Mancebo wins Redlands overall title by one second

Image 1 of 39

Cole House (RealCyclist.com) closed the Redlands Bicycle Classic with a victory at the stage three Beaver Medical Group Sunset Road Race on Sunday. He won the dwindled-bunch sprint to the line ahead of Australian National Criterium Champion Jonathan Cantwell (V Australia) in second and Luca Damiani (Kenda/5-hour Energy) in third.

"I had double roles today and the stage win wasn't going to be decided until the very end," House said. "I didn't even know if I would be able to finish the stage. We had a plan and we stuck to it. To finish it off with a stage win and the overall is awesome. It is great for the team RealCyclist.com and we dedicate the win to our mechanic [Jeff Bates] back home who is battling cancer."

The Redlands Bicycle Classic came down to an exciting battle over time bonuses and in the end it was Francisco Mancebo (RealCyclist.com) who won the overall title by a mere one second. It did not come without a fight from runner up Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissell) who gained and then lost that winning second during the closing laps of the stage three finale. Chris Baldwin (Juwi Solar-First Solar) rounded out the general classification podium in third place.

"I had to pay close attention to the first sprint on the circuits and I had to win it, I did an ended up gaining one second," Mancebo said. "I'm happy about winning this race for RealCyclist.com. Not only my victory, but also Cole's stage win."

"It was all down to the bonuses," said RealCyclist.com Directeur Sportif Gord Fraser. "Obviously Francisco has a lot of determination, talent and winning bonuses is probably not his cup of tea but he sucked it up and did what he had to do to get Cole involved and motivating him to win the stage shows that he also has great captaincy."

Stage two winner John Bennett (California Giant Berry Farms) earned enough points on the final day to solidify the King of the Mountain (KOM) competition, despite being involved in a late-race crash. Roman Van Uden (Pure Black Racing) secured the events Sprinter's competition during the previous day's criterium. Chipotle Development Team won the event's best overall team competition.

"I think I got the KOM pretty decisively," Bennett said. "It was a lot more contested in the beginning and people were out and I was strong the whole way through. It was good. I wanted to get the KOM and I got it but didn't stay up there, what can you do when you go down. This was my first crash of the season."

Down to the last second

The Pro-Cat 1 men lined up for a tough Redlands Bicycle Classic stage three finale at the Beaver Medical Group Sunset Road Race 150km race that included 12 laps of a gruelling 10km circuit followed by five blistering short circuit finishes located in downtown Redlands.

The fireworks ignited on the first time up the ascent where a set of time bonuses were located. Race leader, Mancebo was tied for first place on time with Jacques-Maynes in the overall classification at the start of the day. Mancebo's teammate Cesar Grajales, who was eighth in GC, took the full three seconds ahead of Jacques-Maynes who earned two seconds and Mancebo who took one second. The two-second bonus moved Jacques-Maynes into the overall race lead by one second.

"I couldn't be more proud of the guys because they rode exactly to our plan and the way that we wanted to ride," said Bissell Directeur Sportif Omer Kem. "From the sounds of it there were big attacks on every lap. I have guys on my team who have defended a race lead before and they said that they have never seen so much attacking before. We raced our race and everyone else race theirs. We gave it everything. We took back the time and got the jersey and then we did the absolute best job we could."

Following the bonus sprint, an early breakaway set sail that included Phil Gaimon (Kenda/5-hour Energy), Luis Amaran (Jamis-Sutter Home), Ken Hanson (Jelly Belly p/b Kenda), Danny Summerhill (Chipotle Development), Eric Barlavev (Team Exergy), Hayden Brooks (V Australia) and Phil Zajicek (MonsterMedia-SCVelo).

The group was joined by chasers Alex Howes (Chipotle Development), Mike Creed (Kelly Benefit Strategies-OptumHealth), John Bennett (California Giant Berry Farms), Taylor Sheldon (V Australia), Josh Berry (RealCyclist.com), Tim Gudsell (Pure Black Racing), Mike Olheiser and Matt Cooke (Team Exergy), who became the virtual leader on the road when the breakaway gained more than 20 seconds ahead of the peloton.

Bissell worked hard to close the time margin to the breakaway down to 15 seconds and once in sight, Baldwin, Mancebo and Jacques-Maynes jumped across to it with six laps to go. Shortly after, the breakaway was absorbed into the main field of approximately 40 riders. Several short-lived attacks forced the speed of the race to remain high during the closing laps.

With four laps go, Mancebo launched an attack on the ascent but was quickly marked by Baldwin and Jacques-Maynes. Bennett counter attacked and opened up a gap with George Bennett (Trek-Livestrong) in tow. The pair opened up nearly a one-minute margin ahead of the chasing peloton and Bennett picked up more KOM points. Grajales attempted to bridge across but was unsuccessful. John Bennett crashed on a pot hole in the road and suffered road rash, race official prorated his time.

"I was being stupid and I had my head on my stem and there was a pot hole that I should have noticed the first ten or eleven times through but I didn't," Bennett said. "I was off with a Trek-Livestrong rider and I'm glad he stayed upright and stayed out of my stupidity. It happens in bike racing."

The small main field entered the five finishing circuits intact and ready to sprint for the next time bonus sprint at the end of the first lap. In a dramatic sprint, Mancebo won the full three-second time bonus ahead of Andres Diaz (Team Exergy), who earned two seconds and Jacques-Maynes, who earned one second. Mancebo moved back into the race lead by one second.

James Stemper (Kenda/5-hour Energy) and Christina Helmig (Elbowz Racing) slipped off the front with three laps to go and maintained their lead until being reabsorbed into the peloton on the last lap.

The overall classification was still undecided with a hefty set of time bonuses up for grabs at the finish line. However, Mancebo's teammate rounded the final corner in first position and held it all the way to the line, swallowing the time bonuses and winning the stage ahead of sprinters Cantwell and Damiani.

"We had three goals, to keep the mountain jersey for Gaimon, move Ben [Day] up in the GC and try to win the stage," Damiani said. "The first two goals were hard to do and at the end I wasn't feeling too good so my teammate took an opportunity. I sat on V Australia's train because it was the awesome one. We caught the breakaway with three corners to go and so it was a mess. Cole went through on the outside, Cantwell on the inside and I went through the middle."

Colavita Forno D'Asolo captures third straight at Redlands finale

Despite needing two bike changes, Cath Cheatley (Colavita Forno D'Asolo) secured her team its third consecutive victory this week at the Beaver Medical Group Sunset Road Race, the third and final stage of the Redlands Bicycle Classic. The New Zealand National Champion won a late-race breakaway sprint ahead of Carmen Small (TIBCO-To the Top) in second and Denise Ramsden (Team Juvederm) in third.

"HTC really rode a great race and so we really wanted to go for another stage win," Cheatley said. "I knew the bends from riding the crit yesterday and that if you come out of the last bend first then you can get a gap and hold on. It was tough out there. I'm happy to finish it off for the team because we've started the season really well and they are a great bunch of girls to work with."

Amber Neben (HTC-Highroad) captured her third overall title at the Redlands Bicycle Classic and attributed the victory to the hard work of her teammates. She finished the race ahead of Erinne Willock (TIBCO-To the Top) in second and her teammate Evelyn Stevens in third.

"Last year I watched Stevens win this race for Ina and this year she had a chance to win it for me," Neben said. "It was fun. Everyone on my team contributed. We drilled it up the first climb to get the time bonus and half way through Chloe [Hosking] chased back on a drilled it back around the course to take us into the climb, Amanda [Miller], Ally [Stacher] and Katie [Colclough] all contributed a ton. It was an all-round effort today."

"It was so fun to have a team this week and it is so fun to share it with those guys," she said. "It was a really special win and it is special to be able to wear the yellow jersey on behalf of HTC. It's a big program and a big team and the fact that they trust me enough to come to this race and ride for me is special."

Colavita Forno D'Asolo solidified its victory in the overall team classification and its climber, Andrea Dvorak, secured the Queen of the Mountain (QOM) victory.

"The QOM was not a part of the plan, we definitely wanted to come out and win the overall," Dvorak said. "We had four or five cards to play and Rachel [Heal] did not want me to waste energy going for the QOM. I didn't battle it out on the first one but the next two, I felt good and it didn't take that much out of me to get the QOMs."

"This team is awesome," she said. "We work so well on and off the bike and it's perfect right now. When one person wins, everyone wins and the team GC is the icing on the top."

Christina Gokey-Smith (Rouse Bicycles) locked up the events sprint competition during the previous day's criterium. "It wasn't a goal immediately but I was just sort of there for one of the point sprints in the road race," Gokey-Smith said. "My goal was to get the stage win that day but it turned out that I got the green jersey. We ended up making that jersey the goal going into the crit. I have my teammates to thank for it all."

The Pro-Cat 1,2,3 women's field lined up to start what is arguably the toughest stage of the Redlands Bicycle Classic at the Beaver Medical Group Sunset Road Race 109.6kms held on a gruelling 10kms circuit. Neben picked up full three seconds in time bonuses on the first of nine laps at the top of the circuit's ascent. She narrowly rolled across the line ahead of runner up on GC Willock, who earned two seconds and Amanda Miller(HTC-Highroad) who took one second.

A breakaway emerged that included the event's top climbers and overall contenders Neben, Miller, Stevens and Willock along with Kristin Armstrong (Peanut Butter & Co Twenty12), Janel Holcomb, Andrea Dvorak and Cath Cheatley (Colavita Forno D'Asolo), Carmen Small (TIBCO-To the Top), Robin Farina (Rouse Bicycles), Lea Davidson (Missing Link-Specialized), Denise Ramsden (Team Juvederm) and Lindsay Myers (Danbury Audi).

Noticeably absent from the front group was US National Champion and Giro Donne winner Mara Abbott (SCVelo-Empower Coaching), who led the chase group of roughly 15 riders for multiple laps in an attempt to reduce the time margin. She received help from Primal-Map My Ride who had three riders in the chase.

Dvorak picked up full QOM points with five laps to go and three laps to go and earned enough points to solidify the QOM competition. The breakaway lacked cohesiveness in the closing laps and the chase group became even more determined to close down the time margin before the start of the penultimate lap.

Cheatley experienced peddle troubles and was forced to take a spare bike earlier in the race. She swapped bikes again with two laps to go and finished the race on her original machine.

Armstrong and Dvorak put forth a massive effort to gain time on the some 40 riders that remained in the main field. The pair gained just over 10 seconds but were caught with one lap to go. "We tried to keep them close and that's when we had Katie and Ally came back to the main group and they just drilled it."

Neben and Stevens' quick tempo up the final climb combined with an attack from Willock through the feed zone resulted in a nine-rider split including Cheatley, Neben, Stevens, Small, Willock, Armstrong, Dvorak, Ramsden and Lex Albrecht (Team Juvederm).

The group came barrelling down the lengthy run in to downtown Redlands where the finished on the last half of the previous night's criterium circuit. Cheatley took advantage of her knowledge of finishing corners, after leading her teammate Theresa Cliff-Ryan out in the previous night's winning sprint. She came out of the corner with a small gap and crossed the line ahead of Small and Ramsden.

"I was a little bit surprised to be able to hang on," said Ramsden, who made all the splits with the climbs on the ascent. "In the end I knew that I probably had a little bit left for the sprint but I was fourth wheel into the last corner, a bit far back. It is exciting to get my first NRC podium."

Results