- HOT TOPICS:
- An American start for the Giro? •
- 2010 Routes: Giro | California | TdF •
- LA doc guilty on all counts
Health Net, O'Neill roll, Goldstein repeats at Hood Cycling Classic
Hood River, Oregon -- If the men's race was predictable, the women's was anything but, Sunday at the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic near Hood River, Ore.
Symmetrics rider Leah Goldstein, still recovering from a crash from almost ayear ago, rolled clear of race leader Alison Powers of the Rio Grande/SportsGarage team on the last of three climbs to win her first big race in 2006.
"I've won some local races, but this is the first NRC race I've done since crashing at (the Cascade Classic in Bend, Ore.) last year," Goldstein said."I needed 45 seconds to win (the overall) and that's all I cared about."
The men's race was a familiar scene as the majority of the field took a three and a half hour motor pacing session courtesy of the Health Net squad. The four-man crew methodically tore the legs off the field over the three major climbs of the day and rode Nathan O'Neill to the overall win and Scott Moninger to the stage victory.
"It's nice to ride on a team of professionals," O'Niell said after crossing the line in fifth place. "The guys on this team know their limits and they rode to them today. That's the difference between professionals and amatuers."
The men's race started devoid of any real action until the first climb when several riders interested in the KOM points went on the hunt. Adrian Hegyvary of Recycled Cycles and Chuck Coyle of Vitamin Cottage were the primary animators with Hegyvary coming out on top in that competition.
The big attack of the day was laid down by Navigators rider Burke Swindlehurst who blistered the second climb establishing a 45-second lead over the Health Net lead field. He then descended, seemingly without fear, extending his lead out to 1:28 at the bottom of the last climb.
Behind, Health Net's Greg Henderson and Roman Kilun were chugging away, taking steady even pulls with O'Neill contributing periodically and Moninger saying in the thick of the pack. It was a scenario that played out the entire day with riders taking ever so brief flyers only to be consumed by the Health Net driven field.
As Swindlerhurst was retrieved at the foot of the final climb, Henderson was in the midst of a long, final pull to the five-K to-go sign before pulling off and handing over the duties to O'Neill who said, at that point, he wasn't worried about losing his overall lead.
Going up the last climb the field was whittled down to about 20 riders, including Navigators Phil Zajicek who was second on general classification, 47 seconds behind O'Neill.
"I wasn't too concerned with Zajicek," O'Neill said. "I knew that, even if I blew with a K to go I wasn't going to lose a 47 seconds."
He was right. O'Neill set tempo to nearly the top of the summit until 200 meters to go when Ian McKissick of Recycled Cycles jumped around him. Moninger got to McKissick's wheel and overtook him about 50 meters before the line. McKissick was third. Zajicek was second. O'Neill was fifth.
If there was a revelation in the men's race it was McKissick. Recovering from mononucleosis, McKissick is in his second full year of racing. He was a category five racer last year. He comes from a running background having competed as a scholarship athlete at Washington State University. He said injuries forced him to retire in his freshman year from running.
The 25-year-old saw Lance Armstrong win his sixth Tour de France and decided to give cycling a try. He won the prologue in the category two event at the San Dimas Stage Race in March, posting a time that would have placed him sixth against the pros.
It was Goldstein who proved the revelation at this year's Mt. Hood Cycling Classic on the women's side. Though this was the second year in a row that she's won the event, the race was her first big test while still recovering from a 40 mph crash at the Cascade Classic.
She landed on her face and shoulder, the later still requiring surgery scheduled for later in the off season.
The former bantam weight world kick boxing champion is literally a fighter and she showed it Sunday on one of the the toughest stages North American racing has to offer. Over every climb Goldstein drove the pace, dropping race leader Powers who was forced to chase back over the tricky downhill sections.
Powers did not wear the race leader's jersey out of respect for Dotsie Bausch of the Colavita/ Cooking Light Cycling team who crashed out on the criterium stage the night before sustaining multiple fractures to her collar bone.
It was on the lower slopes of the final climb that Powers was dropped after a Goldstein acceleration. At that point the winning move was already established with Powers being the first to exit the action. Left were Goldstein, Alisha Lion of Webcor-Platinum, Brooke Ourada of Colavita/ Cooking Light, and Mara Abbott of Rio Grande/Sports Garage. With mostly Goldstien setting tempo on the climb, Ourada was the next to get dropped.
Lion then took over the pace making with Goldstein chipping in periodically. The last climb was ten miles in length with a total elevation gain of 2,400 feet. The sprint -- if one could call it that -- over the last 200 meters appeared as though the racers' tires were glued to the pavement. As though in slow motion Lion pulled away from Abbott and Goldstein to take the win.
"I wanted that one for Webcor," Lion said. "It's nice to pull off a win and we really needed that. And I want to dedicate this to Dotsie Bausch. I want to do that"
It was a gesture and a sentiment shared by most of the women in the field.Men - Stage 6
1. Scott Moninger, Health Net
2. Phil Zajicek, Navigators
3. Ian McKissick, Recycled Cycles-Raleigh
4. Brent Miller, Arete' Racing-Vellum Cycles
5. Nathan O'Neill, Health NetFinal Overall
1. Nathan O'Neill, Health Net
2. Phil Zajicek, Navigators, at 00:27
3. Scott Moninger, Health Net , at 00:49
4. Ian McKissick, Recycled Cycles-Raleigh, at 01:08.
5. Ryan Trebon, AEG-Toshiba-Jet Network-Kona, at 01:23Women - Stage 6
1. Alisha Lion, Webcor-Platinum
2. Leah Goldstein, Symmetrics
3. Mara Abbott, Rio Grande-Sports Garage
4. Brooke Ourada, Colavita-Cooking Light
5. Alison Powers, Rio Grande-Sports GarageFinal Overall
1. Leah Goldstein, Symmetrics
2. Alisha Lion, Webcor-Platinum , at 00:21
3. Mara Abbott, Rio Grande-Sports Garage, at 01:19
4. Alison Powers, Rio Grande-Sports Garage, at 03:02
5. Brooke Ourada, Colavita-Cooking Light, at 03:37
