Ruiter, Northey top placed Oregon riders at Cascade

BEND -- Bend resident Chrissy Ruiter (ValueAct Capital) pulled off a third-place finish in the women's race behind Evelyn Stevens (Webcor Builders) and Tina Pic (Colavita Sutter Home/Cooking Light). The women's field finished intact after covering the course in 3:09:25.

Veloforma/ZYM's Alice Pennington finished comfortable in 26th out of the 120-rider field. Vanderkitten Racing's Melissa Sanborn finished in the group at 57th. Veloforma's Robin Secrist, who won April Cherry Blossom Classic in The Dalles, finished 75th after crashing and rejoining the group. Her teammate Melissa McWhirter, stage winner at the recent Mt. Hood Cycling Classic in Hood River, wasn't so lucky. McWhirter hurt her wrist and had to abandon the race on its first day.

Team Lip Smacker's Hillary Billington finished 76th. Jen Akeroyd (Team group Health) came across the line 92nd, just ahead of Team Oregon's Lindsay Fox in 94th. Three of the 104 starters finished behind the time cut, and three did not finish.

MEN

Land Rover/ORBEA'S Mike Northey was the best Oregon-based male rider on the 2009 BMC Cascade Cycling Classic's first stage, a 72-mile route that winner Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissell) covered in a blistering 2 hours, 23 minutes.

Northey made a late move to the large breakaway group and finished 20th on the day, just one spot out of the white jersey given to the best young rider. That honor went to Trek-Livestrong's Guy East, who finished three seconds ahead of Northey. Trek-Livestrong rider Taylor Phinney, who is third in the young rider competition, was four minutes behind East and Northey.

Kennett Peterson, the only Team Oregon rider in the men's race, finished comfortably in the 180 rider field in 56th. Ten Speed Drives Josh Liberles finished 71st. Land Rover-ORBEA's Evan Elken, who suffered a flat near the end of the race, finished just ahead of teammate Carson Miller in 78th. Seven riders finished outside the time cut, and three of the 191 starters did not finish.

Complete BMC Cascade Cycling Classic Results are HERE.

RACE NOTES:

Rock Racing lived up to its bad boy image, with team manager Lorenzo LaPage garnering a $300 fine from race officials for illegally discarded water bottles along the route. Officials are serious when they tell riders to discard bottles with race staff, road marshals or near course-marker signs if necessary. From the race communique:

Rock Racing Manager Lorenzo LaPage is fined $300. A Rock Racing rider discarded approximately 9 bottles while taking bottles from the team car. A repeat of this performance will result in removal of the team from the race.

Officials fined five riders and another team manger for bottle infractions. Six riders and five team managers also got popped for "extended drafting."