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Amber Neben, Ben Day win the prologue at Redlands
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Grimaces, frowns and faces of pain abounded during Thursday’s opening prologue at the 2009 Redlands Bicycle Classic. While the 5km journey from downtown Redlands to the top of Sunset Drive wasn’t long, it packed a serious punch in the form of 1000 feet of elevation gain, most of it within the final steep kilometer. The lion’s share of the 350 men and women racers spent the final meters out of the saddle, suffering their way to the summit.
Australian Ben Day (Fly V Australia) and American Amber Neben (Nurnberger-ShoAir) proved they had the best climbing legs, as both sped into the finishing gate with the fastest times on the day for the individual effort.
Prologue, 5km (3.1 miles)
Men's Prologue winner and GC leader: Ben Day (Fly V Australia) in 9:19.88 (32.14 kph/19.97 mph).
Women's Prologue winner and GC leader: Amber Neben (Nurnberger-ShoAir) in 10:40.67 (28.08 kph/17.45 mph)
Up Next: Friday's stage 1 is the Beaumont Circuit Race. Men do four laps for 155.76km (96.78 miles). Women do three laps for 116.82 km (72.58 miles).
“You need to do one effort at the beginning of this course, then save some for the last finish, and then hold on over the top,” said Day, who finished in 9:19.88. “You get a little rest in the middle with the false flat. But the last 700 meters are a real bitch of a stretch. It’s all or nothing there.”
Day was just the 41st of 200 men to start on the day, and his time knocked early leader Brent Bookwalter of BMC out of the hot seat. For the next hour Day and Bookwalter weathered the storm as rider after rider came close to unseating their top times. A few came close — last year’s runner up Chris Baldwin (Rock Racing) finished just 8.56 back and ’08 prologue winner Rory Sutherland (Ouch-Maxxis) came in 18:34 down. Their times were good enough to finish 4th and 7th, respectively.
Last to hit the course was Bissell’s hulking time trial rider Tom Zirbel. The big man came close, posting the third fastest time of the day in 9:26.13, just 6.25 on Day.
“Even going 95 percent I’m going to go as good as some of the top guys in the flat, but going into that steep section I tried to conserve some energy — but I still died,” Zirbel said. “It was about as well as I could have hoped to do on a course like this.”
When all was said and done the time gaps to Day were small — 70 riders sit within a minute of the Australian on GC.
With three stages remaining, both BMC and Bissell appear in perfect position to try and unseat Day atop the leader board. BMC’s Jeff Louder, winner of last year’s Tour of Utah, is in fifth, just 11.80 down, with teammate Florian Stalder in 11th, 23.14 back.
Bissell has Ben Jacques-Maynes in sixth at 12.23 and Jeremy Vennell in 13th, 25.59 down.
“We’re not going to sit and be content with third — it’s not going to be wait until the last climb of the day, we’re going to attack from the gun,” Zirbel said. “Fly V is a strong team. They have good experience. I don’t doubt they’ll be able to put up a good fight.”
Indeed the Australian team successfully defended Day’s lead at last week’s San Dimas stage race. Day won that race’s opening time trial, and his team rode the front for two days to preserve the victory. Whether they can defend Day’s advantage over the next three stages, however, is yet to be seen. A victory at Redlands would be the biggest in the team’s short history, and the first for Day at the Californian race.
“There are 200 people here, and probably 100 strong guys. It’s going to be hard to predict,” Day said. “There could be an opportune break that gets away, and without knowing who is going good, it’s going to be hard to know how much leeway to give. But this is the first step.”
Two down for Neben
Neben took her first step toward becoming the first three-time female winner at Redlands by taking a commanding victory in the prologue. Clad in the white, rainbow-emblazoned jersey from her 2008 UCI world time trial championship, Neben blazed home in 10:40.67, nearly 27 seconds up on second-place Mara Abbott (Columbia-Highroad). Neben would have finished 109th place in the 194-strong men’s pro category.
“I wouldn’t say it was a surprise, even though I don’t come into this race with peak form,” Neben said. “It’s a time trial and I still expect a lot out of myself. I felt like I was capable of winning today. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”
Neben was the last of 138 women to hit the course, and handily caught the two riders who finished 30 seconds and one minute, respectively, before her. The Southern California native won the Redlands Classic in 2007 and 2006. In ’06 Neben won ahead of Abbott, who was also the runner up in Redlands last year by just one second.
“It’s a course I’ve done a few times before and I really like it,” Abbott said.
Abbott finished just one second ahead of her Columbia-Highroad teammate Ina Teutenberg. The German took the overall win at last week’s San Dimas stage race after taking the lead from Abbott, who won the opening time trail.
Teutenberg said she liked Columbia-Highroad’s chances in Redlands.
“It will be hard work to beat (Neben),” Teutenberg said. “I have to go get the time bonuses now from everybody. I was planning to do that anyway. (Sunday’s) Sunset Road Race is a hard race to control, especially if you don’t have your team around.”
The question is now whether Neben’s team can do the work. The American switched to the German Nurnberger squad in the off season. She is racing at Redlands on a composite team called Nurnberger-ShoAir. The team is comprised of three Nurnberger teammates, two members of the United States Women’s Cycling Development Program (USWCDP) and a local rider.
“(Columbia-Highroad) have two girls close to me but four girls who can win the overall,” Neben said. “I have a feeling we’re going to have to make a lot of decisions on the road tomorrow.”
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