Redlands, Calif. — Kori Seehafer (above) didn't set out to go after the sprint jersey Saturday at the Redlands Bicycle Classic.
The Team Type 1 rider said she was only taking advantage of a tremendous lead-out by teammate Jacqueline Crowell on the first of three special point sprints during the hour-long City of Redlands Criterium through the streets of Downtown Redlands.
"In the first one, Jackie did a lead-out for me, so I felt responsible to sprint,” Seehafer said. “I wasn’t sure what the point standings where and wasn’t aiming for the jersey at the beginning of the race, but I thought that if I won all of them today I might wear the sprint jersey.”
The Louisville, Colo., resident did win all three of the sprints but came up two points short of earning the special green jersey that goes to the sprint classification winner. That jersey stays on the shoulders of Ina Yoko Teutenberg (Team Columbia-Highroad), who maintained her lead in the competition by earning her second straight stage victory.
Team Type 1 placed three riders in the top 20 on Saturday’s Stage 2: Alison Powers was fifth, Samantha Schneider was 11th and Seehafter was 17th.
“Alison’s plan was to be attentive and watch for any kind of moves where she could get extra time in on Amber,” Team Type 1 Director Jack Seehafer said. “One of the big things in this criterium was to be up front where it’s safe.”
Powers maintains her third place overall, 38 seconds behind Amber Neben (Nurnberger Shoair) and 36 seconds behind second-placed Ina Yoko Teutenberg (Team Columbia-Highroad). Team Columbia-Highroad’s Mara Abbott is only two seconds behind Powers heading into Sunday’s extremely challenging Beaver Medical Group Sunset Road Race. The 65.7-mile (105.7 km) race covers nine laps of an undulating circuit.
Despite Seehafer’s lack of points for a top-five finish Saturday, she stands only two points out of the lead in the sprints competition. Two years ago at this race, she won the green jersey and finished seventh overall despite crashing hard in the final hundred meters of the last stage.
“In the past, I’ve won the points jersey, and I thought I would at least try,” Seehafer said, “but in the past, this race didn’t have points on the line for the finish.”
The only points on the line Sunday come at the finish line (seven for first, five for second, three for third, two for fourth and one for fifth). But Seehafer, who had questions about her fitness coming into the race, is performing beyond her expectations, her husband, Jack, said.
“She’s coming along really quick,” he said. “She was saying she was two months behind schedule is a little bit different from everybody else being two months behind schedule.”
Material used for this post are courtesy of Team Type 1
Photo: VeloImages
No comments:
Post a Comment