THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
Wherry and Thorburn tops at Redlands opener
Rising like a rocky turret from the flat floor of Riverside Valley, Mt. Rubidoux – site of Thursday’s Redlands prologue – was battered by constant westerly winds that gusted up to 50 mph. It took a combination of strength, perseverance and the right equipment to give Health Net’s Chris Wherry and Webcor’s Christine Thorburn the honors on a more-than-blustery day in Southern California.
For the nearly 200 riders who worked their way up the 5km asphalt corkscrew to Rubidoux’s summit, the trip up the mountain was like rolling into a sandy tornado. Riders were initially greeted by a strong tailwind, but as the route circumnavigated the mountain, the winds blew across and headlong into the course.
“The first section was really with the tailwind,” said Colavita’s Dotsie Cowden. “But there were two left turns around the mountain where you can’t hide behind the mountain and just get battered. I don’t know if I was slower or faster this year because the headwinds and tailwinds were so bad.”
Still, things could have been worse. Just a day earlier, the cracked asphalt path leading to the summit was covered in many places by a thick layer of sand. But with the help of a hastily organized broom brigade, riders had an easy time keeping the rubber side down.
With the blustery conditions and steep incline, riders selected from a wide menu of time-trial gear, from disc wheels and aero’ bars to conventional road bikes. Wherry opted for the latter, and the Durango resident rode away with victory.
“I went with the old Eddy Merckx-style time-trial bike today,” Wherry said. “Aero’ bars wouldn’t have benefited me because I spent so much time out of the saddle.”
Before Wherry left the starting ramp, the time to beat was laid down by Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada’s Ben Jacques-Maynes, racing in his first NRC event of the season. His 9:01.2 bested Health Net’s Justin England by just 0.7 second. With Jacques-Maynes, England, and Symmetrics’ Eric Wohlberg sitting within less than a second of each other, most expected the day’s top time to be within the same narrow spectrum.
But Wherry reached the summit more than 10 seconds faster than Jacques-Maynes, in 8:50 – it was the only sub nine-minute effort, and a convincing indicator that his fitness and form are dead on going into Friday’s 106.91-mile Oak Glen road race.
Still, the 30-year-old’s margin was far from the completely dominant times laid down in earlier years, and Health Net will likely have to struggle to maintain the lead during Friday's stage.
“Obviously the field is a little different this year without Chris Horner, who could blow everyone away on the time trial,” said Wherry’s teammate Scott Moninger, second on the day. “The fact that there are three or four guys out there within a second of each other shows that everyone is on the same page in this race. It should make for interesting competition.”
Still, with four riders in the top-10 overall, the advantage has to go to Health Net, which already has wins at the Central Valley Classic and the San Dimas Stage Race.
“They know that they’re the team to beat, and they’re going to want to dictate what goes on,” said Jacques-Maynes. “The only way you can hope to beat them is to attack over and over again and hope their guys get tired.” But with two stages missing from the race, the tactic of wearing down the competition may be a hard card to play.
In the women’s race, which is generally decided by the climb to Oak Glen, many expect the pace to be frantic from the get-go.
“I think it’s going to be more active because there’s no room to make up time this year,” said Genèvieve Jeanson, who won the race in 2000 and 2001. “I think tomorrow is going to be more intense than usual for sure.”
Jeanson, who is riding on the composite Bicycle Store team, laid down the third-fastest time in the women's opener. American Olympian Christine Thorburn won, beating T-Mobile’s Kristin Armstrong by four seconds.
“We have a couple of riders high up in the GC so we’re feeling very confident,” Thorburn said. “But it will come down to the Oak Glen stage. That’s always the critical part.”
Thorburn finished third here last year. Lyne Bessette, last year’s champion, is absent this year, opting instead to race mountain bikes.
REDLANDS BICYCLE CLASSIC
Stage 1: Mt. Rubidoux Time Trial
Men
1. Chris Wherry, Health Net-Maxxis, 08:49
2. Scott Moninger, Health Net-Maxxis, at 0:11
3. Ben Jacques-Maynes, Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada, at 0:12
4. Eric Wohlberg (Can), Symmetrics, at 0:12
5. Mike Jones, Health Net-Maxxis, at 0:12
6. Cheechi Giancarlo, Monex, at 0:14
7. Brian Sheedy, Advantage Benefits, at 0:14
8. John Lieswyn, Health Net-Maxxis, at 0:17
9. Todd Herriott, Colavita-Sutter Home, at 0:17
10. Ryan Trebon, Aerospace Engineering, at 0:19Women
1. Christine Thorburn, Webcor Builders, 09:59
2. Kristin Armstrong, T-Mobile, at 0:04
3. Genèvieve Jeanson (Can), The Bicycle Store, at 0:07
4. Kimberly Baldwin, T-Mobile, at 0:09
5. Erinne Willock, Webcor Builders, at 0:22
6. Lynn Gaggioli, Monex, at 0:26
7. Annette Beutler (Can), Quark, at 0:26
8. Ina Teutenberg (G), T-Mobile, 0:32
9. Tina Pic, Quark, at 0:32
10. Felicia Greer, Webcor Builders, at 0:38
