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Race Results

Redlands Classic Stage 3

California

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

RONA/ESKER’S GENEVIÈVE JEANSON LEAVES THEM BREATHLESS IN REDLANDS

Canadian Geneviève Jeanson of the RONA/Esker cycling team reminded everybody today that the best defense is offense.  After riding 60 km in front mostly by herself, she finished the stage  2’ 26” before Saturn’s French-Canadian connection Lyne Bessette and Manon Jutras, and T Mobile’s Amber Neben.   T Mobile’s Kim Bruckner, who started this morning as the runner-up in GC,  took fifth place, 6’15” behind Jeanson. 

 In general classification, Jeanson now has a 6’ 01” priority over Manon Jutras, who climbed from third to second place. Bessette is now third, 3 seconds behind her teammate Jutras.  Bruckner is now fifth, more than 9 minutes out of the overall lead.

 Although everybody was tired after yesterday’s intensity, the field set a fast tempo right from the start of today’s stage, a 73-km ride that had the riders climb the 20-percent Wabash hill, which is more than a kilometer long.  But the first 13 kilometers were flat and everybody was there, fast and aggressive.  When the first power climb came up, Jeanson attacked, just to test the competition.  The peloton stretched right away and only five girls stayed in Jeanson’s wake: Kim Bruckner (T Mobile), Manon Jutras (Saturn), Lyne Bessette (Saturn), Amber Neben (T Mobile), who stood second to fifth in GC, and Team Velo Bella’s Felicia Greer, 10th in GC.  Jeanson increased the gap going uphill, and the five chasers made up some time downhill.

 When the chasers caught up with Jeanson after 25 km of racing, they started to attack on the flat part of the course.  Like the day before, Saturn and T Mobile combined their efforts and launched attack after attack, in pairs.  Time after time,. Jeanson had to chase.  “It was to be expected, Geneviève’s rivals would try to tire her out”, explained RONA/Esker’s manager André Aubut after the race.  “She felt good, so I told her to take the first opportunity to launch her own attack.  In any scenario she would have to work like a dog, so…”  

 Jeanson placed her first acceleration at the bottom of a short hill before the Wabash wall.  Right away Bruckner and Greer seemed to falter a little, but the group of five caught up with Jeanson in the descent.  The yellow jersey placed a second acceleration in the false flat leading to Wabash.  Then another at the bottom of the wall.  Greer, then Buckner were definitively dropped.  The three other chasers reached the top of the Wabash wall 20 seonds behind Jeanson.  From summit to summit, little by little, inexorably, the lead increased.  “My lead on the flat stayed around 15 seconds for a long time”, remembered the RONA/Esker after the race, “I continued to attack in the flat portions, but I kept a little slack under the pedal, just in case they would catch me, so I could immediatrely counterattack.”

 She did not have to.  After a while, either exhausted or discouraged, the chasing trio slowed down, the chase calmed down, and a lead of seconds became a lead of minutes.  Jeanson crossed the line with a 2’26” lead over Lyne Bessette and Manon Jutras, who completed an all-Canadian stage podium.

 Probably tired by yesterday’s efforts, the main field stayed out of the fight ahead and recovered.  It finished more than 13 minutes after Jeanson and her teammate won the sprint to finish seventh of the stage.

 “In spite of yesterday’s effort I had good legs today”, said Geneviève Jeanson after the stage.  “That’s a good thing, because with today’s course, and with our climbers out of the race, I knew I would be quickly isolated.  I expected to be attacked systematically by the podium candidates.  I must have disappointed everyone who wished I would be worn out.”

 Tomorrow’s stage will be a 60-minute criterium in downtown Redlands, a favorite of local fans.  It will be sprinter’s day, with out-of-contention teams trying to get a stage win.  It is not expected to have a big impact on general classification.  “The goal will be to stay out of trouble”, commented Jeanson.  

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

 Stage 3 :  Panorama Point Road Race

Stage standings

General Classification as of stage 3

  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).

 The team also receives equipment and service sponsorships from many companies, including Colnago, Biemme, Shimano, Michelin, Mavic, Diadora, Limar, Selle Italia, ITM, Look, CatEye, Tacx, Finish Line, Cane Creek, Saris, Power Tap, Cycles Lambert and Club Médico-Sportif. 

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