Redlands, CA - Andrew Pinfold came off a strong lead-out by teammate Rory Sutherland to earn 2nd place in Stage 2 Redlands Classic Downtown Criterium. Sutherland kept pushing to the line after dropping off Pinfold and came across in 5th place.
“The guys rode a great stage today,” said team director Mike Tamayo. “We were aggressive all day and kept the pressure on to the end.”
OUCH Presented by Maxxis wanted to make the team of race leader Jeff Louder (BMC) work to keep him in yellow.
“Cam (Evans) and Karl (Menzies) got into an early break of seven guys and that put the pressure on BMC to chase because Cam is only a little over a minute down on Louder,” Tamayo said.
Not long after that move came back, Menzies again went on the attack, this time with teammate Tim Johnson, who was 1:28 back coming into the day.
When that move was chased down, it became apparent that the criterium was headed for a sprint finish. But with two laps to go, Kirk O’Bee had a dig that came back with only 500 meters remaining. Jelly Belly led that chase but lost control of the front on the last lap.
Coming into the final two turns, Pinfold found Sutherland’s wheel and the Australian all-arounder, currently sitting 8th overall at 0:27, took Pinfold to the final corner for the sprint to the line. Pinfold narrowly missed out on the win, finishing behind Jackson Stewart (BMC).
Notes:
Following the stage, the team assembled at the Voler Team Apparel tent in the race expo and signed autographs. “The turnout was fantastic,” Tamayo said. Floyd Landis participated in the signing, despite dropping out of the race early in Stage 1 Friday due to illness.