Redlands Bicycle Classic: Ella Sabo and Kent Ross win stage 5 while Lauren Stephens and Eder Frayre secure overall titles

Ella Sabo (Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY28) won her third stage in five days at Redlands Bicycle Classic on Sunday while Kent Ross (Cascadia Elite Racing) sprinted to the stage 5 men's victory in the Community Alliance Medical Group Sunset Road Race on Sunday.

The overall GC titles were secured by Lauren Stephens (Aegis x Leaders of Enchantment) and Eder Frayre (L39ION of Los Angeles). Stephens finished stage 5 in the final chasing group for seventh place, while Frayre took third in the final stage.

Emily Ehrlich (Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY28), who earned the first leader's jersey with the stage 1 win, held on as runner-up in the women's competition, 15 seconds back, while Stephens' teammate Jamie Chapman was third, 1:08 down.

Stephens also won the mountain classification. Olivia Cummins (Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28) held on for the sprint classification while Katherine Sarkisov (CCB Kenetik p/b Levine Law Group) earned the best amateur prize.

Frayre, who made history last year as the first Mexican rider to have won Redlands Bicycle Classic, held off Owen Cole (Team Winston Salem) by a slim nine seconds for back-to-back GC titles. It was a significant gain for Cole who was just over a minute back last year in third overall. The 21-year-old also came away with the best amateur prize for men.

Ethan Dunham (APS Pro Cycling by Team Cadence Cyclery) earned the mountain classification title and Andrew Carr (Voler Factory Racing) won the sprint classification.

Overcast skies delivered rain showers on the final day of racing on the traditional road course, 68.1 miles for the women and 91.3 for the men. The race opened with multiple long circuits - nine for the women and 12 for the men - with climbing on East and West Sunset drives. Then three short finishing laps closed each race with eight technical turns on each pass for the sprint finish on East Citrus Avenue.

Both races ended in bunch sprints, with Sabo exclaiming on social media, "somebody pinch me! I just won three stages of Redlands." Skylar Schneider (L39ION of Los Angeles) scored her second podium of the week, going second, while Sarkisov was third.

The top 15 women were only separated by eight seconds, Ehrlich marking all moves by Stephens and her teammate Chapman, but could not make any gains.

The men's race was a mirror image, with Cole tracking Frayre all day and then both finishing in the lead pack of eight riders for no time changes. Marcis Shelton (Competitive Edge Racing) took second place on stage 5 to finish sixth overall.

Results - Stage 5 top 10

Results - GC top 10