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Main page Men's results Women's results Final Stage report Photography
by Steve Edwards
"It's one of the best races of the year. The community is so awesome. It's an honor to get up
on the podium here. It's one of the top three events on the American racing calendar."
- Mike Sayers, Team Mercury, Green Jersey winner.
The 18th annual Redlands Bicycle Classic came to a close Sunday, with Chris Horner of Prime Alliance and Saturn's Judith Arndt taking the top spots on the podium. This year's event was a major success in spite of the fact that it had lost much of its sponsorship and its UCI standing.
"After September 11, it became very hard for us to raise money," said race Media Relations Director Kathrin Blatter. "Then the UCI wanted us to move up a category and we just couldn't afford it."
As to whether or not it would be a UCI event next year she couldn't really say, but most of the riders interviewed seemed to want to come back regardless.
"Sure, yeah, definitely," said fourth place finisher, Saturn's Lyne Bessette.
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The five kilometer time trial up Riverside's Mt. Rubidoux was a day for former winner's as year 2000 winner Chris Horner and last year's women's champion Genevieve Jeanson held the top spots. Horner gained 14 seconds on defending champion Trent Klasna. Klasna seemed confident that his powerful Saturn team could bring the time back, but Horner sung the praises of his own Prime Alliance teammates.
"I've got a great team, huh," he said. "(They) just to have to get me to the base of Oak Glen fresh and relaxed. Then, we'll decide the race."
Jeanson blistered the course in a time that would have her in 21st place with the men. Saturn's team director, Giana Roberge, made it clear that her 36 second lead was far from safe.
"We are a very tactical, technical team. And tomorrow's course, with 20 corners, gives us a chance to make life very challenging, especially when we don't care which of us wins. We can play games all day long. It doesn't matter to us who we send up the road. It could be Judith, it could be Petra, it could be Lyne. There comes a point where it doesn't matter how strong a rider is, she can't chase everything. She's got a very strong team, I don't want to take anything away from them, but so do we. I really think it's going to come down to who has the better team."
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Called a "day suited for non-GC contenders" by Horner, the Highland Circuit Race became anything but, with Horner and Jeanson calling on their teams again and again to thwart major GC shakeup threats.
In the men's race, Klasna broke away with four riders. A few laps later, teammate Harm Jansen bridged the gap and it looked like there would be a new leader at the end of the stage. But Prime Alliance closed it down with one lap to go, where Horner took over and won the stage.
"I thought, for sure, that we'd catch them with about five laps to go," said a relieved-sounding Horner. "For a while, I was thinking I'd made a mistake (in letting them go)."
The women's race was intense, with Jeanson's Rona teammates working hard to bring back numerous Saturn breakaways. During a lull in the race, Team USA/Cannondale's Mari Holden took off solo, eventually gaining over two minutes on the field. With Holden "too dangerous to leave out there", Jeanson had to go on the offensive, eventually pulling Holden in just before the finish. Saturn's Lyne Bessette sat tight on her wheel the entire time, and then came around her for the stage win, picking up four seconds in the process.
A tired Jeanson looked ahead to the next day's mountain stage.
"It's going to be another big day. Today wasn't too long, but it was intense. Tomorrow is going to be patience, and to be aware, and not to fall asleep. I expect everything (from Saturn). You have to be ready for it. My team is in good shape and we'll be ready."
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A six-man breakaway was able to stay three minutes clear for most of the 174km stage, but it wasn't enough once they hit the slopes on Oak Glen. With Prime Alliance "selling out" and delivering a fresh Horner into perfect position, he launched an attack at the base and passed the breakaway within minutes. Canada's Roland Green and Saturn's Soren Peterson were the only riders able to tag along. Green then launched numerous attacked, eventually shedding Peterson but not Horner, though he out sprinted the yellow jersey at the line.
"He was probably the best, by far, on the climb," said Horner. "But just not quite good enough to get rid of me."
In the women's race, Saturn wasted no time, launching Judith Arndt off the front less than half-a-mile in. Rona's Andrea Hannos sat on her wheel and the two took off on what would be a race-altering 120km break. A few un-organized attacks never amounted to anything and before long the duo had gained more than 12 minutes. Arndt dropped Hannos on Oak Glen for the victory. Jeanson dropped the field at the base but was only able to bring back two minutes, leaving Arndt in yellow, with more than six minutes to spare.
"Nothing was moving (in reaction to the break), said Jeanson, miffed. "I'm a little bit confused."
"I was scared that Genevieve would catch me on the climb," gasped a knackered Arndt. "When you go 120km by yourself, it's really hard. You just try and keep going. The last 5km I felt really bad. I had cramps...I can't explain. Every part of my body hurts." She then added, "I think to do solo breakaways like this all the time (pauses), would make you crazy."
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Horner called it "a day for the crowds". Sure enough, his Prime Alliance team wouldn't let any breakaways get even out of sight on the winding, technical course around downtown Redlands.
Mercury set the stage for a win from sprinter Gordon Fraser, but 7up/Nutra Fig's Charles Dionne spoiled their party,
About the final lap, Dionne said, "Greg Henderson kind of helped me. Him and Gord were looking at each other with two corners to go. I just passed by and never looked back." Fraser said he was in perfect position but "Unfortunately, I didn't quite have enough gas. Charles did a good move, he cut across my front wheel and I had to put on my brakes, and I lost all momentum. And, I'll remember that for the next sprint."
In order to "keep Judith safe", Saturn put the hammer down and almost instantly shattered the field. Those that weren't ready for the pace fell into chase groups, none of which were able to get back on. With Saturn doing so much work, it meant the race was wide open for anyone that could keep pace. With Arndt's lead safe in hand, they sat up with a couple laps to go and let the sprinter's fight it out. Rona's Nicole Freedman took a lead out from team leader Jeanson and was able to hold of a charging Tina Mayolo-Pic, of Diet Rite, for the win.
"If it would have been possible, we would have had Genevieve do something, " said André Aubut, Rona Team Director. "But Saturn didn't allow anything. But if we knew if they kept up the pace they would be tired and allow something for Nicole. So it was one or the other. She (Freedman) really fought. It was her race."
Mayolo-Pic agreed, "I was just following her and I thought I could get around her, and I couldn't get around. And, I was like 'Oh, she's so fast.'"
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The steep and technical Sunset Road Race course provided a perfect stage for the final day of racing. At the start of the day, not only were the overall GC's in doubt, but the team prize, as well as both sprinters and mountain jerseys were also on the line.
The men's race was torrid. Saturn's Harm Jansen explains:
"With Horner in first place and Green in second, and both riders didn't have the strongest team-though I was very impressed with the work that Horner's team did. We (Saturn) were right behind it, so we had to throw down, which is what we did. I think it's the fastest Sunset race ever."
Once again Klasna got into a breakaway, which also contained Green, only 21 seconds down on the GC. They sat out front for most of the race but could never get more than a minute in front. Still, it made Green the virtual leader out on the course.
Horner justified the gamble:
"They had good guys in the break. But they had combinations that might not make them want to work together. If they want to go up the road that early, then I'll let 'em go up the road early. Roland was incredible. He had form coming out of his ears, so that was a threat to us. But I knew it was better to let em go up the road early and then have me team sell out for me and then go across when they're tired, rather than have them fresh."
Sure enough, with his guys "selling out" once again, including another strong ride from Danny Pate, Horner brought the group in with one loop to go. Then Harm Jansen attacked.
"Eventually, we knew we weren't going to crack him (Horner), he was too strong, so we had to go for the stage win," said Jansen. "I just threw down, and they were right on me. But I just kept going, and one by one they cracked."
With all this happening, Mercury's Mike Sayers had a flat. Trying to protect his sprinter's jersey, he needed to get back on, which required a Herculean effort.
"It was terrible," he said. "I had really good legs, which was really a good thing. The team's had so much bad luck this year, and it's just another frustration. So the Green Jersey offsets it just a bit. I feel pretty good about it. It's good for Team Mercury to get something out of this."
In the end, Jansen and Horner pulled away when the lead group hit downtown for five laps on the crit course. Jansen out sprinted Horner for the victory, of which he said,
"It's my most exciting win ever. It's so thrilling. The whole time they were just so close."
Klasna's breakaway's were not for naught as he won the climber's jersey. His team, Saturn, also won the team competition,
"I think we proved we had the strongest team, said Jansen. "We just didn't have the strongest rider."
This was one of the few days in which the women's race had less drama than the men's. With Saturn's team blown apart from protecting the jersey, Rona had a stranglehold on the team prize. And at over seven minutes from Jeanson, Ardnt's lead seemed safe, which didn't mean Rona was about to go quietly.
Right from the start Jeanson attacked, recovering over a minute of her deficit on the first lap alone.
"I was scared at the beginning because the gap opened so quickly," said Arndt. "But I kept telling myself, 'she can't do it for 100km'"
Three laps in she had two minutes, but her times were reversing. "The first time (over the climb) she was in her big ring," said Rona director Andre Aubut. "She is starting to slow down."
Arndt was in a group of three, with Great Britain's Caroline Alexander and teammate Lyne Bessette, who started pulling her back at a slow, but steady, pace.
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"We knew she was going to attack from the gun," stated Bessette. "Judith was still tired from Oak Glen, but we knew that if we worked together there was no way that Genevieve was going to take ten minutes out of us."
Sure enough, the time started to drop. Slowly at first, then quicker, until it was unclear as to whether or not Jeanson would even win the stage.
"We knew the splits were coming down," said Bessett. "Then it all of a sudden dropped really fast. At .30 we could see her, so then it was even easier to focus."
"I had a great teammate today," beamed Arndt. "Like a motor bike."
The pair (Alexander had been dropped) caught Jeanson on the last climb, where Arndt rode away.
"I didn't attack at all," said Arndt. "Genevieve and Lyne looked at each other, and Lyne told me 'go.'"
Bessette and Jeanson than settled into a conversational pace.
"We don't really have a chance to talk," said Bessett. "And we were just chatting a little. She was pretty tired. We're from the same town pretty much. We talked French a little bit."
But there may have also been a bit of strategy, since back in the pack Rona's Andrea Hannos was fighting to stay on, and hoping it would be enough to stay away from Bessette and keep her podium spot.
"Andrea had to do a great job and keep the pace," grinned Jeanson slyly. "I was at the front, chatting, just to make sure we weren't going to fast."
"I'm still tired from two days ago," said Hannos. "I took everything to stay on (the lead group)."
At the finish, Arndt rode in alone. Two minutes and forty-seconds later, Bessette easily out sprinted Jeanson for second, which was enough time to allow Hannos to remain on the podium. Whether or not this issue came up at Saturn was unclear. They were ecstatic with the win, and team director Roberge was singing her team's praises,
"It's rare in women's racing that you see someone ride the way Lyne rode today--to give that kind of sacrifice. She's just chased Genevieve all day long for Judith. Lyne's really coming into her own and understanding the sport. She came from an individual sport, running, and she's learning what it is to be a teammate. She proved it today. She's one of the best in the world."
Jeanson was still happy with her overall effort as well:
"I think that the first lap, I came up the hill pretty fast. I died after, but at least I made Saturn chase. I gave them a good ride, and that's what I wanted to do. I'm pretty happy. It's not a major crash for me not to win Redlands. I'm very happy about the team."
Not surprisingly, Jeanson also took home the climber's jersey, while Team Diet Rite's Joanne Kiesanowski took the sprinter's prize. Rona easily won the team competition, but second place USA/Cannondale had to be happy with their race as well. A new team this year, they put in a very strong showing, with a third place from Holden and a lot of pink (both jerseys and bikes) always present-and very visible--at the front of the main group.
