Redlands, Calif. — Alison Powers delivered a monumental victory for Team Type 1 Sunday on the final stage of the 25th edition of the Redlands Bicycle Classic.
The Boulder, Colo., resident jumped away in the final 500 meters and held off the charging pack in the Beaver Medical Group Sunset Road Race to score Team Type 1’s first National Race Calendar win in the brief history of the women’s professional squad.
“Coming into this race, I was pretty much happy to defend my third place overall because I have never been on the podium in a big race,” Powers said. “But there was the opportunity today and I took it. These corners are my specialty and I knew I needed to go early through them. So when we turned that corner, I thought if I had a chance to win, I needed to go.”
Team Type 1 Director Sportif Jack Seehafer, Kori Seehafer's husband, was equally as excited as Powers afterwards, calling the victory a “total surprise.” In addition to registering the Team Type 1 women’s 13th win of the season, Powers finished third overall in the four-day race that is the first event of the Women’s Prestige Cycling Series (WPCS).
“I never saw this one coming,” Seehafer said. “Ina Teutenberg (of Team Columbia-Highroad) is the one you’d expect to win this stage because she is the best sprinter right now. But Kori gave Alison the advice of what not to do and how not to break her collarbone like Kori did in this race two years ago.”
Kori finished fifth on the final stage and earned the WPCS sprint leader’s jersey while Powers became the series’ first leader.
Teutenberg, who won two stages on the way to taking the overall victory in the four-day event, is not eligible to wear the WPCS orange leader’s jersey because Team Columbia- Highroad did not register for the series. Neither did the team of Redlands runner-up Amber Neben (Nürnberger Shoair), who was overtaken by Teutenberg on the final stage to finish one second behind in the overall standings.
Jack Seehafer said Team Type 1’s other riders in Sunday’s race – Jacquelyn Crowell, Veronica Leal and Samantha Schneider – each made key contributions during the challenging 65.7-mile (105.7 km) race on an undulating circuit.
“Veronica and Jackie chased back twice to get back to help Alison and Kori,” Seehafer said. “That was what we needed – to have everyone step up a level – and they did it.”
Powers finished 27 seconds behind Teutenberg in the final standings while Kori Seehafer was 14th, 1:30 behind. Crowell was 24th, 6:38 back; Leal was 28th, 7:32 behind, and Schneider finished 78th, 1:20:27 back. Team Type 1’s sixth rider in the race, Morgan Patton, did not finish Friday’s road race after suffering a pair of flat tires. She is one of two riders on the women's team who has Type 1 diabetes.
Team Type 1 is the world’s only professional cycling team with athletes who have Type 1 diabetes. It was formed in 2004 by Phil Southerland and Joe Eldridge, a pair of avid cyclists with Type 1 diabetes who are now professionals on the men’s team.
Southerland made a congratulatory phone call to Powers after the win — the 63rd overall in the two-year history of the Team Type 1 professional cycling program whose primary sponsor is Sanofi-Aventis. The company makes long-acting insulin Lantus® and rapid-acting insulin Apidra®.
“You bring dynamic leadership to the team,” Southerland told Powers during the call from his home in Atlanta. “To win a big race like this on a national level is just awesome."
Joanne Kiesanowski (Team TIBCO) and Nikki Butterfield (Webcor Builders Cycling Team) would round out the podium.
Stage 3 Results - Women
1. Alison Powers (Team Type 1)
2. Joanne Kiesanowski (Team TIBCO)
3. Nikki Butterfield (Webcor Builders Cycling Team)
Overall Classification - Women
1. Ina-Yoko Teutenberg (Team Columbia Highroad)
2. Amber Neben (Nürnberger Shoair)
3. Alison Powers (Team Type 1)
4. Mara Abbott (Team Columbia Highroad)
5. Katheryn Mattis (Webcor Builders Cycling Team)
6. Lauren Tamayo (Team TIBCO)
7. Kristin Sanders (Value Act Capital)
8. Alex Wrubleski (Team Columbia Highroad)
9. Meredith Miller (Team TIBCO)
10. Christina Ruiter (Value Act Capital)
In the men's race, the wearer of the Redlands Bicycle Classic Best Sprinter's jersey, Kyle Wamsely (Colavita-Sutter Home), took the final stage in un-sprinter like fashion as he easily soloed to the victory. Wamsley broke away late from a depleted peloton to claim his first NRC victory of the 2009 season. Kirk Carlsen (Garmin-Holoweko Partners-Felt) and Jacob Erker (Kelly Benefit Strategies) would finish in second and third, respectively.
For his efforts in the opening day's Prologue, fifth, and on Stage 1 in Beaumont, where he claimed the victory, BMC Racing's Jeff Louder took the overall title of the 25th Redlands Bicycle Classic.
Stage 3 Results - Men's
1. Kyle Wamsley (Colavita Sutter Home)
2. Kirk Carlsen (Garmin-Holoweko Partners-Felt)
3. Jacob Erker (Kelly Benefit Strategies)
Overall Classification - Men's
1. Jeff Louder (BMC Racing Team)
2. Tom Zirbel (Bissell Pro Cycling)
3. Ben Day (Fly V Australia/Successful Liv)
4. Brent Bookwalter (BMC Racing Team)
5. Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissell Pro Cycling)
6. Rory Sutherland (OUCH p/b Maxxis)
7. Chris Baldwin (Rock Racing)
8. Will Routley (Jelly Belly)
9. Jacob Erker (Kelly Benefit Strategies)
10. Kiel Reijnen (Jelly Belly)
Some materials used for this post courtesy of Team Type 1
Photos: VeloImages
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