Saturn’s Teutenberg, Dionne take Redlands stage 4 criterium
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It was another banner day for the Saturn Cycling program in Redlands Saturday, as ace sprinters came through with stage wins at the Redlands Downtown Criterium in both the men's and women's events.
In the women’s 60-minute race, Ina Teutenberg easily won a two-up sprint against RONA-Esker’s Cathy Marsal, while on the men’s side it was Charles Dionne, winner of the same stage last year, surprising the field with a surge around the last bend, beating Health Net's Gord Fraser by several bike lengths.
Teutenberg’s win, her second stage win in four days, came as little surprise as she had made several strong, unanswered attacks early on in the race. Tina Mayolo-Pic of Diet Rite took the field sprint for third.
“I just thought I’d go for some attacks,” Teutenberg explained, “and I tried to play some games, and in the end it worked out.”
For Dionne, best known as the man who stunned the cycling world with a dramatic win over Lance Armstrong at last September’s San Francisco Grand Prix, the victory was especially sweet given the early-season crash at February’s Tour de Langkawi that sidelined him with extensive injuries to his legs and hand that required corrective surgery.
“I’m still not at one-hundred percent,” Dionne said, regarding the injury. “I’m still not there yet, so it’s good to grab a victory like that. I’ve got a couple weeks and I’ll be there.”
Dionne’s victory in the 90-minute criterium came as even more of a surprise considering the amount of work he’s put in this week defending his team’s 1-2-3 hold on the GC.
“We decided I didn’t have to work today,” Dionne said, “and we’d see how I felt during the race. At the middle-point, Chris [Horner] asked me how I felt, and I said, ‘Oh, so-so man.’ So we decided to go with me, even if I wasn’t feeling too great, and it turned out well. O’Neill and Horner took the last lap so fast, nobody was going to come around, I just had to stay there, and at the end, I just had to do my job. A couple pedal strokes and that was it.
“Who would think,” he added, “that after all the work this week, that I could do this?”
In fact, other than Genevieve Jeanson’s (RONA-Esker) insurmountable lock on the women’s overall, Saturn goes into Sunday’s closing Sunset road race holding five of the six podium spots across the men and women’s GC, with Chris Horner and Nathan O’Neill at a deadlock for the overall GC.
Horner, however, reclaimed the leader’s jersey by taking intermediate time bonuses, and has already announced, in so many words, that he will emerge as the overall Redlands winner.
“We’re teammates,” Horner explained, “and I know we’re going to share victories throughout the whole year. We do 80 races this year, and I think Nathan and I will win a lot of them. It’s just a matter of picking and choosing. This is the one race that I really love, and I try to come here with one hundred percent form, and that’s what I think I’ve achieved, so I’d like to win the overall, and Nathan wants to win, and he has won a stage, and I’m certain he’ll go on to win Sea Otter, if I call it right.”
Race Note: Trek-VW's Roland Green, fourth on the GC, was not at the start line for Saturday's criterium, citing a lingering cold as the reason.
Redlands Stage 4: Redlands Downtown Criterium - 68.56 km
Men:
1. Charles Dionne, Saturn, 1:28:22 (average speed 46.55 kmph)
2. Gord Fraser, Health Net, s.t.
3. Miguel Meza, Schroeder Iron, s.t.
4. Greg Henderson, 7Up-Maxxis, s.t.
5. Chris Horner, Saturn, s.t.
6. Brent Dawson, Jelly Belly-Carlsbad Clothing, s.t.
7. Alex Candelario, Prime Alliance, s.t.
8. Nathan O’Neill, Saturn, s.t.
9. Derek Wilkerson, Jelly Belly-Carlsbad Clothing, s.t.
10. Eddy Gragus, Trek-VW All Stars, s.t.
Individual General Classification Standings as of Stage 4
Men:
1. Chris Horner, Saturn, 10:49:12
2. Nathan O’Neill, Saturn, s.t.
3. Tom Danielson, Saturn, at 1:03
4. Jonathon Vaughters, Prime Alliance, at 1:09
5. Danny Pate, Prime Alliance, at 2:08
6. Glen Mitchell, Navigators, at 2:17
7. John Lieswyn, 7Up-Maxxis, at 2:40
8. Matt Decanio, Prime Alliance, at 3:20
9. Jacob Erker, Schroeder Iron, at 3:26
10. Oliver Beckinsale, Great Britain National, at 4:17
Redlands Stage 4: Redlands Downtown Criterium – 41.68 km
Women:
1. Ina Teutenberg, Saturn, 1:01:26 (average speed 40.71 kmph)
2. Catherine Marsal, Rona-Esker, at 0:02
3. Tina Mayolo-Pic, Diet Rite, at 0:04
4. Laura Van Gilder, Saturn, s.t.
5. Sue Haywood, unattached, s.t.
6. Magalie Le’Floch, Rona-Esker, s.t.
7. Elizabeth Begosh, Contender Bicycles, s.t.
8. Gina Grain, Victory Brewing-Amoroso's, s.t.
9. Genevieve Jeanson, Rona-Esker, s.t.
10. Sandy Espeseth, Victory Brewing-Amoroso's, s.t.
Individual General Classification Standings as of Stage 4
Women:
1. Genevieve Jeanson, Rona-Esker, 8:33:53
2. Manon Jutras, Saturn, at 6:05
3. Lyne Bessette, Saturn, at 6:08
4. Amber Neben, T-Mobile, at 7:36
5. Kimberly Bruckner, T-Mobile, at 9:40
6. Felicia Greer, Velo Bella, at 18:30
7. Lynn Gaggioli, Velo Bella, at 20:22
8. Katherine Maher, unattached, at 20:37
9. Leah Goldstein, Victory Brewing-Amoroso's, at 20:40
10. Alison Dunlap, Luna Women's MTB Team, at 20:40
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