Redlands, Calif. — Team Type 1’s Alison Powers climbed into third place overall following a wind-swept afternoon of racing Friday at the Redlands Bicycle Classic.
Powers finished seventh in the 72-mile (116 km) women’s race that comprised three laps of a 24-mile (39 km) circuit around Beaumont, Calif. On the final time up the climb through Bogart County Park, only 30 of the 138 starters made the decisive split – including Powers and Team Type 1 teammate Kori Seehafer.
But the sustained 30 mph winds – with gusts up to 45 mph – wreaked further havoc on the small group as it made its way toward the finish in downtown Beaumont. The runner-up in Thursday’s prologue, Mara Abbott (Team Columbia-Highroad), was one of those left behind and forced to chase.
The 12-second gap between the front group of 15 and the rest of the field allowed Powers to move up one spot on the overall classification. The Boulder, Colo., resident is now 37 seconds behind race leader Amber Neben (Nurnberger Shoair). Ina Yoko Teutenberg (Team Columbia-Highroad), the winnner of Friday’s race, is second overall, 14 seconds behind Neben.
“Holy cow, was it ever windy,” Powers said. “But it was cool, too, because the girls raced their bikes today. I haven’t raced many road races in the U.S. recently so it was cool to see aggressive racing. Team Tibco was very active the first lap. It was a really hard race.”
In addition to Powers’ seventh place, Seehafer finished 14th after figuring in a five-rider breakaway for the better part of a lap. Other Team Type 1 finishers were Jacquelyn Crowell (31st, 1:24 behind), Veronica Leal (43rd, 2:14 behind) and Samantha Schneider (74th, 13:05 behind).
Team Type 1’s Morgan Patton, the only rider with Type 1 diabetes in the race, was riding in a chase group on the first lap when a crash forced her off the road. Her detour through the dirt flatted her tires and ultimately led to her withdrawal from the race.
Saturday’s stage is an hour-long criterium in downtown Redlands, beginning at 1:15 p.m. The race concludes Sunday with the 65-mile (108 km) Sunset Road Race.
Materials used for this post are courtesy of Team Type 1
Photo: VeloImages
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