good numbers,” Wherry added, “but you can’t underestimate Clinger.”
And now Wherry knows you also can’t underestimate Stevic. With Fraser gone, the group of four came into the finish. At 250 meters to go, the 25-year-old Stevic went to the front, shooting across the line and sending the message that there’s another strong finisher to be aware of in the U.S.
But all was not lost for Health Net. Wherry, who looked so strong in winning the Redlands Classic two weeks ago, heads into the final stage, a tough, hilly 169km race being held on a 16km circuit, holding the lead.
“It’s a little bit frustrating for me,” said Fraser, “but we’re still in contention.”
Pic and roll
True to form, right from the start of the 61km women’s race, the T-Mobile team rode like they owned this race, either initiating or covering all of the breakaway attempts. But in the end, the one thing the team couldn’t do was prevent Tina Pic of Team Quark from taking the win with a blazing sprint.
After a few half-hearted attacks in the first half of the race, the first significant action took place just after the halfway point when Kristin Armstrong, Ina Teutenberg (both T-Mobile), Christine Thorburn (Webcor Builders) and Pic got a small gap on the 300-foot climb to the top of the corkscrew. That combination looked like a real threat, but it turned out to be just one of several moves in the second half of the race.
With 16km to go, Teutenberg, Laura Van Gilder (Team Quark) and Canadian Erinne Willock (Webcor Builders) worked up a small gap that initiated a larger break joined by Armstrong and Brooke Ourada of T-Mobile, Kim Anderson of Colavita-Cooking Light, Lynn Gaggioli of Monex and Thorburn of Webcor.
Again it looked like a decisive move, especially when the gap grew to 20 seconds with two laps to go, but again the main field chased the group down. As the bell lap sounded, the main group was together, heading into the final climb.
“Attacks were going everywhere,” said Pic. “I almost got dropped. Erinne went up the right side, and I just jumped on her.”
While the majority of the race had been controlled by T-Mobile, the lap that counted, the last one, was all Webcor as Thorburn and Willock sparked the winning move on the climb to the corkscrew. “[Thorburn] pulled it over the top, and [Willock] pulled it all the way around,” said Pic.
“I tried to lead out Christine for the sprint,” Willock said. “I led it out for about a kilometer, but Tina got it.”
So Pic heads into the final stage of the women’s race with a lead of four seconds over Armstrong and 11 seconds over Thorburn. How does she see her chances in the final day’s 136km road race? “We’ll see,” she said. “[T-Mobile] is sure not going to make it easy.”
Sea Otter Classic Road Stage Race
Monterey, CA. April 14-16
Laguna Seca Circuit Race
Men
1. Ivan Stevic (Sb), Aerospace Engineering-VMG, in 2:27:41
2. Chris Wherry, Health Net-Maxxis, same time
3. David Clinger, Webcor, s.t.
4. Doug Ollerenshaw, Health Net-Maxxis, at 0:03
5. Gord Fraser, Health Net-Maxxis, at 0:10
6. Daniel Ramsey, Seasilver, at 0:22
7. Mike Jones, Health Net-Maxxis, at 0:29
8. Cameron Hughes, Subway, at 0:29
9. Ben Jacques-Maynes, Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada, at 0:33
10. Remi McManus, Subway, at 0:33
Women
1. Tina Pic, Quark, 61km in 1:42:38
2. Kristin Armstrong, T-Mobile, same time
3. Christine Thorburn, Webcor, s.t.
4. Erinne Willock, Webcor, at 0:05
5. Helen Kelly, Quark, at 0:11
6. Sima Trapp, Subway, s.t.
7. Michelle Beltran, Colavita-Cooking Light, s.t.
8. Laura Van Gilder, Quark, s.t.
9. Kimberley Cunningham, Morgan Stanley-Specialized, s.t.
10. Catherine Powers, TDS-Schwalbe, s.t.
Overall
Men
1. Wherry, 2:30:23
2. Stevic, at 0:06
3. Fraser, at 0:15
4. Clinger, at 0:16
5. Ollerenshaw, at 0:21
6. Ramsey, at 0:34
7. Jones, at 0:41
8. Jacques-Maynes, at 0:45
9. Hughes, at 0:46
10. McManus, at 0:52
Women
1. Pic, 1:45:32
2. Armstrong, at 0:04
3. Thorburn, at 0:11
4. Ina Teutenberg, T-Mobile, at 0:21
5. Lauren Franges, Victory Brewing, at 0:21
6. Van Gilder, at 0:24
7. Kori Seehafer, T-Mobile, at 0:26
8. Kimberly Baldwin, T-Mobile, same time
9. Mari Holden, T-Mobile, s.t.
10. Chrissy Ruiter, Ford-Basis, at 0:28
For full results in PDF format, click here.
