Bissell Takes Top Two Spots At Cherry Blossom; Bailey Bests Women's Field

(UPDATE: Complete Cherry Blossom Classic Stage 1 photo galleries are HERE. Pro/1/2 men; Pro/1/2/3 women; Masters)



THE DALLES -- The Bissell Pro Cycling Team pulled off a one-two finish today during stage 1 of the Gorge Delights Cherry Blossom Cycling Classic while Patricia Bailey (Wines of Washington) won a three-up sprint to take the women's race.

MEN PRO/1/2

A bitterly cold wind opened the first stage of the inaugural Cherry Blossom Classic just east of The Dalles. The Men's Pro/1/2 field covered four laps of the 18.6-mile course, which featured one long grinder of a climb that faced squarely into the famous Gorge winds.

Paul Mach (Bissell) finished several minutes ahead of teammate Jeremy Vennell. The pair rode away from a break group that formed on the first lap and eventually grew to as many as 15 riders but was whittled down to five by the time Mach soloed away halfway through the third lap. His teammate followed suit on the last lap to solo in for second. Hagens Berman riders Sam Johnson and Nick Clayville finished third and fourth respectively. Evan Elken (Land Rover-Orbea) finished fifth.

"The third time up the climb I attacked, and Jeremy (Vennell) just kind of sat on (in the chase group)," Mach said of his final escape. "I was just going to wait and see what happened. If they caught me (Vennell) would be fresh. Plan B was looking pretty good. So I just went for it."

Mach built his lead on the fast tailwind section leading to the big climb.

"You're pedaling hard but you're going so fast it doesn't hurt," he said of the high-speed tailwind side of the course.

Clayville, the Hagens Berman rider who eventually bridged up to the winning move with teammate Sam Johnson, said the Bissell riders' tactics put them in an ideal position to counter any attempts to bridge up to Mach.

"It was just Elken, Sam Johnson and me," Clayville said, noting that Vennell didn't work in the chase after his teammate escaped up the road. "We were trying, but (Mach) just kept putting time into us."

Clayville attacked from the four-man chase group going up the climb on the last lap, followed quickly by Vennell, who sat on the Hagens Berman rider before attacking and dropping Clayville on the short rise before the descent to the finish.

On the road behind, Hagen Berman rider Sam Johnson attacked Elken and bridged up to Clayville for third and fourth. Elken held on for fifth.

WOMEN'S PRO/1/2/3

Wines' of Washington rider Tricia Bailey won the women's pro/1/2/3 race after separating from a day-long break group near the finish with Veloforma's Robin Secrist and Heather Albert (Riverstone Women’s Racing Team). Cheryl Thonney was fourth overall and the first Cat. 3 woman to finish. Team Group Health's Jen Akeroyd finished fifth overall and second of the Cat. 3 women.

The seven-rider breakaway group formed on the big climb going into the headwind and quickly started putting time into the chase group. The mix of category 1s, 2s and newly minted 3s worked well together throughout the three-lap 60-mile race.

Once free of their breakaway companions, Bailey, Secrist and Albert worked together adding to their gap until Albert attacked with about 400 meters to go. Bailey as able to come around Albert for the win and hold off a hard-charging Secrist, who finished seconds behind.

Turpen Wins Field Sprint For Masters Win

ZteaM's usual tactic of sending riders down the road, bridging more riders up to the lead group and then ganging up on their breakaway companions didn't work at Friday's stage 1 when one of a ZteaM rider flatted on the first lap. The team stayed behind to help tow the rider back, and ZteaM breakaway rabbit Dan Zimbelman ended up staying away by himself for most of the day.

Eventual winner Greg Turpen (Chinook Cycling) said he worried when he initially saw a ZteaM rider roll off the front early.

"All I could think of was a similar strategy of Banana Belt 3," he said of the race where he lost the overall series as a result of ZteaM tactics. "They roll a guy off and then have a strategy to bridge others up and roll the team off the front of that group."

Apparently the first-lap flat also deflated those plans.

"We rolled on for the next couple of laps," Turpen said of the chase. "And everybody was taking it real easy up the climb. I don't know what happened. We saw (Zimbelman) kind of coming back toward us, so everyone started working a little harder. We pulled him in with maybe 2k to go."

Turpen took the lead with about 300 meters to go and outlasted the closing pack. Cyclepath's John Browning finished second. Todd Gallaher (Counterbalance) was third.

SLIDESHOW:
Men's Pro/1/2
Women's Pro 1/2/3
Masters
(More photos from Stage 1 are posted HERE)

Oregon Racers Ready For Redlands

The 25th edition of California's Redlands Bicycle Classic is set to take off this Thursday with four stages that will wrap up on Sunday. Riders will tackle a prologue time trial, a downtown criterium and two circuit races. The men's field will have 200 riders. The women will have 150 competitors. Teams are limited to eight riders.

A preliminary list of riders who call(ed) Oregon home:

WOMEN
Melissa Sanborn (Vanderkitten Racing) Portland
Hilary Billington (Team Lip Smackers) Portland
Lisa Turnbull (Velo Classic Tours P/b Incycle.com) Springfield
Jacqueline Cohen (Velo Classic Tours/Incycle.com) Bend
Kelly Benjamin (Colavita Sutter Home/Cooking Light) Portland OR
Christina Ruiter (Value Act Capital Cycling Team) Bend

MEN
Josh Liberles (Ten Speed Drive/Bh Bicycles) Portland
Jacob Erker (Kelly Benefits Strategies) Portland
Aaron Olson (Colavita Sutter Home/Cooking Light) Santa Barbara, CA

OREGON-BASED TEAMS

MEN

LAND ROVER/ORBEA
Josh Bartlett, Windham, NH
Jim Camut, Johnstown, PA
Roman Van, Uden Auckland, New Zeland
Logan Hunn, Auckland, New Zeland
Ryan Taylor, Charlottetown, PEI
Carson Miller, Bend, OR
Aaron Barry Tuckerman, Blenheim, New Zeland
Bobby Sweeting Sarasota, FL
* Banana Belt #3 winner Evan Elken will replace one of the team's younger riders for the Redlands roster, according to team manager David Godfrey.

WOMEN

VELOFORMA/ZYM
Melisa Mcwhirther, Mesa, AZ
Christina Smith, Denton, TX
Sabrina Savage, Mesa, AZ
Robin Secrist, Kirkland, WA
Alice Pennington, Hood River
Becka Hartkop, Salem
Miranda Moon, Banks
Susan Peithman, Portland

Rathe, Pennington Win Banana Belt Finale

Jacob Rathe (Hammer/CMG) won the Men's Pro/1/2 event and Alice Pennington (Veloforma) claimed top prize in the Women's 1/2/3 at Sunday's Banana Belt #4 around Henry Hagg Lake. Contested under relatively mild weather, the men’s race covered 77 miles and the women tackled 44.

WOMEN PRO/1/2/3

Veloforma’s Alice Pennington celebrated her first complete race with the 2009 Banana Belt women’s field by winning a bunch sprint for the top prize ahead of Team Group Health’s Jen Akeroyd and Therapeutic Associates’ Jill Howe.

Pennington, a Hood River racer who earlier this season finished second at the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Ultra-Endurance Calendar’s Mas O Menos in Terlingua, Texas, has been testing her road racing legs in the Senior Men’s Cat. 3 field and crashed out of last weekend's women's race, but it didn’t take long for her to put that behind her. With a contingent of Veloforma teammates controlling the front of the race, several short-lived break attempts served only as preamble to the all-out rush to the line on the last of four laps.

Pennington’s experience paid off with a win on the line just ahead of early season powerhouses Akeroyd and Howe.

MEN PRO/1/2/3

The Hammer/CMG Racing Team pulled off a hat trick Sunday by picking off the top three spots in the Pro/1/2 field’s mad dash for the line.

Jacob Rathe crossed the line first, ahead of an obviously pleased Marcel deLisser and third-placed teammate Austin Arguello, whose aggressive riding throughout the 77-mile day allowed his teammates to reserve their top effort for the fast, slightly downhill bunch sprint after the race came back together on the final lap.

“I was just trying to be aggressive and try and get in some breakaways,” said Arguello (pictured), who literally did not miss a chance to go down the road and was off the front for 5 ½ laps of the seven-lap race.

Arguello’s adventures didn’t go unnoticed by his teammates, who were obliged to let others expend energy chasing back Arguello and his changing cast of breakaway comrades.

“He was gone the whole race,” Rathe said. “Every time a group went he was with them.”

When the main bunch caught the last serious escape attempt on the closing lap, Arguello saved his final move to ignite the free-for-all to the finish line.

“I went on the bridge,” He said. “Marcel moved on my wheel and Jacob went though a little gap and won.”

Rathe said the final dash was chaotic.

“I was just trying to work my way up the right,” he said. “There were a lot of people moving around and doing stuff. I just kind of poked through a few holes and all of a sudden I was out in front. That’s a good feeling.”

Cyclepath’s Aaron Sanders, who fought his way back to the front of the field after getting gapped off on Lee Hill nearing the finish, crossed the line in fourth.

The Hammer/CMG Racing Team will collect its laurels and head to Rochester, Washington, for the Independence Valley Road Race on Saturday, March 28, and the Piece of Cake Road Race the next day in Woodland, Washington.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

Men pro/1/2/3
1. Jacob Rathe (Hammer/CMG)
2. Marcel deLisser (Hammer/CMG)
3. Austin Arguello (Hammer/CMG)
4. Aaron Sander (CyclePath)
5. David Root (Therapeutic Associates Inc.)

Women pro/1/2/3
1. Alice Pennington (Veloforma)
2. Jen Akeroyd (Team group Health)
3. Jill Howe (Therapeutic Associates Inc.)
4. Joanna Mensher (Gentle Lovers)
5. Heather Gunderson (Veloforma)