The Redlands Bicycle Classic is one of the top stage races for women in North America and always draws a strong field. The top North American teams were all there as well as Team Columbia and Nurnburg from Germany.
REDLANDS RESULTS:
RACE REPORTS:
PROLOGUE:
We started the race with an uphill prologue time trial.
Here is Janel's Report:
Thursday, March 26: Prologue, The Sun Time Trial
The riders: Katheryn Curi Mattis, Amy Dombroski, Nikki Butterfield, Gina Grain, Erinne Willock, Alexis Rhodes, Rebecca Much, Janel Holcomb
And staff: Karen Brems, Dave Drumm, Jeremy Fliss, Ryan Bontrager
Today marked the beginning of the Redlands Bicycle Classic and the first race for the complete 2009 Webcor Builders Cycling Team. The prologue is an individual time trial, 5 kilometers long, that starts flat, but after a quick little climb and descent, climbs for the final 3km. The last kilometer is particularly challenging as it climbs 400 feet to the finish line.
Shortly after 9am, the staff drove down to the start to set up our team area with our shiny-clean green Leopard bicycles, trainers for warm-ups, team tent & chairs, and everything we could need to prepare for the challenging time trial. As the press circled our area, we hopped on our bikes, turned on our music, and began our warm-ups. Who could resist coming by to take a look at the ladies in green?!
Gina, our sprinter-specialist, was first off, and when asked later how things went, she assured us that she made it to the top of a steep hill, so figured she found the finish line. Little did she know, despite her modest assessment of her time trial, she had a solid finish in 57th place (out of 138 starters!). Amy, U23 Cyclocross Champion, and Erinne, Canadian Olympian, finished 40th and 42nd, respectively.
Our Aussie riders completed the course in nearly the same time, fighting a close battle for who is the cooler Australian on our team (they both rock!). They finished less than 2-tenths of a second a part, with Nikki taking 32nd place and Alexis grabbing 30th place.
United States U23 National TT Champion, Rebecca Much, had a fantastic ride – finishing the grueling course in 11:52.81 and taking home 16th place. This is proof of her return to tip-top form for the 2009 season. This girl is fast and gunning for top spots in all her time trials this year!
When most of the riders had gone off, Janel was sitting in second place with a time of 11:47.08, but there were some power-house riders yet to go, and, at that point, the rider in first was faster by 40 seconds. That was a huge gap and there was not much chance to hold on to the spot.
Luckily, Katheryn, was still out on the course, and we knew that she would be flying on her sleek Leopard TT1. As we waited, the results started to trickle in… Mara Abbott of Team Columbia was holding onto first place, while Ina Yoka Teutenberg, also of Columbia, finished only 3-tenths of a second behind that! Current US National TT Champion, Alison Powers grabbed another top spot, just 10 seconds behind Ina. But when the win came, it was decisive. Finishing the race in 10:40.67, nearly 27 seconds faster than 2nd place, was current World TT Champion, Amber Neben.
Janel’s time was good enough for 6th place, but it was our World Cup race winner, Katheryn, who had the best Webcor finish for the day with a fantastic 5th place, with a stellar time of 11:42.15.
With such a strong showing from the entire team, we are poised to make an impression on the peloton, tomorrow. We are taking eight incredibly strong and saavy women to the line, and the road race will be a dynamite day of racing!
STAGE 1:
The first road stage of the Redlands Classic was a hard one with aggressive racing and howling wind. Webcor was active all day.
Here is Katheryn's report:
Stage 1 Redlands Bicycle Classic
The City of Beaumont Road Race
116.82km, 3 laps of a 38.94km circuit
This was the second year of running the Beaumont Road Race and this year they extended the circuit a bit, taking advantage of some new roads being put in. The course was mostly flat with a couple rollers and a twisty climb, descent, climb through Bogart County Park. What added the biggest obstacle to the race was the wind – it was mostly a strong wind from the East/South East. As there were some long open sections, we would have to be heads up to teams putting it into the gutter to try and break it up.
Right from the gun things were fast and strung out as riders pushed the pace. We all did a great job of staying in good position to ensure representation in any possible splits or breaks in the peloton. The plan was to have me go for the time bonus sprints that came 14km into the circuit. Nikki did a great job getting me into position and I ended up about 5th in the sprint but needed to be top 3 to get time. The wind definitely helped to neutralize any major attacks and it was not until we got up over the climb that the excitement started.
First Tibco went to the front on a significant crosswind section and blew things apart. Nikki did a great job of being up there but so were all the main GC contenders. I did my best to close the gap but with four Tibco riders and others in the break driving it, it was hopeless. Fortunately with the help of Colavita and we were able to bring the break back. Also at this time Alex had the major un-fortune of double flatting and getting a very very very slow wheel change from Neutral support. She never caught back to the peloton.
Things were a bit mellow for a while due to the strong head-cross wind section and despite a few attempts by Columbia to get a break off, things stayed together. The group was together going over the QOM the second time and nervously anticipated hitting the crosswind section again. There was a flurry of attacks as we turned toward the start/finish stretch and three riders separated themselves from the group. Eventually they were joined by two more and a break consisting of Alex Wrubleski (Columbia-HighRoad), Kori Seehafer (Team Type 1), Chrissy Ruiter (Value Act Capital) and teammates Joanne Keisonawski and Julie Beveridge (Tibco) managed to gain a maximum of 45” on the field. Again, with the help of Colavita, Erinne and Nikki did a great job of pulling the break back right before the first climb.
To prevent any more attacks, Amber Neben sat on the front and set steady tempo up both the small climbs. Columbia and Tibco then drove it through the crosswind section and definitely caused some serious splitting in the field. Rebecca, Janel and I maintained good position with the main group coming into town and I was able to finish with the same time as the other major GC contenders. Janel and Rebecca were a bit behind and lost a few seconds. Gina and Nikki rolled in just over a minute back, followed a few minutes later by Erinne.
Alex, who had TTT’d with a couple other gals for 60+k’s rolled in with a big group that also included Amy.
STAGE 2:
The 2nd road stage was the criterium in downtown Redlands. This is always a fun race for both riders and spectators. We were honored to have loyal sponsors Martin Boost of Willis HRH and Tom Sammons of DFP come out to watch the team race. The Webcor team rode a good race and finished on the podium.
Here is Gina's report:
Green-front-green-front-green green green-front front. One lap to go "and WEBCOR IS AT THE FRONT" ding ding ding ding one to go, one to go!!!" That was pretty much how the WEBCOR team rode today's criterium--at the front, large and in charge.
We had 2 things in mind #1- keep our GC riders Katheryn and Janel safe, keep their GC and have them finishing with the group with no time splits and #2-to try to win the race. How proud was I when the entire Webcor team was up at the front, policing the pack and covering pretty much anything that was happening in the race.
Alexis, Erinne, Nikki, Amy, and Rebecca were sergeant major's on the road stomping on anything that looked like a realthreat. Karen's words "Cover and Kill" the breaks... meaning cover the breaks but don't drive it, just sit in and hopefully neutralize the breaks is what they did. Not only did they do that, but they also thought smartly about whose job it was to chase things down, and not chasing things down that didn't really pose a threat. Really impressive. Katheryn shadowed Ina T. (Team High Road) as much as possible in case she tried to do anything sneaky to gain more time to catch the yellow jersey, and Janel (editors note: who rode one of the best crits I have ever seen her race) sat in great position near the front like a good GC rider does :-)).
Coming into the final laps of the crit, the peloton was together, Erinne took the lead of the leadout and bombed through a corner snuggling between two massive Tibco riders, trumping them, and controlling the leadout. Soon, after tossling and jossling of the sprinters and all the mismash behind that (which is what sprinters like to do) I settled myself nicely behind Alexis who was in perfect position to lead me out. She settled herself at the right time behind Kim Anderson (Team High Road) at 1 lap to go. I knew that Alex and Kim could take the last lap on their own and drop me off at the last corner. I sat pretty (probably smiling :-)) behind them because it was perfect...however a small hesitation of a split second on the back side made a bit of a shuffle of the sprinters, I had to regain one spot in a corner and it was Alex, Ina , and then me going through the last corner. My big master plan to beat ina was to rush her through the last corner and slingshot off her...didn't quite work :-) I think Tina slungshot off me!!!!
After a photo finish Tina did nip me at the line for 2nd and I came 3rd. I think that the green of WEBCOR stamped a lasting impression on the streets of Redlands this afternoon. Great job!!
STAGE 3:
The Sunset loop is the classic final stage of Redlands every year. It is a tough 10km circuit with not a flat km anywhere. Ina Tuetenburg definitely had her "climbing legs" on for this race in addition to being one of the best sprinters in the world. She started the day 2 sec. down on Amber Neben and gained a 3 sec. time bonus on the first QOM sprint while Amber was 4th and out of the bonuses. That meant that the tables turned and Team Columbia was now in the race lead and it was Amber that needed to get away from Ina or somehow beat her at the finish to gain a time bonus (not likely).
The Webcor team rode hard and was the only team to still have 5 riders in the front group with a lap to go. Alex made a great attack and was the only rider to gain any significant time on the field during the race. She was not able to stay away in the end, but we had another podium finish for the stage. Katheryn maintained her 5th overall and we ended up 3rd on team GC behind Tibco and Columbia. It was truly a team race with each and every rider having an impact on the final outcome.
Here is Nikki's Report:
Race Report- Stage 3 Redlands Cycling Classic, Sunset Loop
First off a quick introduction, I am one of the ‘new Aussies’ (Nikki Butterfield and Alexis Rhodes) and I am sure I can say on both Alexis’ and my behalf it is great to be a part of Webcor in 2009. It is really refreshing to be part of a well-organized team with great sponsors (that you aren’t trying to get out of using!), great management and strong, motivated, and enjoyable to be around team-mates!
Stage 3 was always going to be a tough one. The Sunset loop has a 4km climb each lap and we rode it 9 times! Ina started the day only 2 seconds down on Amber so time bonuses were the theme of the day, the first of which was on the first climb. Poor Janel managed to get a flat in one of the fastest ‘neutral’ starts in the world, and unfortunately never made it back on to the group because of the race for those valuable seconds on the first climb from the GC riders…… despite Gina’s valiant efforts to chase her back on!
That left us with 5 riders (Katheryn, Erinne, Rebecca, Alexis and I) and we all rode well to be amongst the final group in the closing stages. Alexis made a great attack with 4 laps to go and stayed away solo until 2 to go. Erinne made numerous attacks once Alexis was back after the call from Karen on the sidelines but nothing was going anywhere with Amber desperate to get back the 1 second she needed to win the race and Ina keen to keep Amber in sight. I made one attack myself but was more concerned with making sure Katheryn had me there to help cover in case Amber ‘lit it up’ on the last couple of climbs to shake Ina off her wheel. Katheryn did a great job of conserving and rode her 5th place on GC all the way to the finish. I was able to position myself well enough to sneak across the line in 3rd place for the day.
There is a quite a gap between now and the next race (3 ½ weeks!) so it is all about training for the next little bit.
It is very exciting to think what we are capable of collectively and from my perspective am happy with our ‘opening’ race for the season. The best is yet to come.