Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort – Moises Aldape of Team Type 1 repeated his victory of a year ago at the Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort, soloing away from two others Friday to win the Cascade Lakes Road Race at the Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic.Aldape attacked Peter Stetina (Felt-Holowesko Partners-Garmin) and Steve Bovay (BMC Racing Team) with about a mile to go in the 84-mile (135 km) race. His sharp acceleration on the final uphill pitch before the run-in to the ski station parking lot opened a decisive gap.
"I remember last year’s race perfectly," Adalpe said after being congratulated by his Team Type 1 teammates. "So with one kilometer to go, I knew there was a possibility for me break away to win the stage. So I seized the opportunity."
Phil Zajicek (Fly V Australia) was second and Francisco Mancebo (Rock Racing) was third. Mancebo’s teammate, Oscar Sevilla, retained the overall lead.
Team Type 1 Assistant Director Gord Fraser said he sent a clear message in the team’s pre-race meeting: put away thoughts of the overall classification and just win the stage.
“And the guys responded with a first rate performance,” Fraser said. “Before the race started, I was really counting on some of our older riders like Moises, Matt (Wilson) and Valeriy (Kobzarenko) to start stepping up and riding like they normally ride. I think they’ve responded very well to that and it’s a reflection of how hard our team races. Having our older riders step up gives us an incredibly new dynamic and I expect nothing less for the rest of the year.”
Last year, Aldape won this same stage of the six-stage National Racing Calendar (NRC) event by out-sprinting five breakaway companions in the final hundred meters on the way to winning the King of the Mountains crown. He later represented Mexico in the Beijing Olympics.
But this season hasn't been as kind to the 27-year-old. He has missed much of the year with a prostrate injury that first came to light in February and forced his withdrawal from the Amgen Tour of California in February.
This is Aldape's second victory of the year, adding to a win at the 64 Aniversario Diario El Sol del Centro Clásica Ciclística on April 11 in Aguascalientes, Mexico. It is also the 46th of the season for the Team Type 1 men, surpassing the 45 victories that the team racked up in its first year as a professional squad in 2008.
For much of Friday's race, it looked like another Team Type 1 rider – Michael Creed – might be the one climbing to the top of the victory stand. Creed was part of a seven-man breakaway that escaped the pack 17 miles in and built as much as three-minute lead with 34 miles to go.
But the chasing efforts by Rock Racing, which has had Oscar Sevilla in the leader's yellow jersey since his Stage 2 win on Wednesday, pulled the escapees within a minute with nine miles to go. From there, a second breakaway group – this one containing Aldape – bridged up and rode through the remnants of the original group.
Stage 4 Results - Men
1. Moises Aldape (USA) Team Type 1
2. Phil Zajicek (USA) Fly V Australia presented by Successful Living
3. Francisco Mancebo Perez (USA) Rock Racing
General Classification - Men
1. Oscar Sevilla Rivera (USA) Rock Racing
2. Jeff Louder (USA) BMC Racing Team
3. Francisco Mancebo Perez (USA) Rock Racing
4. Ian Mckissick (USA) BMC Racing Team
5. Rory Sutherland (USA) OUCH Pro Cycling Team
6. Chris Baldwin (USA) OUCH Pro Cycling Team
7. Victor Hugo Pena (USA) Rock Racing
8. Darren Lill (USA) Team Type 1
9. Jeremy Vennell (USA) BISSELL Pro Cycling Team
10. Matt Wilson (USA) Team Type 1
Photos: Courtesy Brian Hodes, VeloImages
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