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Home » Top Stories » Road » Pacific Power Mt. Hood Cycling Classic

Olheiser, Pitel top Mt. Hood prologue

By Pat Malach
Published: Jun. 3, 2009

Oregon’s Pacific Power Mt. Hood Cycling Classic swung into action with the Panorama Point prologue time trial on Wednesday.

Warp9bikes.com-Tristar’s Mike Olheiser made the team’s trip from Alabama to the Northwest worthwhile by taking the 3.1-mile race ahead of Paul Mach (Bissell Cycling Team) and Chris Baldwin, who signed with OUCH-Maxxis just in time to race Mt. Hood.

Olheiser covered the course with a time of 6:12.63. Mach, meanwhile, nipped Baldwin, clocking in at 6:14.47, a tenth of a second better than Baldwin's 6:14.57.

The Warp9 rider said he was happy to take the prologue win, but four tough stages ahead and some top-level competition have him far from over-confident.

“You know, it’s just the very beginning,” he said. “It’s a long race and there are a lot of hard stages coming up. Time trials are my specialty, so hopefully Friday I can have another good day as well.”

Although missing out on the top rung of the podium, both Bisssell and OUCH-Maxxis appear well-positioned to make a run for the overall GC prize. Bissell’s Mach, who won the four-stage Cherry Blossom Classic earlier this spring in nearby The Dalles, sits in second while teammate Morgan Schmitt is fourth just six seconds off the lead. But the team’s best hopes for the GC prize may rest with Burke Swindlehurst.

Swindlehurst pegged Baldwin as the favorite for the overall.

“I’d say he’s probably the man to beat,” he said. “And Justin England (California Giant-Specialized). Those are the two guys I really want to keep an eye on.”

In fact, Baldwin’s new OUCH-Maxxis squad also appears ready to pounce onto the GC prize. Baldwin sits third just two seconds down. Roman Kilun is sitting in fifth, six seconds off the lead. Despite the well-placed teammates of the contenders, the race for the overall may come down to Friday’s 18.5-mile individual time trial.

“The TT is definitely pivotal,” Swindlehurst said.

Pitel sets the standard

In the women’s race, four-time French National Champion Edwige Pitel (Sorella Forte) laid down the gauntlet with a blistering 7:20.05, upsetting the ValueAct Capital contingent of Robin Farina, Leah Goldstein and sprint specialist Martina Patella. Farina finished second at three seconds down. Goldstein finished third, four seconds back. Patella is 19 seconds back.

Goldstein, who won the overall at Hood in 2005, 2006 and 2007, said she was pleased with her prologue effort.

“This one was not exactly my thing,” Goldstein said. “It’s a little too short. But it’s good to open up the legs, open up the lungs and remind myself what it’s going to feel like for the next five days.”

The ValueAct Capital rider said she’s had a rough start top the season, but she’s ready to try and win back the title.

“I feel pretty good,” she said. “I had a little bad luck early in the season when I popped a rib. But I have my good team here, so we’d like to do something.”

The five-day, five-stage event continues Thursday with the Cooper Spur Circuit Race. The men will cover 85 miles and 8,500 feet of climbing. The women will tackle 66 miles with 6,800 feet of climbing. On a course set directly on the mountain’s climactic transition zone, racers will start from the fertile farmland and orchards of the upper Hood River Valley and then proceed up into an alpine setting at Cooper Spur Mountain Resort.

Friday’s stage 2 Scenic Gorge Time Trial will test the riders with 18.5 miles on one of the most scenic courses in the country. The race against the clock starts in nearby The Dalles and pushes the riders up and over 1,975 feet of climbing on the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Highway to the finish in Hood River.

Saturday’s Queen Stage, the legendary Wy’East Road Race, starts and finishes at the Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort and offers both men’s and women’s fields 10,500 feet of climbing over 92 grueling miles.

The race starts out almost immediately with a category 1 climb before descending into the valley below, all with Mt. Hood’s shadow reminding riders of the difficult finishing climb ahead. The 35-mile grind back to the finish at Mt. Hood Meadows will challenge even the toughest climbers’ racing legs.

Although snow closed parts of this course last year, promoter Chad Sperry said he was able to drive his truck through the last snow drifts last week, and the course should be ready to go by Saturday.

The race concludes with Sunday’s stage 4 Downtown Hood River Criterium, a physically and technically demanding six-corner crit that features just 40 feet of climbing per lap.

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