April 2/05 11:45 am - Progel Redlands Bicycle Classic: Stage 3 (brief)

Posted by Editoress on 04/2/05
 

Progel Redlands Bicycle Classic

Women's Report Courtesy Quark Cycling Team

Teutenberg takes Redlands Downtown Crit

Today racers took to the streets of Downtown Redlands to contest the Beaver Medical criterium. Before today's race it is important to correct information about the Oak Glen Stage Race. In the break of six that got away Victory Brewing's Amy Moore was present not Vello Bello's Elizabeth Begosh. Moore's work was instrumental and allowed for the break to stay away and gain as much time on the field as it did before the final climb up. She climbed well up Oak Glen and had a strong finish for Victory Brewing at 13th on the stage.

Today's race was fast from the gun as battle lines were drawn with each team trying to protect there positions leading into tomorrows Sunset Road race. T-Mobile and Webcor wanted to establish a break so that the midway time bonus could be won by non GC riders protecting the team leader's position in the overall.

Quark tried to keep it together in order to gain points for the sprinters jersey and attempt to improve the overall position of Annette Beutler who was only 9 seconds out of first. In the first sprint for points Quarks Laura Van Gilder took the points over Lara Kroepsch of T-Mobile who were away in a break. The field sprint was won by Quark's Green jersey clad Helen Kelly.

As the second sprint approached the field was together and Ina Teutenberg of T-Mobile came around the corner first, taking the 3 seconds and the points, she then put her head down and powered away. Quark's Annette Beutler took second and the 2 second time bonus moving her with 1 second of Kim Baldwin and 7 of the yellow jersey, worn by Christine Thorburn of Webcor.

As Teutenberg was blasting off the front Andrea Ratkovic of the Bicycle Store was able to respond and get up to Teutenberg's wheel and the two were away for good. In the end, the great German sprinter was able to drop Ratkovic on the last lap and finished with her arms raised high, as she not only won the day, but pulled the sprinters jersey over her head for the points she earned on the road.

Quark's Tina Pic was able to win the field sprint for third to round out the podium while Thorburn and her teammates were able to rest for what will sure to be an exciting finish to the Redlands Classic.

Beaver Medical Downtown Criterium

Women
1. Ina Teutenberg ( T-Mobile)
2. Andrea Ratkovic (The Bicycle Store)
3. Tina Pic ( Quark Cycling Team)

Men
1. Juan Jose Haedo (Colavita)
2. Charles Dionne (Webcor)
3. Brice Jones (Jelly Belly)

Quotes

Charles Dionne
re: breakaway of 3 (Jason Bausch, Brice Jones & Garrett Peltonen) staying away longer than expected:
"It was way too far and at one point I put my team in front but we were not going that fast... We were suffering a little bit, we were missing a strong guy in John Kelly so we had 2 guys in front, but we didn't have the speed that I was hoping for. Colavita went by us and they had like 8 men, they were going pretty fast so they brought back the break... I didn't know if it was going to come back - it did, but in the last couple of hundred meters."

re: the last corner and final sprint, where he got second place:
"I was coming pretty fast, I had the first line from the bunch, but there were three guys in front so I had to move too far outside in the last corner so that's why I think (Colavita Olive Oil's Juan Jose) Haedo had the better line at the finish, that's why I got second... I just wish I didn't have the three guys there in my way - I couldn't take the line that I wanted but it's better than nothing... I'm disappointed with it because I want to get the first stage win of the season out of the way but it's all good for Webcor, there's still one stage to go so hopefully it's going to be alright for tomorrow."

Eric Wohlberg
re: goals for today's stage:
"That was just to survive yet another criterium with all of our skin and the guys did a great job. We were helping out with Andrew Pinfold the best we could and he had a pretty solid finish so that's great for us. He was helping us yesterday so we had a bit of a chance to try to help him today. You know it's kind of a hairball sprint, there's basically no leadout with the last lap pretty much so it's just a great big free-for-all out there. It gets pretty messy and that's not my forte. You know Andrew's pretty good at fighting for the wheels but I kind of chicken out in that situation."

re: tomorrow's stage:
"In this race pretty much every stage is somewhat of a deathmarch except for Mount Rubidoux (Prologue) I guess because it's so short. Tomorrow the Sunset Loop is very, very difficult and I guess it all comes down to what Healthnet's going to do and what Jelly Belly's going to do. I think (Danny) Pate and (Ben) Brooks from Jelly Belly are in good position now, I'm in a fairly good position now and Jake's not that far back so the race is still relatively open. But you know (overall leader Healthnet's Chris) Wherry is just that strong and on a course like tomorrow they just have to get him through a couple of laps and I think Wherry can pretty much handle his own out there. On a hard course if you're strong it's easy to defend but if it's a non-selective course and you have guys attacking you left, right and center then it takes more guys to do the job. I think it's really close right now and the mountain bikers are riding well, but we'll see how they handle basically an uphill criterium, that's what tomorrow is."

re: Team Symmetrics is jelling:
"It's been a real eye-opening month for the whole team. It's the first time a lot of our younger riders have come down and raced the NRC events and it's difficult down here. You think, "well, it's only March, guys are probably not going that fast" but that's not the case. It's full-on down here right now and the guys are really handling it quite well, they're stepping up to the plate and they're out there digging as hard as they can. Our staff is doing a great job, so I think we've had a pretty successful first month, really. It was a little difficult in Merced and Fresno because the courses were just that flat, and there were so many teams riding for field sprints who are really pretty much behind the eightball but once it got around to San Dimas and a more selective course we started having better results and in Redlands the team's been racing pretty well down here, too."

Sportcom

Deuxième, Charles Dionne est déçu

Charles Dionne, de l’équipe cycliste Webcor, a bien fait samedi en terminant au deuxième rang du critérium de la Classique Redlands, en Californie.

L’Argentin Juan Jose Haedo (Colavita) a remporté l’épreuve disputée dans le centre-ville de Redlands. L’Américain Brice Jones (Jelly Belly) a quant à lui mis la main sur la médaille de bronze.

Dionne était toutefois très déçu au terme de sa journée de travail, lui qui avait déjà remporté cette course a deux occasions. « J’ai abordé le critérium en étant assez frais (physiquement), a souligné l’athlète de Saint-Rédempteur. Il y a eu une échappée. Nous les avons repris à quelques mètres de la ligne d’arrivée. Dans les deux derniers virages, je n’ai pas eu la ligne la plus rapide. Il aurait fallu reprendre l’échappée avant. J’ai été obligé de toucher aux freins et je pense que c’est ce qui m’a coûté la victoire. »

« J’aurais vraiment aimé gagner, a renchéri Dionne. Par contre, il reste une autre course demain (dimanche). L’année dernière, j’ai gagné cette course-là. J’ai de bonnes jambes présentement. Je devrai seulement juste bien me placer. C’est une course extrêmement difficile que j’aime beaucoup. Nous faisons 12 fois le même circuit, très vallonné, avec plusieurs montées et descentes. »

Dominique Perras de la formation Kodak Gallery est aussi de la partie. Le cycliste de Brossard figure présentement à la 25e place du classement général après le prologue et les deux premières étapes.

« Aujourd’hui, j’avais surtout un rôle d’équipier, a mentionné Perras. J’ai deux coéquipiers qui sont très bons aux sprints, dont un (Godfrey Hayden) qui était deuxième au classement des sprints. J’ai donc essayé de l’aider et ç’a fonctionné lors des premiers sprints. Après en avoir gagné deux ou trois, il ne se sentait vraiment pas bien alors nous avons fait une transition pour placer Jackson Stewart. Il a finalement terminé environ 10e, alors que moi j’ai terminé dans le peloton. »

« Franchement, je me sentais quand même assez bien aujourd’hui, a analysé Perras. Demain, j’espère que la course va être assez active et que je vais avoir la chance de m’échapper. J’aimerais obtenir un bon résultat d’étape. Je vais peut-être avoir une chance de faire une échappée vu que je suis un peu loin au classement général. Ça devrait me favoriser. »

Du côté féminin, l’Américaine Ina Yoko Teutenberg (T-Mobile) l’a emporté devant sa compatriote Andrea Ratkovic (The Bicycle Store). Une autre Américaine, Tina Pic (Quark), a complété le podium.

Audrey Lemieux, qui se maintient près du top 50 du classement général, tente de son côté de remplir du mieux qu’elle peut son rôle de coéquipière chez Quark. « C’était un critérium assez technique, a expliqué l’athlète d’Alma. Ç’a été très rapide. Nous avions deux maillots à défendre : celui de la meilleure sprinteuse ainsi que celui de la meilleure grimpeuse. J’avais beaucoup de travail à faire, mais je n’ai pu que faire mon possible pour rester à l’avant. »

« Je suis restée dans le peloton, a indiqué Lemieux, visiblement mal à l’aise. Je suis contente pour ça, mais je suis déçue parce qu’il manquait une personne pour aider et c’était moi. Je n’ai pas pu compléter le travail malgré ma forme. Demain, en début de course, je devrai couvrir toutes les attaques et ne rien laisser partir. »

Dimanche, lors de la dernière étape, une course sur route de 142 kilomètres attend les hommes alors que les femmes parcourront 99,5 kilomètres.