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Home » Top Stories » Road » Pacific Power Mt. Hood Cycling Classic

McWhirter and Mach take over at Mt. Hood

By Pat Malach
Published: Jun. 4, 2009

One day after just missing the top podium spot in the prologue of the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic, the Bissell Cycling Team stomped its way to a one-two finish in the Cooper Spur Circuit Race, capitalizing on time bonuses to claim the top two GC spots as well.

Bissell’s Paul Mach surged away from the lead group with just a few kilometers remaining and took the 85-mile race’s top prize. Mach’s teammate Morgan Schmitt crossed the line second after momentarily catching Mach on the finishing pitch. California Giant-Specialized rider Justin England finished third.

The 10-second time bonus for winning the race moved Mach — who started the day down two seconds on Masters World Champion time trialist and prologue winner Mike Olhesier — into the race leader’s yellow jersey by eight seconds over Schmitt and 18 seconds over Chris Baldwin (OUCH-Maxxis).

In the women's race, Veloforma’s Melissa McWhirter launched a perfectly timed attack in the last kilometer to take the stage win and the overall lead.

Men's race

The fireworks in the men’s race started early when Ryan Trebon (Kona) joined Allen Krughoff (Rio Grande) and Adam Thuss (Trek-Red Truck) in a break that quickly gained several minutes on the bunch.

The escape stayed up the road but changed make-up several times. First Thuss fell off the pace, then Dan Martin (Safeway) and Logan Garey (Trek-Red Truck) bridged up to the leaders. Trebon and Garey were soon gone, leaving Martin and Krughoff to hold off the bunch on their own.

The pair built a lead of more than four minutes before Mach’s Bissell teammates went to the front and started chasing. Martin shed Krughoff on the last lap, and then the race was on to the finish as the pack pack quickly closed behind.

“We didn’t have any help from anybody,” Mach said. “We had Graham (Howard) and Omer (Kem) on the front. And then other teams were just lined up behind them.”

In fact, the Bissell riders timed their chase to perfection as the pack swallowed up Martin several kilometers from the line, setting up the Bissell team to earn the rewards of their chase.

Mach and Schmitt began attacking on the winding uphill pitch to the finish, eventually wearing down the chasers enough for Mach to finally slip away with a couple of kilometers to go.

“Morgan (Schmitt) went by me with like a kilometer to go, and I was relieved,” Mach said. “But then I looked back and there wasn’t much of a gap, so I had to keep going. I caught back up to Morgan and just kept going trying to hold them off.”

Mach crossed the line alone, several seconds ahead of Schmitt. England won a sprint for third (and the final time bonus) from a small group that formed behind the Bisselll riders.

England indicated the Bissell riders were deserving winners, especially Schmitt.

“They were real aggressive today, and they did the bulk of the work to bring back the breakaway guys,” England said. “Honestly, I think Schmitt won the race for (Mach), because he was able to get up there and give him a good pull. I think otherwise we would have caught him.”

Mach now leads Schmitt on GC by eight seconds. OUCH-Maxxis rider Chris Baldwin, who started the day third overall, finished 10th and is now tied for third with Trek-Red Truck rider Rob Britton, 18 seconds down on Mach.

Olheiser surrendered his yellow jersey and slipped to  fifth place, 25 seconds down.

Women's race

The 65-mile women’s race, Veloforma’s Melissa McWhirter soloed away from a mostly intact field in the last kilometer to take the stage win by two seconds over Robin Farina (ValueAct Capital), Gillian Moody (Total Restoration Cycling Team) and Leah Goldstein (ValueAct Capital).

McWhirter’s winning burst from the group earned her the 10-second time bonus and the race leader’s yellow jersey. McWhirter now leads Farina and Goldstein by two and nine seconds, respectively.

Bend Bike N' Sport's Teri Sheasby escaped alone on the final lap and built a significant lead, but just as in the men’s race, she was reeled in at the bottom of the finishing pitch.

Overnight race leader Edwige Pitel, a four-time French national champion who is guest riding with the local Sorella Forte team, finished sixth, nine seconds off the pace, and slipped to fourth on GC, 12 seconds down.

“We’d get a good gap on the climbs,” McWhirter said of the stage that covered three-and-a-half laps of the 18-mile circuit. “Value Act was attacking the leader. So the yellow jersey had to do a lot of work. I think that really wore her down.”

Pitel did have enough left in her legs to launch a blistering attack up the final slope near the finish, but the group had little taste for letting her go.

“She went early, and then one of the girls tried to reel her in and couldn’t do it,” McWhirter said. “Then I got to the front and tried to reel her in. When I swung off Leah (Goldstein) got to the front and finished it off, so then I jumped. I know I don’t have that good of a sprint. So I just had to go early.”

Farina said the race went pretty much as planned for her ValueAct Capital team.

“Our goal was to kind of play it conservative today and see what kind of climbers are here,” she said. “Our goal wasn’t really to be too aggressive today. We want to save it for the time trial and Saturday’s stage. Our goal will be to put Leah in the jersey by Saturday.”  

Friday’s stage 2 Scenic Gorge Time Trial will test the riders with 18.5 miles on one of the most scenic courses in the country. The race against the clock starts in nearby The Dalles and pushes the riders up and over 1,975 feet of climbing on the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Highway to the finish in Hood River.
   
 

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