Colby climbs to stage as Sevilla wraps up overall

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Talented climber, Anthony Colby (Colavita-Sutter Home) jump ahead of a mid-race breakaway on the final ascent and mustered enough strength to hold off the chase to claim victory in the final stage of the Cascade Cycling Classic. Colby soloed in a head of an impressive set of U23 teammates - Taylor "Tito" Sheldon and Alex Howes (Felt-Holowesko Partners-Garmin.

"I've had many seconds and thirds but no big NRC wins," said Colby. "I'm so psyched that I'm speechless actually. I expected to ride a little better at the beginning of the week but caught a little bug and just started feeling good today. I was trying really hard to get in the right move and I'm happy it worked out."

Oscar Sevilla (Rock Racing) captured the overall title but not before helping his teammate Francisco Mancebo move into second place ahead of Jeff Louder (BMC) in third place. "I am very happy to win here in Cascade," said Sevilla, who hopes for another strong performance at the Tour of Utah next month. "I could not have done this without the help from all my teammates. This is an important win for our team Rock Racing, especially because it is a great race in America. It's also important for me - I'm very pleased to win this jersey."

A nine-man winning move split from the field shortly after the circuit's decisive climb on the third lap. The riders included Colby, Sheldon and Howes, Jackson Stewart (BMC), Moises Aldape (Team TYpe 1), Pat McCarty (OUCH p/b Maxxis), Omer Kem (Bissell), Jesse Moore (California Giant Berry Farms) and Ben King (Livestrong). The break worked well together and gained a maximum of three minutes ahead of the field on the penultimate lap. McCarty put in several strong attacks over the climb but the group eventually settled into a group rhythm for the last lap.

Aldape, who won stage four a top Mt Bachelor, was sitting close to Stetina and Chris Baldwin (OUCH p/b Maxxis) in the KOM points. The Mexican climber pushed the pace over the steepest portion of the climb on the last lap in pursuit of additional points. Stetina's teammate Sheldon jumped ahead to successfully take full points away from Aldape. The struggle over the crest set up Colby for his winning attack.

"I was just going with the flow over that climb and staying with the moves," Colby said. "When I countered I got a small gap and I looked back and saw them all looking at each other. I didn't even think, I just started working hard. I wasn't really thinking about the win at that point. I was thinking of getting some extra time so if they caught me second would have been OK.

Back in the bunch, Rory Sutherland attacked the break over the same steep ascent and was closely followed by Sevilla and Mancebo. Sevilla, who had a healthy lead in the overall classification, reverted to a domestique role to help his teammate Mancebo bypass Louder for second place in the overall. The trio flew into the finish line just seconds after the remnants of the original break.

"I saw that we had a gap and at that point I wanted to help Mancebo get second," Sevilla said. "I was very happy to help him do that because he is my teammate but also my close friend for many years. He worked so hard for me this week and I wanted to work for him in the end. All the teams were very strong today including BMC who were attacking a lot. My team worked very hard, they have a lot of experience and this victory is for the whole team."

An intense finale

The five laps of a 24km circuit kicked off with several well-represented breakaways initiated by BMC, Bissell, Felt-Holowesko Partners-Garmin and Team Type 1. However, everything was brought back together on the second lap courtesy of Rock Racing's fast-paced tempo and the onset of the first intermediate hot spot for sprint points.

Raymond Kreder (Felt-Holowesko Partners-Garmin) was the event's best sprinter ahead of Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissell). The pair battled for the jersey all week but the stage's mid-race decisive breakaway claimed all additional points to be had. "Alex lead me out for that first sprint and I was able to take a couple of points," said Kreder. "That ended up being enough because a break went up the road and took all the other points. Our team was very good this week with three jersey's and two podiums today - It's a great team."

Several gaps opened throughout the peloton as a result of climbers pushing a tactical game over the steeper parts of the lengthy 'feed zone' climb. Former KOM leader Chris Baldwin (OUCH p/b Maxxis) and the event's best young rider, Peter Stetina (Felt-Holowesko Partners-Garmin) dueled for the points, with a full quota for Stetina sealing his lead in the event's best climber competition.

Shortly after the climb, a the winning break separated itself from the field and successfully made it to the finish ahead of the bunch. "I was trying to keep the guys motivated in the group," said Colby. "When you looked around we may not have been the strongest group out there but that is exactly why they let us go. We were working well enough but some guys weren't pulling through for various reasons. Everyone else just kind of stuck with it. We were never really going at a blistering pace but we were riding smart - we were all tired after a long week of racing."

Stevens captures second stage race victory

Value Act Capital ends the stage race in winning style

Kristin McGrath (Value Act Capital) capped off a tough week of racing with a solo victory in the Cascade Cycling Classic finale. The talented all-rounder held off a chase group by a mere bike length to take the win ahead of Joanne Kiesanowski (TIBCO) and Catherine Cheatley (Colavita-Sutter Home).

"It's nice to have a stage win here," said McGrath. "We've been fighting all week and we've had some bad luck so it's nice to finally get one."

Evelyn Stevens (Webcor-Builders) captured her second consecutive National Racing Calendar (NRC) stage race title at the Cascade Cycling Classic, after winning the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic just one week prior. Stevens, who won three of the six stages, gained time ahead of power-house Amber Rais (TIBCO) who placed second and Alison Powers (Team Type 1) who placed third.

"There were only six of us but it felt like there were 25 Webcor riders out there," said Stevens. "I think we all gave it everything we had to keep me in the jersey and it was super hard. I couldn't have won this race without them, there's no way. Each and every one of those riders gave everything they got. It's awesome... really cool to have won two stage races."

Powers claimed the overall title in the Women's Prestige Cycling Series, a four-round series that ended at the Cascade Cycling Classic. The US national time trial champion kicked off the series in the lead at the Redlands Bicycle Classic and maintained her top spot through the Joe Martin Stage Race and the Nature Valley Grand Prix.

"It's important to keep the jersey because when you've been leading it all season you don't want to lose it in the last race," said Powers. "I was really wanting to keep this jersey. Defending this jersey was number one in my mind this week and once I did that I wanted to try to move up in the GC of this race. Every race that was apart of the series is totally different. The best overall GC rider will win it because you have to be good at everyone. I'm lucky enough that that was me. I also had a team that really helped me with super good equipment."

Tina Pic (Colavita-Sutter Home) captured the event's overall best sprinter's green jersey after a hard-faught battle for points against Australian Kristy Broun (Lip Smackers). Julie Beveridge (TIBCO) won the event's best young rider's white jersey and Stevens capped off a successful week with the event's best climber's polka-dot jersey.

A blazing hot finale

The scorching sun beat down on the women's peloton as they lined up to start the sixth and final stage. After a long week of mountainous racing, completing three laps of a 24km challenging circuit seemed a daunting task. Several attempts to break away forced the speeds of the peloton to quicken over the first lap however, on the second lap a significant move split from the field.

TIBCO continued to push the pace on the final stage, the squad won the event's best overall team competition along with placing Rais in second place in the overall. "We all tried all week to cause separations in the field," said Kiesanowski. "We weren't happy with settling for second or third in the GC so we really wanted to put everything out there and go for the overall. We kept trying to be aggressive to put pressure on Webcor."

A well-represented six women breakaway included Meredith Miller (TIBCO), who was the highest place on GC more than three minutes behind Stevens, Kathryn Mattis (Webcor-Builders), Carmen McNellis (Colavita-Sutter Home). The trio were later joined by Toni Bradshaw (Lip Smackers), Amy Elliot (Wines of Washington) and Robin Farina (Value Act Capital).

"Toni and Meredith and I were working really well together," said Farina. "People were attacking out of a group that had bridged across to us on the last lap through the feed zone, which kept the pace really high."

The break's advantage of nearly 2:30 on the peloton was quickly reduced as the overall contenders set off several attacks on the last half of the circuit. A large group split off the front of the field and bridged across to the break. Cheatley pushed the pace trying to establish a second move but it all came back together on the steep QOM climb. Webcor-Builder set a strong tempo over the climb to keep the field together and avoid further attacks. McGrath saw her winning opportunity with one kilometre to go.

"Once the break was caught we were going for the stage win so we kept attacking," said McGrath. "Other teams were attacking too. I took advantage of a lull in the group and time trialed to the finish. The break was awesome because it allowed us to sit in and rest. It was nice because we knew Robin could win out of that break and if not, there was three of us waiting to go. Once the break was caught we went to plan-B and it worked out."

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