Redlands: Stage win and lead for Tom Zirbel

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Defending Redlands Bicycle Classic women's champion Alison Powers (UnitedHealthcare) reacquainted herself with the race's yellow jersey Thursday after winning the Big Bear time trial by more than 30 seconds and grabbing the overall lead. Tom Zirbel climbed a step higher on the podium in Big Bear this year, taking the time trial win after narrowly losing out in 2013. Zirbel also now leads the men's race by one second over his Optum Pro Cycling teammate Will Routley.

Big Bear Lake, which sits at about 2,100 meters of altitude, dropped a little surprise on the 12.5 km time trial that took place along the namesake lake's north shore. Temperatures dropped to well below freezing overnight, and although blue skies prevailed and temperatures hit 50 Fahrenheit by the end of the race, snow still lingered along parts of the out-and-back course.

The chilly conditions appeared to have minimal affect on the performances, however, as some times were down and others were up from the previous year when organizers first introduced the Big Bear course. Powers covered the route 13 seconds slower than her winning time last year, while Zirbel was four seconds faster than his 2013 runner-up time. His former teammate, Chad Haga, won the stage last year in 14:53.

A long stay in the hot seat

A chilly day on the mountain may have been the perfect time to take an extended stay in the race's hot seat, and such was the case for Incycle-Predator Components rider Sam Snipe-Grove, who finished stage 1 in 164th place and started the time trial very early on a day of more than 200 riders.

Snipe-Grove's mark of 15:11 held for nearly an hour before Jelly Belly-Maxxis rider Serghei Tvetcov knocked him out of the lead with a new fastest mark of 15:02. The two-time Moldovan national time trial champion's mark looked solid until reigning US pro time trial champion Zirbel flew over the course in 14:56.

Zirbel had to wait for another 45 riders to finish before he was able to celebrate, but nobody was able to come close enough to make the big man sweat, and the times of both Snipe-Grove and Tvetcov held up for second and third as well. Jamis-Hagens Berman's Eloy Teruel rode his way to fourth place at 15:12, and Team SmartStop's Rob Britton grabbed fifth with a time of 15:15.

Although podium rides for the stage had already been made, the general classification continued to play out among the final riders on course. Routley fared best in the overall battle, moving up a spot into second after finishing sixth in the time trial, 19 seconds off his teammate's winning pace. SmartStop's Travis McCabe moved into third overall after finishing seventh on the stage. Teruel's effort moved him into fourth overall, while stage 1 winner Dion Smith (Hincape Sportswear) finished 15th in the time trial and dropped to fifth overall, eight seconds off Zirbel's time

The women began heading out of the start house at 11:30 a.m., just as the sun was starting to take a bite out of the morning cold. Cloud racing's Rebecca Balboni set an early time of 17:45 that held for more than 60 riders before Optum's Brianna Walle grabbed the hot seat with a time of 17:38.

From there the lead started turning over regularly, first to Rushlee Buchanan (UnitedHealthcare) at 17:32, then to Janel Holcomb (Optum) at 17:30. The 17:26 mark of Team Tibco's Amanda Miller held through much of the top 20, until Powers set the winning time with just four riders remaining out on the road.

Taylor Wiles was the first rider to finish after Powers, coming in at 17:04, good enough for third on the day but 24 seconds slower than her runner-up time from the year before. Kirchmann came in next and was the only rider other than Powers to crack 17 minutes, clocking in at 16:58 for second. Stage 1 runner-up Karol Ann Canuel (Specialized-lululemon) was 1:24 off the winning pace for 19th. Race leader Lauren Stephens' 17:15 was good enough for fourth on the day, but not quite good enough to hang onto yellow.

Powers now leads the overall by 34 seconds over Kirchmann and 41 seconds over Wiles. Stephens slipped to fourth overall, 42 seconds down, while Powers' teammate, Mara Abbott, is fifth, 1:07 behind.

The race continues Friday with the Beaumont Road Race on a 38.8 km circuit that cuts through several residential neighborhoods. A short climb through a county park on the northwest edge of the route provides an opportunity for the breakaway-minded to launch attacks, but the fast run back to the start/finish usually makes it tough to stay away. Luis Amaran took the win in Beaumont last year in a dominant show by Jamis-Hagens Berman, which put three riders in the top five. Powers took her second consecutive stage win last year in Beaumont from a bunch sprint.

The men will race five laps for 194km. The women race three laps for 113km.

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