JULY 23, 2010
Bend, OR – The UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis is demonstrating yet again at the Cascade Classic that it takes a team to maintain an individual race lead. With race leader Rory Sutherland and 4th overall Marc de Maar the protected riders, it fell to their six teammates to ensure that the high-flying duo stayed fresh and out of trouble en route to the final four-mile climb of the 84-mile third stage.
“We had a simple plan today,” said Team Directeur Sportif Gord Fraser. “We wanted to let a non-threatening break get up the road, ride tempo and bring things back together for the finishing climb. Easier said than done.”
Two riders – Jay Thomson (V Australia) and Alex Howes (Holowesko Partners) – finally got off the front and built a lead of two minutes on the UnitedHealthcare Presented by Maxxis-led peloton. The problem was that it took 40 miles of constant attacks and counterattacks to finally launch the duo.
The Team put Brad White, Morgan Schmitt, Matt Crane and Andrew Pinfold on the front to ride tempo and keep the break under control, holding back Max Jenkins and Chris Baldwin to help Sutherland and de Maar on the lower slopes of the finishing climb and keep the pace high to thin out the peloton.
The Team executed the race plan perfectly, and as the race hit the final climb, the pace laid down by Baldwin and Jenkins helped thin the peloton.
When someone finally launched an attack out of the dwindling bunch, it was no surprise to anyone that it came from V Australia’s South African climber Darren Lill, who came into the stage in 3rd place just 0:57 down on Sutherland.
The threatening move forced Sutherland and de Maar to respond, and also served to further thin out the bunch. The UnitedHealthcare Presented by Maxxis duo reeled in Lill with just under a kilometer to go to the finish. That set up a charge to the line by a group numbering close to 30 riders.
As the bunch approached the finish in the coned-off parking lot of the Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort, the change in the course contributed to a crash involving a pair of riders. Seeing the potential for disaster, Sutherland took matters into his own hands and went to the front with 300 meters to go and led out the sprint.
Despite going from such a long way out, only Raymond Kreder (Holowesko Partners) and Lill were able slip past the Australian at the line.
“It was a very fast race, but the boys did a great job as usual today,” Sutherland said. “I’m really proud of them, and it was great to have Marc there again on the final climb.”
A number of riders were held up by the crash, including de Maar and 2nd overall Ben Day (V Australia), but both riders were awarded pack time because the crash happened within the final three kilometers. However, Sutherland’s 3rd place on the stage earned him a four-second time bonus to extend his lead on Day to 0:20.
The Classic continues Saturday with a fast, flat criterium in downtown Bend. “It’s a fast and exciting criterium, and hopefully Pinfold will benefit from our team’s strength to go for the stage win,” Fraser said. “After that it’s a very tough Aubrey Butte Circuit race to finish things off Sunday. Our work definitely isn’t done, but we have a lot of confidence after today.”
Photo: Jonathan Devich, Epic Images
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