Clara Hughes Holds Lead At Cascade Classic After Stage 3

(July 22, 2011) – Bend, Oregon - Clara Hughes (BC Bike) leads the 32nd annual Cascade Cycling Classic. Hughes took over the race lead from Kristin McGrath (Peanut Butter & Co 2012) following a 22 km individual time trial on Thursday. Hughes, the current Canadian national time trial champion, finished 20 seconds ahead of Kristin Armstrong (Peanut Butter & Co 2012), who is the reigning Olympic champion in the discipline. Her narrow victory margin left Hughes in the overall race lead by 13 seconds over Erinne Willock of Team TIBCO/To The Top and 20 seconds over Armstrong. Thus the stage was set for a three way battle to see who would claim the leaders jersey following the 114 km Cascade Lakes Road Race.

Clara Hughes (BC Bike) leads the 32nd annual Cascade Cycling Classic. Hughes took over the race lead from Kristin McGrath (Peanut Butter & Co 2012) following a 22 km individual time trial on Thursday. Hughes, the current Canadian national time trial champion, finished 20 seconds ahead of Kristin Armstrong (Peanut Butter & Co 2012), who is the reigning Olympic champion in the discipline. Her narrow victory margin left Hughes in the overall race lead by 13 seconds over Erinne Willock of Team TIBCO/To The Top and 20 seconds over Armstrong. Thus the stage was set for a three way battle to see who would claim the leaders jersey following the 114 km Cascade Lakes Road Race.

Fridays stage, the Queen Stage of the Cascade Classic, was a 114 km semi circular route around Mount Bachelor and Cascade Lake. The route featured 850 meters of climbing. From the start the road pitched up to a hight point of 1800 meters, and then immediately dropped to it's lowest elevation of 1350 meters. From that point on the race went gradually up hill, bringing the riders to the Sparks grade climb a ramp of 500 meters in 32 km. The race finished at the Mount Bachelor ski area.

Right from start it was clear the the women of Colavita/Forno d'Asolo) were not going to allow the top riders holding the top three places go and play by them selves. Andrea Dvorak, wearing the Queen of the Mountains jersey went out first. Her move was short lived, as the peloton goggled her and a few friends on the first long descent. The race moved on to narrow two lane forest roads, and attacks flew. In ones and two the women tried to get away, but nothing would stick. Despite the constant pressure the top teams held the race together.

Turning onto Cascade Lakes Highway, for the return leg of the race, the attacks continued. With Vanderkitten and NOW and Novartis For MS pushing the pace. At approximately 65 Km into the day, Leah Kirchmann (Colavite) took a run at the peloton. She got 200 meters ahead and it appeared that she might be allowed to go solo. PB&CO 2012 sent Alison Starnes to bridge the gap. Jade Wilcoxen (NOW and Novartis) and a Primal/Map My Ride rider latched on to the move. The three joined Kirchmann up the road. The three increased their lead to about 30 seconds. Seeing that no one was going to chase the four escapees, Colavita's Rushlee Buchanan took a gamble and attempted to bridge the gap. TIBCO's Tara Whitten hooped on Buchanan's wheel and the break was five. Another rbridge move brought Allison Shanks (Bike New Zealand), Emily Collins (Vanderkitten/Focus) and TIBCO riders Megan Guarnier and Joelle Nuemainville with a small handfull of others across. The TIBCO trio kept the pace high on the front while PB&Co 2012 worked on the front of the main field to hold the gap to a manageable margin.

On the final climb the attacks resumed, with Shanks, Neumainville, Whitten and Buchanan each taking measure of one another. The gap to the field held at one minute. The finish saw Rushlee Buchanan cross the line solo with Shanks trailing by 8 seconds, followed by Whitten at 10 seconds. Armstrong, Hughes, and break away instigator Kirchmann finished in a group of 14, 1:09 behind the stage winner. Buchanan came within 2 seconds of becoming the new race leader.

In the general classifiaction, Hughes leads the overall by 13 seconds over Erinne Willock (TIBCO) followed by Kristin McGrath and Armstrong (PB&Co 2012) and Tara Whitten (TIBCO) holds fourth overall. 28 seconds separate number one from number four, leaving all sorts of potential for the lead to change in the final two stages. Buchanan wears the white jersey of best young rider, Neumainville is the current points leader and Andrea Dvorak (Colavita) retains the mountain jersey.

Read Stage 2 Report Here