Redlands Classic 2004

The Redlands Classic was RONA's first big stage race for the 2004 season. I have fond memories of Redlands as I won the green Sprint Jersey here, last year. This year I rode in support of our lead rider, Genevieve Jeanson (Gen). Here is how the tour unfolded.

The first stage of the Redlands Classic consisted of a 5km prologue. Each rider started at 30 second intervals and raced against the clock to the top of Mount Rubidoux. The course was technical with the final 3km weaving around the mountain side on a narrow, sandy footpath.

Our team leader, Gen won the prologue in 9mins 58sec and took the leaders jersey. Two other RONA team mates, Katrina Grove and Katheryn Curi rode awesome times to finish 7th and 10th, respectively. Gen averaged 31km/h up the climb to finish 22 seconds ahead of American Kristin Armstrong (T-Mobile) and 25 seconds in front of Canadian Sue Palmer Komar (Genesis Scuba). With heavy legs I struggled to find my top end and finished about 45th.

After day 1, with 3 riders in the top 10 and the yellow jersey it was all smiles in the RONA camp as we planned our strategy for tomorrow's stage.

Results:

Today's 85km road race was on a new course in the San Bernardino area, in Southern California. It was quite windy with only a few small climbs before the final 4km ascent to the finish. With the leaders jersey on Gen's shoulders, RONA played a defensive role, setting a solid tempo on the front peloton, to minimize attacks and keep Gen safely near the front of the peloton.

Teammate, Anna was unfortunately caught up in a crash at the 35km mark, but with the rest of us slowing the pace on the front, she got a rapid wheel change from our mechanic, Paul, and was soon back with us, a little bruised but able to continue working hard into the headwind.

Along a gradual false flat of 15km, leading up to the final climb, Andrea, Anna and I drove the pace to 40km/hr stringing out the field and shattering off the weaker riders. Our 3 general classification riders sat behind us, conserving energy and preparing themselves for the final climb to the finish.

Gen crested the climb alone beating Canadian rival Lyn Bessette (Quark) by 29 seconds, and American Christine Thornburn, (Webcor), by 42 seconds. Gen has now consolidated her grip on the overall lead and the yellow jersey and also leads in the Queen of the Mountain competition and points classification. Team RONA leads the team general classification, 29 seconds and 51 seconds ahead of teams Quark and T-Mobile respectively.

As the peloton tackled the steep climb up to the township of Crestline, our director Andre gave instructions to Andrea, Anna and I to ride as slowly as possible, conserving energy for tomorrow's 129km stage. As a domestic rider, once my job is over, I ride as slowly as possible, not concerned about my own result but ensuring I complete the stage within the time cut, 105% of the winner's time.

General Classification after stage 1:

Today was a really hard day for team RONA. There were a number of early crashes which saw a few riders abandon and after the first climb the peloton had plit, with about 80 riders remaining in the front group out of a starting field of 140.

There were several solo breaks today, and to contain these, Anna, Andrea and I set a solid tempo on the front again, revolving turns in a team time trial fashion. With a strong headwind, after 100km of pace setting I was starting to fatigue.

Being a domestic, my role also involved collecting water and powerade for my teammates from our team car. Each time someone needed a bottle, I made my way to the back of the peloton, and signalled to the commissaire that I wanted to go back to the team car for feeding. I put 4 bidons down the back of my jersey, 2 more in my bottle cages and then weaved back through the peloton to my RONA team mates. After handing out the drinks I got back on the front and helped set tempo again.

In a similar fashion to yesterday, we picked up the speed in the final 20km and rode at threshold. I was feeling really fried and was counting down each painful kilometre before we hit the base of the climb. In typical character, Gen set a hard tempo at the start of the climb and the peloton quickly blew to pieces. Only Bessette and Thornburn managed to stay on Gen's wheel. When the 3 reached a short descent 3km to the finish line, Bessette attacked but Gen was unable to follow. Lyn Bessette won the Oak Glen stage, however Gen finished 40sec down to retain the yellow jersey by 16 seconds while American Christine Thornburn (Webcor) finished 2nd.

Andrea, Anna and I were shattered as we pulled off at the base of the climb and let our GC riders "do their work". We must have looked like a potential meal because 3 buzzards circled above us as we rode at 8km/hr in our 27 gear ring, up the climb. I ate an energy bar during the climb and drank a bidon of water, starting the recovery process for tomorrow's anticipated day of hard work.

Tomorrow's stage is a 67km stage, on a 15km circuit in Redlands with a nasty 20% climb likely to split the field and sting our legs. In addition to the difficult climb, Gen was involved in a most race crash today while cooling down and has hurt her lower back. We are hoping she will feel better in the morning and be able to successfully ascend the wall on this circuit race to retain the jersey.

General Classification after stage 2:

After warming up on the circuit, Gen told us her back was troubling her and our thoughts turned to how we could tactically complete this race and still retain the leader's jersey. The peloton shattered on the very first lap, but regrouped just before the 2nd ascent. The pace was painfully high during the climb, and I found myself in a small chase group which caught the main peloton at the base of a smaller climb at the other end of the circuit. As we caught the field, Anna immediately launched an attack and 3 riders went with her. We slowed the pace and watched the break ride away. The break had a 2min lead as we started our 3rd ascent. Lyn Bessette launched an attack on the 3rd lap of the 4 lap circuit and Gen was unable to respond. American Kristin Armstrong (T-Mobile) and Canadian Sue Palmer-Komar (Genesis Scuba) worked with Bessette who caught and then passed the initial 4 rider break.

Gen, Magali Le Floch (Quark) and Christine Thorburn (Webcor) chased hard but finished 1min 5sec behind this lead group. As a result, Bessette (Quark) took the yellow jersey from Gen who is now second in general classification, trailing Bessette by 53 seconds. Jeanson still kept her red Queen of the Mountain jersey.

Tomorrow's criterium doesn't start until 2pm, so our director, Andre, took us out to a team dinner at a local Oak Glen Italian restaurant. It was a fun night with assistant director Jim and Andre providing plenty of entertaining stories.

General Classification after stage 3:

With Gen still feeling less than 100% as result of her post race crash 2 days ago, our main focus was to maintain Gen's 2nd GC position.

RONA and the other leading teams controlled the race and pre-empted any serious threat during the race. All the GC leaders finished in the field and the stage had no impact on overall standings. Lyne Bessette of Team Quark kept her yellow jersey and her 53-second lead over Gen on the eve of the ultimate leg of this five-stage race. American Christine Thorburn of Team Webcor still ranks third overall, 1 minute 32 seconds behind the leader. Gen kept her red Queen of the Mountain jersey, and Laura Van Gilder (Genesis Scuba) her green points leader jersey.

Tina Mayolo Pic (Genesis Scuba) won today's criterium, outsprinting her teammate Laura Van Gilder and Canadian Gina Grain (Victory Brewing) in a massive finish. Tomorrow's last and decisive stage is a 100km race and will take place on an 8.5-kilometre course with a testing 3km climb on every lap.

Stage-5

Sunset Road Race

100km

Today's stage, a 100km race on a scenic and tough course in Redlands, was activated by Canadian Nicole Demars (Victory Brewing) right from the first climb. RONA was happy to let her go, as she was down more than 28 minutes in general classification before the stage. Her lead over the main field reached more than 2 minutes, however American Susan Haywood (T-Mobile) launched a counter-attack and bridged to Demars with 5 kilometres to go.

We would have loved for Gen to ride up the road, gain that minute back over Bessette and win the tour however, with Gen still hurting after her Thursday post-stage crash we had to lower our sights to defending her second spot in overall standings, and her red climber's jersey. Unfortunately, Gen could not match the attacks by Canadian Sue Palmer Komar (Genesis Scuba), who eventually scored enough points to win the red jersey for herself. I attempted to take the points also, thus preventing Palmer Komar from collecting further points, however my legs could not match the strength of the strong Genesis climber.

With a much needed coke handed to me in the feedzone on lap 7, I survived on sugar to get me through the final lap. The pace was furious as the peloton headed towards the finish. Demars beat Haywood to the line only 15 seconds ahead of the peloton. I stayed close by Gen to keep her out of trouble during the closing stages. Team mate Katrina mingled amongst the sprinters to take 9th.

Lyne Bessette (Team Quark) successfully defended her yellow jersey and won the Redlands Bicycle Classic today, with Gen finishing 2nd and Webcor's Christine Thorburn coming in 3rd.

Final General Classification:

Until then happy pedaling.