Redlands Bicycle Classic

Powers goes two-for-two in Redlands with sprint win over Kiesanowski; Amaran tops group sprint for men's stage

Texas native wins opening time trial at the Redlands Bicycle Classic following a rough 2012 season

The 2013 Redlands Bicycle Classic kicked off with a time trial in Big Bear Lake

Chad Haga, Alison Powers rule the opening time trial in Big Bear, Calif.

Powers, Haga tops in Redlands opener

Rodriguez will ride Redlands to promote his gran fondo; U.S. gravity mountain bike tour opens

Men 1. Phil Gaimon 2. Patrick Bevin 3. Francisco Mancebo Women 1. Megan Guarnier 2. Alison Powers 3. Joelie Numainville

Stage 3 of the 2012 Redlands Bicycle Classic, through the lens of Casey B. Gibson

Bevin becomes first rider since 2004 to win three Redlands stages

Stage 2 of the 2012 Redlands Bicycle Classic, through the lens of Casey B. Gibson

Stage 2 of the 2012 Redlands Bicycle Classic, through the lens of Casey B. Gibson

Bevin continues hot streak in Redlands

Kenda, Tibco riders continue strong springs with uphill prologue wins at NRC opener

We go to the VeloNews archives for a look at the 2003 Saturn men's team and their suffocating spring campaign

As the Redlands Classic opens Thursday, we look into the archives at the best moments from the U.S. domestic season opener

U.S. women’s calendar back for ninth edition in 2012

Sometimes I laugh so hard I cry. Last week during the behind-the-scenes moments of the Redlands Bicycle Classic, my teammates did a good job of helping me with my core training through laughter.

"As a team we ended it in second place overall by one second. Who knew second place would be such a hard pill to swallow?"

"I am surrounded by both the very best in the sport and the up and coming “next bests.” Being somewhere in between, I am in a place where I can continue to learn, while I’m also able to share what I have learned. And, I will always be ready to do either."

REDLANDS, California (VN) – Former U.S. time trial champion Alison Powers is recovering from surgery to her fractured right arm. Powers (Tibco-To The Top) suffered multiple fractures Saturday in a crash late in the stage 2 criterium at the Redlands Bicycle Classic. She could miss two months with the injury.

Check out Brian Holcombe's author page.

Stage 3

• 1. Cole House, Realcyclist.com, 3:40:54
• 2. Jonathan Cantwell, Fly V Australia, same time
• 3. Luca Damiani, Kenda-5hr Energy, s.t.
• 4. Raymond Kreder, Chipotle Development, s.t.
• 5. Joeseph Lewis, Trek-Livestrong, s.t.

Final GC

• 1. Francisco Mancebo, Realcyclist.com, s.t.
• 2. Ben Jacques-Maynes, Bissell Pro Cycling, at 0:01
• 3. Chris Baldwin, Juwi Solar-First Solar, at 0:09
• 4. Corrales Andres Diaz, Team Exergy, at 0:10
• 5. Cesar Grajales, Realcyclist.com, at 0:17

Cole House scores a rookie win at Redlands while his Realcyclist.com teammate Francisco Mancebo squeaked out of town with the final leader's jersey.

Stage 3

• 1. Catherine Cheatley, Colavita Forno D'asolo, 3:10:54
• 2. Carmen Small, Team Tibco-To The Top, same time
• 3. Denise Ramsden, Team Juvederm, s.t.
• 4. Kristen Armstrong, Peanut Butter & Co. Twenty 12, s.t.
• 5. Erinne Willock, Team Tibco-To The Top, s.t.

Final GC

• 1. Amber Neben, HTC-Highroad Women, 7:31:01
• 2. Erinne Willock, Team Tibco-To The Top, at 0:14
• 3. Evelyn Stevens, HTC-Highroad Women, at 0:19
• 4. Carmen Small, Team Tibco-To The Top, at 0:31
• 5. Andrea Dvorak, Colavita Forno D'asolo, at 0:41

Cath Cheatley makes it three stage wins in four tries as Amber Neben wins her third overall Redlands title.

Check out Brian Holcombe's author page.

Roman Van Uden wins the stage-two downtown criterium at the Redlands Bicycle Classic.

Stage 1, MEN

• 1. John Bennett, California Giant-Specialized, 4:40:01
• 2. Lachlan Morton, Chipotle Development, s.t.
• 3. Andres Diaz, Team Exergy, s.t.
• 4. Anibal Borrajo, Jamis Sutter Home, at 00:12
• 5. Shawn Milne, Kenda/5hr Energy/geargrinder, at 00:12

Overall Standings, Men

• 1. Fransisco Mancebo, Realcyclist.com, 4:49:52
• 2. Ben Jacques-Maynes, Bissell Pro Cycling, at 00:01
• 3. Chris Baldwin, Juwi Solar-First Solar, at 00:03
• 4. Andres Diaz, Team Exergy, at 00:06
• 5. Andy Jacques-Maynes, Bissell Pro Cycling, at 00:09

Stage 1, WOMEN

• 1. Theresa Cliff-Ryan, Colavita Forno D'asolo
• 2. Christina Gokey-Smith, Rouse Bicycles, s.t.
• 3. Jen Purcel, Danbury Audi, s.t.
• 4. Carmen Small, Team Tibco-To The Top, s.t.
• 5. Erinne Willock, Team Tibco-To The Top, s.t.

Overall Standings, Women

• 1. Amber Neben, HTC Highroad Women
• 2. Evelyn Stevens, HTC Highroad Women, at 00:08
• 3. Erinne Willock, Team Tibco-To The Top, at 00:13
• 4. Andrea Dvorak, Colavita Forno D'asolo, at 00:30
• 5. Kristen Armstrong, Peanut Butter & Co. Twenty 12 , at 00:34

BEAUMONT, California (VN) - Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Colavita-Forno-D'Asolo) took the stage 1 bunch sprint under oppressive heat at the Redlands Bicycle Classic Friday. A few minutes after the women's teams cleared out of the Beaumont, 20-year-old amateur John Bennett (Cal Giant-Specialized) took a radically different win in the men's race, topping a three-up sprint from the day's long breakaway.

Check out Brian Holcombe's author page.

Women

• 1. Amber Neben, Htc Highroad Women, in 11:12
• 2. Evelyn Stevens, Htc Highroad Women, at 0:08
• 3. Erinne Willock, Team Tibco-To The Top, at 0:13
• 4. Andrea Dvorak, Colavita Forno D'asolo, at 0:30
• 5. Kristen Armstrong, Peanut Butter & Co. Twenty 1 , at 0:34

Men

• 1. Fransisco Mancebo, Realcyclist.com, in 9:39
• 2. Ben Jacques-Maynes, Bissell Pro Cycling, at 0:01
• 3. Chris Baldwin, Juwi Solar-First Solar, at 0:03
• 4. Andy Jacques-Maynes, Bissell Pro Cycling, at 0:09
• 5. Luis Amaran, Jamis Sutter Home, at 0:10

REDLANDS, California (VN) - Francisco Mancebo (Realcyclist.com) showed the U.S. peloton he means business Thursday, topping the Sun Time Trial prologue at the Redlands Bicycle Classic.

Amber Neben is back in the driver’s seat Thursday after winning her second consecutive prologue at the Redlands Bicycle Classic.

The 27th Redlands Bicycle Classic opens Thursday in Southern California with a 3.1-mile uphill prologue. Redlands pulls back the curtain on the 2011 National Racing Calendar and runs through Sunday’s stage 3 Sunset Road Race.

The Women's Prestige Cycling Series kicks off Thursday with the Redlands Bicycle Classic in California.

USA Cycling’s National Racing Calendar (NRC) kicked off last weekend with the Redlands Bicycle Classic in California.

How much power does it take to hang with the pros in a big American stage race? For the Redlands Bicycle Classic, we put an SRM power meter on the bike of Eric Marcotte, a 30-year-old chiropractor who races as a Cat. 1.

HTC-Columbia's Evelyn Stevens wins the final stage at Redlands as teammate Ina-Yoko Teutenberg takes the overall victory.

With 25 bonus seconds on tap, and less than half a second separating Ben Day from Ben Jacques-Maynes, the Sunset Loop will define the GC at Redlands.

Hilton Clarke (Bahati Foundation) and Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Colavita-Baci) won the stage 2 criteriums at the Redlands Bicycle Classic.

Photo Galleries - 2010 Redlands Bicycle Classic

Amber Neben became the first rider to defend the Redlands leader's jersey on the Beaumont circuit Friday, finishing at the same time as stage winner Ina-Yoko Teutenberg (HTC-Columbia), who now sits 14 seconds behind Neben on the GC.

Amber Neben (Dare To Be-BMW-Bianchi) flew into the 2010 National Racing Calendar Thursday with the prologue win at the Redlands Bicycle Classic ahead of Mara Abbott (Peanut Butter & Co. Twenty12) and Evelyn Stevens (HTC-Columbia).

2010 Redlands Bicycle Classic results

2010 Redlands Bicycle Classic time trial start list

With the Tour of California moving to May this year, the first major test of the U.S. racing calendar returns to late March in Redlands, California.

2010 Redlands Bicycle Classic preliminary start list

While U.S. pros have shown up in big numbers to regional races over the last two weeks, the U.S. domestic season gets underway in earnest this week as the San Dimas Stage Race runs Friday – Sunday in San Dimas, California. The three-stage race is the final tuneup ahead of the NRC opener in Redlands, California, a week later.

Defending NRC team champion opens title defense at Redlands.

This year's Women's Prestige Cycling Series includes four stage races in four states. The series, which awards points at existing events to determine season-long winners in four categories.

The 2010 Redlands Bicycle Classic Organizing Committee is proud to announce another year of partnership with PossAbilities and looks forward to a spectacular four day event presented by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.

The Redlands Classic began in 1985, and has since become the premier season opener for American road racing.

BMC's Jeff Louder and Columbia Highroad's Ina Yoko Teutenberg won the 2009 Redlands Bicycle Classic's overall titles Sunday, as Kyle Wamsley (Colavita) and Alison Powers (Team Type 1) grabbed the stage wins. Apparently every second does count. The overall wins came down to just 1 second for Teutenberg, and to just 5 seconds for Louder. Teutenberg accumulated enough time bonuses in the final stage to take the jersey away from Amber Neben (Nurnberger Shoair) who fell to second place, while Alison Powers (Team Type 1) took third, 27 seconds down.

Jeff Louder (BMC) and Amber Neben (Nurnberger Shoair) retained their yellow jerseys after the dust settled in bunch sprints for both the men’s and women’s Redlands Downtown Criteriums in Saturday’s stage 2 at the Redlands Cycling Classic. The top five in the men’s GC remained virtually unchanged, while Neben’s advantage over second placed Ina-Yoko Teutenberg (Columbia-High Road) narrowed from 14 seconds to just 2 seconds due to time bonuses.

Jeff Louder (BMC) and Amber Neben (Nurnberger Shoair) emerged as the overall race leaders after a tough and windy Beaumont Circuit Race, the first stage of the 2008 Redlands Bicycle Classic on Friday. Louder followed a daring attack by Peter Stetina (Felt-Holoweko-Slipstream) over the day’s final climb, then put enough distance between himself and GC leader Ben Day (Fly V Australia) to snatch the yellow jersey, thanks to the 10-second bonus he snatched for the stage victory.

Amber Neben’s 2008 season could adequately be labeled an emotional roller coaster, full of ups and downs. After months of deliberation by USA Cycling, Neben was named to the squad for the Beijing Olympics (up). Despite her talents in time trialing, she was named to the road race team and left off the Olympic time-trial squad (down). During the Olympic road race Neben made the selection on the final climb (up), only to watch in horror as her chain shifted off of her chain ring, and the lead group sped away (down).

Grimaces, frowns and faces of pain abounded during Thursday’s opening prologue at the 2009 Redlands Bicycle Classic. While the 5km journey from downtown Redlands to the top of Sunset Drive wasn’t long, it packed a serious punch in the form of 1000 feet of elevation gain, most of it within the final steep kilometer. The lion’s share of the 350 men and women racers spent the final meters out of the saddle, suffering their way to the summit.

(March 24, 2009 - Minneapolis) The 2009 Women’s Prestige Cycling Series gets underway this week with the Redlands Bicycle Classic, the traditional opener for this women-only national series. Roster changes and changes in the Series schedule will add to the drama in this Series as it enters its sixth year. “Women’s racing is alive and well”, said Redlands Race Director Dan Rendler. “Our women’s field is the largest we have had in years with the who's who of women's cycling.”

Jonas Carney's 2009 Kelly Benefit Strategies squad heads to the Redlands Classic this weekend with one of it's strongest line ups ever. The team moves west with an A-list roster that includes former Redlands Overall winner Andrew Bajadali, KOM jersey winner and new addition Jake Erker plus 2007 rainmaker Alex Candelario, pivotal in Bajadali's win two years ago. "We're beginning our season well rested but ready," says Jonas Carney, performance director. "There are a lot of teams out there with a ton of racing in their legs already but we're just getting started.

The list of past champions of the Redlands Bicycle Classic reads like a who’s who of American cycling. Thurlow Rogers, who still puts the hurt on SoCal masters and pros, took the inaugural title back in 1985, one year after finishing sixth in the Olympics.

More than 200 men and nearly 150 women will line up for the Redlands Bicycle Classic, starting Thursday March 26. “Not only is this one of the largest number of entrants we’ve had for both the men’s and women’s fields, but it’s also one of the most prestigious,” said Race Director Dan Rendler. “The women’s field reads as a ‘who’s-who’ of female cycling, while the men’s field features 11 of the 13 registered UCI Continental teams.” Among the women are five current national champions, one current world champion and the current NRC champion.

Alex Wrubleski (Webcor Builders) and Santiago Botero (Rock Racing) wrapped up the overall titles at California's Redlands Classic on Sunday. Wrubleski not only won the Beaver Medical Group Sunset Road Race in a bunch sprint, just ahead of Leigh Hobson (Cheerwine) and Kim Anderson (Team High Road), but took just enough bonus time in Sunday’s final stage of the Redlands Cycling Classic to take the overall from Mara Abbott (Team High Road) by a mere second.

Emilia Fahlin (Team High Road) and Jeff Louder (BMC) won Saturday’s 1st Centennial Bank-KWB Wealth Managers Criterium, the second stage of the 2008 Redlands Classic in California. Fahlin, a 19-year-old Swede, took the bunch sprint ahead of a hard-driving women’s peloton in Saturday’s 1st Centennial Bank-KWB Wealth Managers Criterium. Hot on her wheel was Canadian Alex Wrubleski (Webcor Builders) and Advil-Chapstick’s Brenda Lyons.

Rock Racing's Santiago Botero won Friday's stage 1 circuit race at the Redlands Bicycle Classic, after soloing away from a five-man breakaway. In the women's race, Aarron's Katherine Carroll won the stage in a sprint. Casey Gibson was there to capture the action in photos.

Colombian Santiago Botero (Rock Racing) took the win in Friday’s Beaumont Circuit Race, the first stage of the Redlands Cycling Classic — and his first win in America. After working in a break with five other riders beginning in the second of five 17-mile laps, he attacked in the final lap and powered across the finish line a resounding 52 seconds ahead of Sebastian Haedo (Colavita-Sutter Home) and Burke Swindlehurst (Bissell) in second and third.

Tyler Hamilton is looking at the glass half full. After the Rock Racing team captain was prohibited from racing at the Amgen Tour of California and his team was not invited to this month’s Tour de Georgia, it would be understandable for Hamilton to be discouraged following Rock’s devastating loss of the race lead by one second in the final stage criterium of the San Dimas Stage Race on Sunday. Not the case, Hamilton said Wednesday evening as he rode in a team car towards the Redlands Classic.

Under a dreary Southern California sky that made for nearly ideal time trial conditions, Mara Abbott (Team High Road) surprised few by winning the Redlands Cycling Classic prologue — The Sun Time Trial — by a resounding 25 seconds over second placed national team member Katharine Carroll (Aaron’s). Abbott’s teammate, Kim Anderson, rounded out the podium less than 1 second behind Carroll.

Photographer Casey Gibson captured the action at the Redlands Bicycle Classic prologue, a fast uphill 5km held under hot and sunny conditions in California on Thursday. Gibson will be following the traditional domestic season opener in its entirety for VeloNews.

Slipstream-Chipotle’s Tom Danielson, Rock Racing’s Oscar Sevilla, Health Net-Maxxis’ Rory Sutherland and Toyota-United’s Chris Baldwin will be among the high-caliber riders rolling out of the start house Thursday at the Redlands Bicycle Classic.

It’s been a bumpy ride for Andy Bajadali. The 34-year-old has gone from pro mountain biker to pro roadie, to amateur roadie and back to pro roadie. Oh, and there was a stint living in a Turkish slum, while racing in Belgium with his buddy Alex Candelario, thrown in there for good measure. This year, Bajadali is shaking off a rough early season and heading into the Redlands Bicycle Classic as the defending champion, riding for Kelly Benefits Strategies-Medifast.

For domestic road racers, the road to the top is a long one. USA Cycling's National Racing Calendar includes 35 events across 23 states, stretching from the Amgen Women's Criterium, held during the Tour of California in February, through to the Priority Health Grand Cycling Classic in September in Michigan. The men's series starts this week with the Redlands Bicycle Classic in California. The womens series began with the Amgen Womens Criterium.

At 40 years of age and in his 19th season as a professional, Scott Moninger thought he had seen it all. He began his pro career at Team Crest with an overall victory at the Redlands Classic in 1989, and he has since done the rounds with American pro teams: four years with Coors Light, two with Chevrolet-L.A. Sheriff, four years with Mercury, three with HealthNet, and now his first season at Team BMC. Moninger has taken some 250 victories in his incomparable career, and it looked like he had his hands on one more trophy — it would have been his third overall win at Redlands — going into

Amber Neben was simply too strong for the opposition at the Redlands Classic. Wearing the yellow jersey since the prologue on Thursday, she crowned her second overall win in two years by answering every attack from the powerful Webcor Builders team on Sunday’s final stage around nine laps of the grueling Sunset Loop. Runner-up Mara Abbott of Webcor eventually broke away with Neben, and after a long chase they were joined by T-Mobile’s Kim Anderson and Team Lipton’s Kori Seehafer. These four fought out the stage win in downtown Redlands, with Seehafer looking the likely winner until she

The men’s and women’s criterium stages of the Redlands Classic on Saturday had almost identical results, with each dominated by a small breakaway group (five for the men, four for the women) that finished half-a-minute ahead of the pack.

Two climbers from Boulder, Colorado, won the pro men’s and pro women’s Oak Glen stage of the Redlands Classic on Friday afternoon. But that’s where the similarity ends. Men’s winner (and new race leader) Scott Moninger is 40 years old and has won about 250 races in his 18 seasons as a professional. Mara Abbott is 21, still at college, and in only her second season as a road racer. Her victory over prologue winner (and still race leader) Amber Neben moved Abbott into second place overall. After he out-kicked Toyota-United’s Justin England for the stage win, the omnipotent Moninger (BMC)

Outside of the USA Cycling Pro Tour events, which include the Tours of California and Georgia, Southern California’s venerable Redlands Classic boasts one of the best fields and most challenging courses of the season. Particularly this week’s 23rd edition, when, following its absence in 2006, the climb to Oak Glen is back. It will host the mountaintop finish of the 156.6km stage 1 on Friday, following Thursday afternoon’s 5km prologue, while the familiar Redlands criterium and Sunset Road Race complete the four days of racing this weekend.