Jun

Stage 3 – June 6: Wy’East Road Race, 92 miles-By Heidi Swift

Britton wins Wy’East ahead of classification face off

Rob Britton (Trek Red Truck) Photo ©: Heidi Swift

Rob Britton (Trek Red Truck) climbed his way to victory in Mt. Hood Meadows, Oregon, after a hard 148-kilometre stage in the wind Saturday. He finished ahead of classification leaders Chris Baldwin and Paul Mach by few bike lengths.

Mach leads Baldwin by 13 seconds with one day left to race.

“It was Baldwin’s race to lose,” said Britton of the classification duel. “I was in tenth place [overall] so I was obviously going for the stage win. The last one kilometre or so I just sat and tried to wait and play it smart.”

Baldwin started his charge about 200 metres to the line, but he nor Mach could stop the charge of Britton.

Early escape

The men race with Mt. Hood in the background. Photo ©: Heidi Swift

Brad Bingham (Rio Grande), Kevin Rowe (Bobs-Bicycles), Adam Switters (CalGiant/Specialized), Adrian Hegyvary (Hagens Berman) and James Wingert (ZteaM) went away in an early escape. It gained as much as three minutes on the field.

The composition of the break shifted throughout the race: Bingham was forced to abandon due to a mechanical and Switters eventually shot off the front, mashing his way up the road alone.

The escape’s catch was inevitable, as most of them are. Even still, you had to feel for Switters as the Bissell army stormed around him with about 10 kilometres to go. He’d been out in the wind for the better part of 80 kilometres.

Bissell left Switters off the front while they bided their time to set their classification leader, Mach, up for a showdown with OUCH’s Baldwin. Baldwin started the day 15 seconds down on Mach.

“Bissell – they’re smart guys, they win a lot of races, right? So they just played it perfect – they set tempo just enough to keep the break in check,” Britton told Cyclingnews.

When Switters was finally caught, attacks started in earnest as Baldwin’s first lieutenant Roman Kilun accelerated. The group sorted itself out and four riders established an advantage ahead of the final few kilometres: Baldwin, Britton, Corey Collier (Rio Grande) and, of course, Mach.

“I just had to sit on Baldwin’s wheel. I felt bad about doing it, but it was my job today,” Mach told Cyclingnews.

“It just came down to me and him today and I couldn’t ride away from him,” said Baldwin smiled. “Paul and I are matched very closely physically – I could see that from the time trial yesterday.”

Baldwin’s second place gained him two seconds on Mach thanks to time bonuses. He would have to win tomorrow’s criterium stage by a margin of more than three seconds in order to claim the overall victory.

“You never know what can happen,” Baldwin said. “I think the advantage that I have is that I definitely have more experience than Paul and maybe something tactical like a crit could help me out.”

Hometown favourite Butler wins Wy’East ahead of surging Pital

Sue Butler (MonavieCannondale.com) takes a solo win Photo ©: Heidi Swift

Portland-based Sue Butler stole the show Saturday in Mt. Hood Meadows, Oregon, ahead of a tight classification battle between Leah Goldstein (VAC) and Edwige Pitel (Sorella Forte). Butler, a professional mountain biker for Monavie/Cannondale, won the Wy’East stage and France’s Pitel gained six seconds on her rival Goldstein.

“I didn’t have any plans to attack when we started. It was just going slow and no one was pulling into the wind,” said Butler. “It was kind of all or nothing – either I blow up spectacularly or I’m going to win the stage – so I went for it.”

Butler’s move started after she headed the group with Erin Ford (Veloforma) early in the stage. She eventually rode free to gain an advantage of up to two minutes. She had one minute ahead of the classification favourites in the final kilometre of the 56-kilometre climb to the Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort.

Butler’s win moved her from 11th into eight place overall, nearly ensuring her a top ten finish for the stage race that finishes tomorrow.

Ford finished in 12th, at one minute and 43 seconds back.

Classification battle

Goldstein sent ValueAct teammate Martina Patella off the front of the group at 40 kilometres remaining. The move allowed Goldstein to sit back until the others caught Patella.

Pitel and Goldstein were together for the final five kilometres with Melissa McWhirter and Alice Pennington (both Veloforma), Gillian Moody (Total Restoration), Alisha Welsh (PCIM), Teri Sheasby (Bend Bike n Sport) and Robin Farina (VAC).

Pitel moved clear of the group the last 200-metre drag with Moody and Welsh.

“I decided to wait for the sprint, and so I more or less controlled the race.” Pitel told Cyclingnews.

She claimed sixth and the six-second time bonus on offer. Goldstein finished in sixth with the rest of the group at three seconds back.

Pitel leads the race with 11 seconds over Goldstein with only tomorrow’s criterium remaining..

“We messed up, there’s no excuses,” said Goldstein. “I think we should have attacked on the climb – we had too much left there at the end. We finished standing up where two years ago I collapsed when I got up here.”

The eleven-second gap means that Goldstein would have to win the criterium with a gap of just over one second.

“I’m not a crit rider but I will be one tomorrow,” she told Cyclingnews.