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Race Results

Redlands Classic Stage 1

California

Race Preview     Prologue    Stage 1    Stage 2    Stage 3    Stage 4  Stage 5/Final GC

RONA/ESKER’S GENEVIÈVE JEANSON KEEPS THE LEAD AT REDLANDS

Canadian Geneviève Jeanson of the RONA/Esker cycling team held on to her lead in general classification at the Redlands Classic, finishing at the front of the main field, 30 seconds behind Saturn’s Ina Teutenberg and T Mobile’s Dede Barry, who came in first and second respectively in today’s stage.   

The stage generated little change at the front of GC.  Jeanson is still leading with mostly the same riders on her heels as yesterday :  T Mobile’s Amber Neben and Kim Bruckner, 20 and 23 seconds nehind respectively, and Manon Jutras of Saturn at 23 seconds.  Thanks to her stage win today Dede Barry climbed to the fifth lace in GC (trailing Jeanson by 25’’) and Saturn’s Lyne Bessette is now sixth, still 31 seconds behind Jeanson.

 Jeanson also kept her red Queen of the Mountain jersey.

 Today’s stage rolled over 66 km of hills in overcast, cold weather.  It was pretty quiet for more than 30 km, but things started to warm up at mid-race, when Dede Barry (who won the Montreal World Cup last year) broke away with Ina Teutenberg.  Even though Jeanson once managed to narrow the lead down to 7 seconds after a hillclimb less than 10 km from the finish, the strong pair worked well and crossed the finish line 30 seconds ahead of the pack.

 Today’s stage cost Jeanson two teammates.  Karen Bockel quit because of the flu.  Kristen LaSasso crashed shortly before mid-race.  She managed to finish the stage 12 minutes after the leaders, before going to the hospital where she was diagnosed with an arm fracture.  She will not start tomorrow.

 “Tough day at the office”, commented Jeanson after the stage.  “We lost two girls, and that’s not going to make things any easier for the rest of the race, against very aggressive T Mobile and Saturn teams.  And to tell the truth. I missed a couple of opportunities today where I could have made a difference, I could have been more aggressive myself.  But we suffered no damage in GC.  Tomorrow’s stage will be crucial for the final result.”      

Indeed, tomorrow, the 99 survivors will deal with the formidable Oak Glen Road Race, a 131-km stage with three major climbs, the last one being a hard, winding, 10-km climb leading to a mountaintop finish.  Times down will be measured in minutes. 

 The Redlands Classic web site is found at www.redlandsclassic.com

Stage 1 :  Highland Circuit Race

Stage standings

 Redlands Bicycle Classic

General Classification as of stage 1

Team RONA/Esker is one of only two Canadian women’s cycling teams in the Elite Category that are recognized by the International Cycling Union. The team is made up of four Canadian racers (Geneviève Jeanson, Andrea Hannos, Carrie Tuck and Erinne Willock), French racers Catherine Marsal and Magali Le Floc’h, New Zealander Melissa Holt, German Karen Bockel and American Kristen LaSasso.

RONA is Canada’s leading hardware and home renovation retailer (www.rona.ca). Esker is a natural spring water from the north of Canada, sold in North America and Asia (www.eskerwater.com).

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