April 12/15 21:35 pm - Redlands Bicycle Classic: Women Stage 5 results

Posted by Editoress on 04/12/15
 

Mara Abbott takes overall win at Redlands

Lex Albrecht Takes Climber's Jersey

The women of the Optum team brought home the Queen of the Mountains prize for Lex Albrecht and second on team classification at Redlands Bicycle Classic, the NRC's classic Southern California opener which saw the very best domestic women's teams compete for the first time on US soil this season.

The team finished in the top three in stages one (Brianna Walle, 3rd), two (Jasmin Glaesser, 2nd), four (Leah Kirchmann, 3rd), and five (Brianna Walle, 2nd), missing out on stage wins by a few feet, or a few seconds in the case of Glaesser's TT runner-up finish in stage two, which saw her take her first yellow jersey and podium in NRC racing. The team stacked the top-15 in the overall classification with Walle in 5th, Glaesser in 6th, Amy Charity in 10th and triple Canadian champion Kirchmann coming home in 11th place.

Albrecht recovered from a nasty spill in the final day of racing on Sunset Loop, which shattered her fork and gave the bantam-weight Canadian climber a fair amount of road rash. She quickly hopped onto a spare Diamondback and pushed on to safely secure the red QOM jersey.

Brianna Walle demonstrated her versatility in the sprints on the Sunset Loop, contesting US criterium champion Coryn Rivera (UnitedHealthcare) at the final finish line to take second. The Orange & Black leadout had another battle with the UnitedHealthcare's sprint train in the stage four criterium, delivering Kirchmann to a third place finish in the downtown Redlands race.

Lex Albrecht said: "I got a lot of road rash in the crash. I busted my bike's fork, shredded some clothes and left some skin and blood on the road. Nothing more serious than that. By the time I was able to get back on my bike and ride to the feed zone where Ben handed me my first spare, the peloton was long gone. I swapped that Diamondback out half a lap later for a second spare bike with a better fit from Pat, who was waiting on the course."

"After going down, there was one opportunity left to get more QOM points, but it was out of my reach. Luckily, my teammates and I had already collected enough points to keep us in the climber's jersey to the end. I rode out the rest of the race as strong and steady as I could. I told myself, 'It's training, and good practice pushing hard after a crash'."

"Hitting the pavement is practically inevitable at some point in racing, but that doesn't always mean it's game over. I was feeling good today, and in the mood to fight. That's what motivated me to empty the tank even after I hit the ground. It felt good to do it. Otherwise, I might have felt a little bitter about my luck."

"The goal was for us to win the race from day one. The first stage's QOM climbs suited me well - punchy, short, and steep. Going hard on them had the double purpose of putting pressure on the field and getting us in the jersey as a bonus. Once we got the red jersey, we just kept going with it. It took some good teamwork to keep the jersey and we're proud to finish with it."

Report by Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies

Results from the fifth and final stage of Redlands Bicycle Classic, in Redlands, California