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Louder, Teutenberg win stage 1 at Redlands
Louder takes over the lead, while Amber Neben retains the womens leader's jersey.
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Jeff Louder (BMC) and Amber Neben (Nurnberger Shoair) emerged as the overall race leaders after a tough and windy Beaumont Circuit Race, the first stage of the 2008 Redlands Bicycle Classic on Friday.
Louder followed a daring attack by Peter Stetina (Felt-Holoweko-Slipstream) over the day’s final climb, then put enough distance between himself and GC leader Ben Day (Fly V Australia) to snatch the yellow jersey, thanks to the 10-second bonus he snatched for the stage victory.
“In all honestly I was just thinking about the stage win, not taking the overall,” said Louder after out sprinting breakaway companions Stetina, Will Routley (Jelly Belly) and Tom Zirbel (Bissell). “When we went it was all or nothing to the line. Everyone was tired — today was a lot harder than it seemed.”
Indeed, the Beaumont stage, held in a quiet, rural community 15 miles east of Redlands, replaced the once-feared Oak Glen stage a long-time fixture at the race. The 24.3-mile Beamont circuit lacked the grueling nine-mile that finished atop Oak Glen. But the circuit packed a punch — it included plenty of rolling, twisting climbs, most notably a leg cracking ascent through Bogart County Park.
And Friday’s high winds, which blew constantly out of the south and east, bombarded the peloton from various angles. A tailwind shot the group out of the start/finish at nearly 80km an hour, then split the peloton into echelons as riders inched their way up a series of exposed climbs. Trees and houses sheltered the group through the Bogart Park climb, but a series head and crosswinds greeted riders on the descent.
“It’s a difficult wind because it’s so blustery — it’s not like a European wind when you know it’s going to bust everything up,” said Rory Sutherland (Ouch-Maxxis). “And this is not an easy course to defend on.”
Sutherland would know — last year the Aussie came into the Beaumont stage nursing a slight lead after winning the opening prologue. But Santiago Botero attacked early, then opened up a 52-second advantage on the final lap to take the jersey.
Day didn’t appear destined to suffer the same fate. His Fly V Australia team rode the front for the lion’s share of the day, helping Day gain sprint time bonuses and chasing down early solo moves by Ben King (Trek-Livestrong) and Moises Adalpe (Team Type 1).
But on the final lap a small group containing Cesar Gajales (Rock Racing), Burke Swindlehurst (Bissell), Brad White (OUCH-Maxxis), King and Davide Frattini (Colavita) gained a 35-second advantage on the lap's initial climb. Fly V surged to close the gap, but the effort sent Day’s teammates to the back of the field, and midway up the day’s final climb he was on his own.
“I told (teammates) I wanted the boys back by the top of the hill and everybody rode really hard to the bottom,” Day said. “Halfway up I rode across to them and nullified it and thought, sweet, now whichever sprinter team that wants the stage win can put their team on the front.”
That didn’t happen — instead Stetina kicked hard into the crosswinds and was followed by Louder who dragged Zirbel and Routley across. The advantage was small, but behind the four, only Day seemed motivated to try and pull the group back.
“I saw them go. I was banking on the sprinters teams wanting to bring it back for the stage (win),” Day admitted. “I think they miscalculated how fast a group can go on the tailwind.”
The advantage wasn’t big. But Zirbel drove hard on the flats, and Louder’s winning kick earned him enough bonus seconds to vault from fifth, 11.80 down, into the lead. Zirbel now sits in second, 0:07 seconds back, with Day third, nine seconds in arrears.
Neben fights off Columbia-Highroad
The winds actually aided Amber Neben in her defense of a 27-second advantage over Mara Abbott and Ina Teutenberg (both Columbia-Highroad).
While several women tried to open up gaps on during the three-lap course, the stiff gusts helped the peloton swallow breakaways up, and split weaker riders out the back by the handful.
“I knew today was a dangerous day. A group could roll up the day and you could easily lose two minutes,” Neben said. “The wind made things a lot harder but it just made the group smaller by the end. A lot of teams used the crosswinds to try and make the peloton explode, which it did.”
Columbia-Highroad and Tibco tried — Columbia placed 2008 winner Alex Wrubleski in a dangerous breakaway alongside Tibco’s Julie Beverage on the penultimate lap. But the Colavita and Webcor Builders teams chased the break down, and Neben set the tempo on the final climb to bring everything together.
Tibo guttered the front group on the run-in to the finish line to set up Lauren Tamayo. Abbott was one rider who fell victim to the wind and lost contact, slipping to fourth in GC. But Columbia’s Teutenberg showed she had the fastest kick on the day, taking the victory ahead of Tamayo.
“It was hard, it was in the gutter the last 10K,” Teutenberg said. “The finish came so quick, I was in good position to jump on Tibco’s train.”
Race Notes
Floyd Landis (Ouch) fell to the mercy of the day’s harsh winds. The OUCH rider suffered an untimely puncture within the first five miles of the race, just as the peloton hit a fast tailwind section. Landis chased for a lap and a half to try and rejoin the peloton but was unable to and abandoned the race.
