Armstrong claims San Dimas opener

Kenda/5 Hour Energy's Phil Gaimon claimed an emphatic victory in the opening time trial of the San Dimas Stage Race on Friday. The 26-year-old was 14 seconds quicker than runner-up Rob Britton (Competitive Cyclist) and his own teammate Nate English.

"I'm glad to finally show how strong the team is. I knew I had good form, so I kept it in the big ring," Gaimon said. "This race has been a goal of mine for a long time. Its great to start with a win."

It was Gaimon's first win in a while against the type of quality field assembled here in the Southern California western-themed town, and his directeur sportif Frankie Andreu was pleased with his performance.

"Phil invested in himself this winter. He moved to a warmer climate, paid his own way to early season races, and it paid off with a nice win. We won San Dimas last year and we plan to give Phil our full support."

The weather was fine for the Glendora Mountain Road time trial, which climbs 420m over 6.1km. The fastest early time was set by Exergy's Morgan Schmitt, whose 13:33 eclipsed his teammate and the race's runner-up from 2011, Matt Cooke by 6 seconds.

Gaimon was the next rider to step into the hot seat, powering up the climb in 13:10.2. Britton was the next rider to approach Gaimon's time, but by the top he was still 14 seconds shy. English put in a strong challenge as a first year professional, but was half a second behind Britton by the line to take third.

Armstrong smashes the field

The women's event was dominated by Kristin Armstrong, who is using every time trial in the early season to prepare for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. After taking out the win in the Merced Classic earlier this month by a minute, Armstrong put in another dominating ride in Glendora to take the stage by 32 seconds over Canadian Clara Hughes.

"I felt great today. Every time trial is important so it is especially good to come away with a win," Armstrong said. "The competition is awesome this year and as always the San Dimas stage race is a wonderful event."

Hughes was characteristically upbeat despite the large margin of her defeat at the hands of the reigning Olympic champion. "I'm really happy with the ride - I felt super strong and smooth on the bike. I've only done a few uphill time trials in my cycling life and it was a different kind of focus I didn't know I had.. .it's hard to hurt like yourself like that uphill! We have a lot of cards to play in the next few days and I can't wait to race with the girls," Hughes said.

A surprise on the day's podium came in the form of Kathryn Donovan (FCS Rouse-Mr.Restore), who was third at 52 seconds from Armstrong's time.

Taylor Wiles, Armstrong's 23-year-old teammate was the day's best young rider, coming in fourth ahead of a pair of Optum/Kelly Benefit Strategies riders: Joelle Numainville and Jade Wilcoxson.

"Today was a pretty special day for me, I had both sides of my family here from Utah cheering for me and the team. I wouldn't be where I am in this sport without them and all of their support, so I wanted to ride for them today," Wiles said. "I was so excited for my teammate Kristin Armstrong's win and I'm really looking forward to defending our lead and wearing white tomorrow!"

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