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Saturn wraps up Cascade as Bessette, Candelario take final stage

Published: Jul. 13, 2003
The women's final podium: Johnson, Bessette, Albert
The women's final podium: Johnson, Bessette, Albert
Photo: Neal Rogers

The final stage of the Cascade Cycling Classic, a 1km afternoon criterium, was held Sunday in Bend, Oregon, and as expected, Saturn’s Tom Danielson and Lyne Bessette held onto their overall leads, with Bessette and Alex Candelario (Prime Alliance) winning the stage.

Held in the town’s Old Mill district, the flat five-corner criterium offered no real possibility for changes in the general classification: Bessette held a near five-minute lead on second-placed Heather Albert (Team Basis), while Danielson’s 49-seond lead over Jonathon Vaughters (Prime Alliance) was protected by the strongest team on the domestic circuit.

The women’s race was first, and as she’s done all week, Bessette dictated a pace that none could match. Bessette and her only Saturn teammate Jessica Phillips decided early that a Saturn rider should win the stage.

“Jessica and I talked about it, and she tried a couple of times,” Bessette said. “She got a couple of good attacks with some girls, and I was willing to let it go. Our plan was to attack and counterattack so we still got the stage win. At one point Jessica attacked pretty hard and [Nicole] Freedman counterattacked her and I was the only one on her wheel and then I just countered.”

After opening up a 15-second gap, Bessette slowed the pace on the final lap, savoring her win ahead of a pack of 25 riders. Albert’s teammate Freedman went to the inside on the final corner, passing Magen Long (The Bicycle Store) on the sprint. Laura Downey (Minute Maid-Dasani) was fourth and Emily Westbrook (Goldy’s) was fifth.

“All the other girls rode pretty strong today,” Bessette said. “The first-half of the race they were attacking pretty hard. I was definitely getting tired, but I think I got my second wind of the day. I guess I got warmed up.”

To put Bessette’s “warm” performance in perspective, Albert finished second on the overall, 5:11 back, while T-Mobile’s Kristin Johnson took third, over 17 minutes down.

Before the men’s race, criterium specialist Gord Fraser [Health Net] shared his thoughts on the day’s stage.

“I’m feeling pretty dead right now,” Fraser said, explaining that his efforts in a four-man breakaway on Saturday’s circuit race had tapped him out. “We’ll see what happens. This looks like a good day for Chris Baldwin [Navigators]. I see a guy like him, Antonio Cruz [U.S. Postal] and [teammate Mike] Sayers getting in a break — they lap the field, it doesn’t affect the overall. I think Tony’s going to be aggressive.”

Fraser’s prediction was spot-on: From the gun, a 13-man break formed, containing all of Fraser’s picks (Baldwin, Cruz and Sayers) as well as Fraser, Saturn teammates Tim Johnson and Chris Horner (Saturn), Aaron Olsen (Schroeder Iron), Tim Larkin (OFOTO-Lombardi Sports), Nieko Biskner (Sierra Nevada), Ryan Guay (Navigators) and three Prime Alliance riders — David Clinger, Danny Pate and Candelario. Behind, Saturn’s Will Frischkorn, Nathan O’Neill and Phil Zajicek rode a strong tempo, protecting Danielson’s lead, with Vaughters and Chris Wherry (Navigators) hovering should anything happen to Danielson.

As the group’s gap grew to nearly 30 seconds, Johnson — the main animator of the day — took a flyer, opening a gap of 6-7 seconds for four laps before being reeled in. He was soon at it again, this time with Horner, Pate and Cruz, while Clinger was first to be dropped, followed by Sayers and Fraser.

“The time that I did get off was when I went across Horner,” Cruz said. “He sat up and everyone went to his wheel, and I said “I’m going to go, and see what happens.’ We [Cruz and Johnson] got a slight gap, but it just wasn’t enough. Johnson wasn’t really able to pull, and after that it was just attack after attack.”

Candelario stays glued to Horner's wheel
Candelario stays glued to Horner's wheel
Photo: Neal Rogers

Once Cruz and Johnson were reeled in, Horner and Candelario escaped with just three laps remaining. Baldwin attempted in vain to bridge, soon followed by Johnson, trying to reach his teammate. But Candelario drove the break, keeping the Saturn one-two at bay and beating Horner at the line. Johnson came across alone, ten seconds later, with the field — which regained contact with the chase group on the final lap — four seconds behind.

“We had three guys in the break, but it was almost harder with three guys,” Candelario said. “Everyone was riding against us. Saturn was kind of getting a free ride, floating in there. It was hard; you’ve got Tim hitting you and Horner hitting you, and Baldwin hitting you. I was just trying to keep it away from Tim. A two-on-one situation is not ideal in the last couple of laps. Fortunately we stayed away.”

The win was redemption for Candelario, who was poised to win the Friday night twilight criterium in downtown Bend before a lapped rider interfered with his lead out, making room for Horner to come around him for the win. It was Prime Alliance’s third stage win on the six-day stage race, with Clinger taking two previous stages.

As for his many efforts to cover breaks, Cruz had to settle for ninth.

“I was waiting for Chris Baldwin to bring that [winning break] back,” Cruz said. “It seemed like I was bringing everything back, and Olsen as well. Baldwin tried, but it wasn’t enough. I wanted to jump across, because it seemed like each one of us — the guys that didn’t really have teams out there — was covering each other’s attacks, which was stupid. We should have been working together. Horner is a strong guy. He timed it well. I think he was a little pissed because I came over one of his attacks, but I just don’t cut that guy any slack. I just ran out of juice.”

Danielson finished safely in the pack with Vaughters and Wherry, clinching his overall lead and confirming that Saturn is still the domestic team to beat.

“I want to dedicate this victory to Henk Vogels,” Danielson said of the Navigators rider who is recovering from a near-fatal accident at Fitchburg three weeks earlier. “He was a teammate who was with me last year when this was one of my first races with Mercury, and he helped me so much. I grew a lot with having him on the team last year. The opportunities that he and the rest of the Mercury team — like Chris Wherry — gave me helped me get to where I am today. I’m happy to hear he’s out of the hospital, and I want to wish him the best.”

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