Skylar Schneider (L39ion of Los Angeles) topped Emily Ehrlich (Virginia Blue Ridge Twenty24) to win Saturday's stage 4 of the Redlands Classic, a criterium in downtown Redlands, California. Ehrlich's runner-up ride on the stage propelled her into the overall race lead.
Schneider and Ehrlich managed to get clear of the peloton for the last 10 laps of the 75-minute crit, and before long they had built up an insurmountable gap. They held on out front all the way to the line, where Schneider powered to the finish unchallenged. For Ehrlich, who started the day in third overall, 12 seconds down on overnight leader Marcela Prieto (Patobike), the race lead would be ample reward.
The pack arrived 42 seconds after the two attackers with L39ion's Samantha Schneider, sister of the stage winner, securing third place on the day in a sprint.
“I was trying not to interfere with the overall, letting Emily race her race and I raced mine,” Skylar Schneider said after her victory. “This is our [L39ion's] first race of the year so I haven’t had an opportunity to unleash the sprint; I really wanted to see how it felt. To see Sam win the field sprint, putting two of us on the podium is pretty awesome. We were looking forward to today.”
Ehrlich will head into Sunday's final stage with a 39-second advantage over Prieto.
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