April 22/22 9:36 am - Emily Marcolini Takes Lead at Redlands

Posted by Editoress on 04/22/22
 

After finishing third on the opening day of the Redlands Bicycle Classic, Canadian Emily Marcolini (3T / Q+M Cycling) dominated Thursday's 100 kilometre second stage, with a solo attack that saw her take the leader's jersey.

The Pro women set off for their 99.4 km trek on the Yucaipa circuits with all eyes set on the Oak Glen finishing climb. Heidi Franz of InstaFund LaPrima began the day in yellow with only a 5-second lead. The day would belong to Emily Marcolini, however, who would build on her success in Stage 1, conquering the stage in the end.

The Canadian attacked shortly after the turn off the circuit, near the base of the 5.4-mile climb. She was followed by a chase group of 7-riders, including three from DNA Pro Cycling - the Colombian National Road Champion, Diana Peñuela, Anet Barrera, and Erica Clevenger. Marcolini looked back to see a growing gap, kept her head down set in time trial mode, crossing the finish to win 41 seconds ahead of Peñuela and Clevenger in third.

Photos by Casey B Gibson, courtesy Redlands

"Just before we made the last turn to come up the climb, I had my team go to the front so that I could for the QOM points," Marcolini said at the finish. "Instafund came to the front, they were riding a moderate tempo and it just felt like the right time to go. I launched my attack. I was hoping a few other riders would go with me, I wasn't planning on going solo for 5K but that's how it ended up happening. I looked over my shoulder and saw that I had a gap. I put my head down and hoped that I had enough in the legs to get to the end.

"I still feel relatively new to the sport even though I've been in the sport 4 years now. Today, I could feel that I was more comfortable in the pack then I have been in the past. That definitely gives me a huge amount of confidence going into the rest of the week. I haven't time trialed in a long time, so we'll see how tomorrow goes. The crit is always interesting and hard to predict so we'll see what that brings."

DNA Pro Cycling had numbers on their side in the chase group. Once Marcolini attacked however, the group was unable to match her pace to bring her back. Peñuela was the only rider able to respond in the end, managing to move up to second on GC.

"The strategy was to be in the front and follow the attacks. Emily went early, from the bottom of the climb and we didn't expect that," Peñuela said. "We tried to catch her but she's very strong. This race, the final stage is pretty important for the overall result, it is really tough. We are waiting for that day as a team. The crit is a target also since we are a crit-focused squad. We are excited to see what will happen."

Marcolini also extended her lead in the Queen of the Mountain classification, leading Peñuela by 9 points, and on GC by 58 seconds.

The women start Friday's Stage 3, the 9.1-mile Devore Blvd. time trial at 11 AM [Pacific].

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