Stage 2 – Oak Glen 125km

The second stage of the ProGel Redlands bicycle classic was contested today under bright clear sunshine with the famous Santa Ana winds once again blowing. The peloton was hesitant at first to brave the winds and most riders were seeking the shelter of the peloton when the first sprint of the day took place with Quark rider Helen Kelly taking the points and an early lead in the sprinter competition. Countering off the sprint was T-mobile’s Ina Teutenberg who forged herself a lead that fluctuated between 1 and 2 minutes for the next 50 km. Eventually the wind and the solo effort wore down Teutenberg and the pack was all together for the final sprint of the day which was once again taken by Quark’s Helen Kelly, securing her the Green Jersey.

Still up for grabs was the climbers jersey and the stage win and riders were eager to get a jump on the climbers before the final climb up Oak Glen. A break containing Quark’s Tina Pic, Chrissy Ruiter of Ford-Basis, Belem Guerrero of the Mexican National Team, Elizabeth Begosh of Vello Bella escaped and built up a 3 minute lead before the hill tilted upward. Along for the ride protecting their team leaders position were and T-Mobile’s Mari Holden and Webcor’s Katheryn Curi.

Once the climb up Oak Glen began it just became a matter of time before the escapees were caught and the climbers took their rightful place at the front of the peloton on a mountain top finish.  Tina Pic Quarks super sprinter showed she is more then that by staying with a select group climbers containing Webcor’s Christine Thorburn and Erinne Willock, Kim Baldwin and Kristen Armstrong of T- Mobile. Joining Pic in this group of climbers was her teammate Annette Beutler. First to attack in the final kilometers was Baldwin whose efforts dropped Willock who had done the early pace making for her yellow clad teammate Thorburn. After Baldwin, Thorburn put in a huge pull and T-mobile’s Armstrong countered but was unable to get an advantage. With 500 meters to go Quark’s Beutler attacked and left her climbing partners behind to cross the finish line in first 6 seconds ahead of Baldwin and 10 ahead of Thorburn. Beutler’s victory earned her the Red climbers jersey and Thorburn was able to hold on to her overall lead but the top of the GC tightened up and will make for some very interesting racing in the next two days.

Results:

1  Annette Beutler (Quark)

2 Kim Baldwin (T-Mobile)

3 Christine Thorburn (Webcor)

4 Kristen Armstrong  (T-Mobile)

5 Erinne Willock  (Webcor)
6 Tina Pic (Quark)

Climbers Jersey: Annette Beutler (Quark)
Sprinters Jersey: Helen Kelly (Quark)