THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING »

Get the VeloNews Email Newsletter FREE

  Learn More | Archive
Home » Top Stories » Road »

Louder, LaSasso lead Cascade after double-stage day

By Ian Dille
Published: Jul. 16, 2006

After a double day of competition domestique riders Jeff Louder (Health Net-Maxxis) and Kristen LaSasso (Lipton) continue to lead the Cascade Cycling Classic. Saturday’s racing included a flat, 6.6-mile time trial in the morning and a technical, downtown criterium in the evening.

Men’s time trial
Louder rode bravely in the morning time trial to retain the leaders jersey by a scant nine seconds over his teammate Nathan O’Neill. O’Neill now sits in second place overall, with Chris Wherry (Toyota-United) moving down to third.

Louder, who seemed a bit stunned by his performance, said being in the leader’s jersey gave him an incentive to raise his level of performance, despite having been off the front of the field for more than 70 miles in the previous day’s race.

Meanwhile, O’Neill, the Australian national time trial champion, said it was different to race on the flat desert roads east of Bend after three days of mountaintop finishes.

"The course was a lot faster than I thought it was going to be after seeing it yesterday," said O’Neill, who averaged over 30 miles per hour during his ride. "After you’ve had your climbing legs on for three days, it was a bit of a change of pace. It was really important that all of us got in a good warm-up."

Criterium
On a criterium course that ran though the heart of quaint little downtown Bend, Juan Jose Haedo (Toyota-United) took a blazing field sprint in front of Jeff Hopkins (Jittery Joe’s) and Gord Fraser (Health Net-Maxxis).

At about 30 minutes into the 90-minute men’s criterium a break of 14 leapt off the front. While the group didn’t contain any serious general-classification threats, it did look like the potentially winning move.

Among the breakaway riders were Tony Cruz and Ivan Stevic (Toyota-United); Glen Mitchell (Priority Health); Evan Elkin (Jittery Joe’s), Ryan Ye (Successful Living); hometown favorite Aaron Olson (Saunier Duval-Prodir); Miles Olman (South Australia); and Daniel Neyers (Broadmark Capital).

While Health Net-Maxxis set a steady tempo at the front of the field to protect Louder’s lead, the break increased its gap to more than 45 seconds on the tight, five -orner course. But as the lap counter dwindled toward one to go, the infighting in the break began, and with the lost cohesion the field began to close in.

"We weren’t necessarily trying to bring the break back. We were happy with the guys in the move," said third-place finisher Fraser. "We were just trying to go faster to keep it safe."

As the racers rounded the last corner, the break had been absorbed, and it was Haedo, Toyota-United’s go-to man, leading the rest of the men across the line.

"I just came back from a long rest and this is my first race since Philly," said Haedo, who’d ridden support for teammate Wherry at the front of the field for most of the day on Friday. "After yesterday my legs actually felt pretty good. I was hoping the break would stay away and someone else from the team would win, but in the last twenty minutes the gap came down from 45 seconds to 20, and I knew I had to get to the front."

Women’s time trial
While women’s time trial winner Kristen Armstrong (Lipton) gained over a minute on her teammate LaSasso, she failed to take the overall lead.

LaSasso’s original time margin of more than two minutes, which she gained in an epic 70-mile breakaway during the Cascade Classic’s opening stage, now stands at only 24 seconds. However, Armstrong said she was looking forward to helping her teammate hold on to the leader’s jersey in Sunday’s difficult circuit race.

"It’s a good situation for us," said Armstrong, who further solidified her runner-up position with the time-trial victory. "I really want Kristen to keep the jersey, but it’ll be interesting with the time bonus sprints on Sunday. A good sprinter could gain back a lot of time."

Criterium
About midway through the 50-minute women’s criterium, a successful break emerged from the field. The move contained Laura Van Gilder (Lipton), Kele Murdin (Velo Bella-Kona), Katheryn Curi (Webcor-Platinum), Marisa Asplund (CPT-Colnago), Martina Patella (McGuire) and hometown favorite Chrissy Ruiter (Victory Brewing).

With none of the riders posing a threat in the overall classification, Lipton was happy to give the move some time in hopes that Van Gilder would secure the victory. She did.

With two laps to go, and a $500 prime on the line, the rider known as the Powder Puff of the Poconos attacked the break and built a lead that she held all the way to the finish.

"After three days in the mountains and the time trial this morning it was nice to have a flat crit," said Van Gilder, who has been riding strongly in her support role to overall leader LaSasso. "We really wanted to make it easy on our GC riders, so having me in the break really helped them conserve energy."

Ruiter, who grew up in Bend and still calls it home, gave the many fans lining the course something to cheer about after making the break and finishing third.

"There were so many people lining the course, I could here my name everywhere," she said of the overwhelming crowd support. "I wanted to be up front to help cover moves, and I just happened to be at the front at the right moment. Really, just trying to help out the team got me in the move."

Cascade Classic
Men
Time trial
1. Nathan O’Neill (Health Net-Maxxis), 13:25.79
2. Bernard Van Ulden (Navigators), at 0:09
3. Sergey Lagutin (Navigators), at 0:10
4. Tom Zibel (Priority Health), at 0:14
5. Glen Chadwick (Navigators), at 0:15
6. Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United), at 0:18
7. Jeff Louder (Health Net-Maxxis), at 0:19
8. Chris Wherry (Health Net-Maxxis), at 0:24
9. Scott Moninger (Health Net-Maxxis), at 0:27
10. Matt Weyen (Team Hyde Park Cycling), at 0:37

Criterium
1. Juan Jose Haedo (Toyota-United)
2. Gord Fraser (Health Net-Maxxis)
3. Jeff Hopkins (Jittery Joe’s)

Overall
1. Jeff Louder (Health Net-Maxxis), 10:19:05
2. Chris Wherry (Toyota-United), at 0:10
3. Nathan O’Neill (Health Net-Maxxis), same time
4. Sergey Lagutin (Navigators), at 0:12
5. Scott Moninger (Health Net-Maxxis), at 0:25
6. Cesar Grajales (Navigators), at 1:24
7. Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United), at 1:59
8. Glen Chadwick (Navigators), at 2:26
9. Trent Wilson (Jittery Joe’s), at 2:46
10. Tom Zirbel (Priority Health), at 2:49

Women
Time trial
1. Kristen Armstrong (Lipton), 14:43.35
2. Beverley Harper (Touchstone Climbing), at 0:36
3. Rachel Heal (Victory Brewing), at 0:59
4. Felicia Gomez (Webcor Platinum), at 1:10
5. Mara Abbott (Rio Grande-Sports Garage), at 1:10
6. Katheryn Curi (Webcor-Platinum), at 1:11
7. Amber Rais (Webcor-Platinum, at 1:13
8. Kristen LaSasso (Lipton), at 1:15
9. Marisa Asplund (CPT-Colnago), at 1:16
10. Suz Weldon (TRIA), at 1:19

Criterium
1. Laura Van Gilder (Lipton)
2. Kele Murdin (Velo Bella)
3. Chrissy Ruiter (Victory Brewing)
4. Martina Patella (McGuire)
5. Katheryn Curi (Webcor-Platinum)

Overall
1. Kristen LaSasso (Lipton), 7:47:47
2. Kristen Armstrong (Lipton), at 0:24
3. Mara Abbott (Rio Grande-Sports Garage), at 0:1:34
4. Rachel Heal (Victory Brewing), at 1:45
5. Dotsie Bausch (Colavita-Cooking Light), at 1:47