For the majority of the 1.2 mile, seven turn downtown Redlands criterium race, sponsored by 1st Centennial Bank/KWB Wealth Managers, a break of four, Curtis Gunn (Successful Living Pro Cycling Team), Shawn Milne (Team Type 1), Louder, and Amaran maintained an 18 second lead on the field. As the pace quickened, the tete de course was reduced to three when Milne clipped his pedal coming out of the second-to-last turn and went headfirst over the handlebars. X-Rays later revealed Milne broke his right thumb at the metacarpal (knuckle) joint.
“I couldn’t believe my misfortune,” Milne said. “I wasn’t the strongest guy in the group, but I was the fastest. So there was a good chance that if I had good position, I probably would have won.”
Dominguez was the beneficiary of Milne's misfortune by taking the field sprint and the final podium spot.
Louder, however, benefitted the most as the day's tactics and race certainly played into his victory. "It was a bit of a cat and mouse game," said Louder. "The rest of the group was coming hard. I led through the last half of the race and was just trying to keep it up. It was a tricky race. I'm not really a sprinter, but this race favors a strong technical rider. I don't have fast legs, but if I get in the lead group, like today, it works."
Aside from phenomenal action on Stage Two, American cycling legend, Scott Moninger, was presented with the 2008 Legends award for his representation of the cycling community, both on and off the field. Redlands Mayor John Harrison introduced the award and Dan Rendler, the 2008 Redlands Bicycle Classic race director introduced Moninger with a summary of his vast accomplishments during his 17 years of racing, including 275 wins, two NRC championships, and two Redlands Bicycle Classic victories. "This race has always been special to me, since 1989," lamented Moninger. "The community support is what makes it what it is. Thanks a lot to Redlands."
Women's Teams Battle on Stage Two Race, Set Up Grand Finale
A mass of wheels settled against each other as the professional women cyclists lined up in downtown Redlands for day three of racing in the Redlands Bicycle Classic. The Stage Two 1.2 mile downtown Redlands criterium race, sponsored by 1st Centennial Bank/KWB Wealth Managers, brought opportunities for riders to push ahead and grab the winning title. 19-year-old rising Swedish star Emilia Fahlin from Team High Road sprinted across the finish line first, with Alex Wrubleski, from Webcor Builders, and Brenda Lyons, from Advil/Chapstick rounding out the top three. Mara Abbott (High Road) maintained her lead in the overall.The criterium race zipped through downtown Redlands and gave riders technical corners and numerous opportunities for attacks. Place changes and fast paces created an ebb and flow to the race, and left the crowd guessing who would strike the hardest and pull ahead. "This course has a lot of corners and fast laps, which I like," said Fahlin, who was a first time Redlands Bicycle Classic participant. "Everyone talks about this race. It's a big goal for the team." Fahlin fought her way to the end, knowing she had to keep her wheels spinning. "After I took off seconds for the first bonus I was a little tired, so I had to push it."
Mara Abbott, Fahlin's teammate, looked forward to tomorrow's Sunset race closer. "Every year Sunset is a good race, with something unexpected always happening. It's a great course."
For more information about the 2008 Redlands Bicycle Classic, presented by PossAbilities, including current race results, visit www.redlandsclassic.com.
Photo: Leonard Basobas
No comments:
Post a Comment