Cycling West - Cycling Utah

REDLANDS, California (April 16, 2023) — Robin Carpenter sprinted to the line to steal a second victory of the final stage for L39ion of Los Angeles after their women’s team won earlier in the day. Carpenter had been in a solo move after losing his only breakaway companion from CS Velo in the final Sunset loop. Fighting for every second once he made it to the downtown circuit, the effort secured third over all for him in the general classification. Gavin Hlady was second for Team Mike’s Bike’s of California, followed by Riley Sheehan of the Denver Disrupters.

“I can’t believe I stayed away honestly, it was so close for so long,” Carpenter said. “I was just dying out there. It was hard and so close, 10 seconds on the last lap, everyone was blown. You needed to have teammates and I didn’t have any. I was just able to hold on.”

Carpenter had begun the final stage 40-seconds down on GC in fourth position. Meanwhile, Stites was sitting in the lead with his teammate Ricky Arnopol in second at a 9-second deficit ahead of AJ August 12 seconds down in third. A six-man break was established three laps into the stage, including Eder Frayre and Sam Boardman for L39ion, Ulises Castillo and Sergio Henao for the Denver Disrupters, Tobie Klein for Aevolo Cycling, and Joel Plamondon of Toronto Hustle.

The group managed to secure over a minute gap for most of the stage, until two laps to go on Sunset when Project Echelon initiated the chase. The group was caught with two circuits to go, before the final KOM line when Henao was within two points of stealing the KOM classification for Denver. It was at that moment that Carpenter attacked, taking Drake Deuel of CS Velo Racing with him.

The gap increased to a minute, making Carpenter the virtual yellow on the road before Stites jumped to close down the gap. Carpenter had several teammates in the chase group, including Frayre and the US National Road Champion, Kyle Murphy. Murphy had attacked previously, going solo for a lap before he was absorbed by the field.

Once Carpenter and Deuel escaped, they worked together to help increase the gap heading to the final loop on Sunset before Deuel suddenly crashed leaving Carpenter alone to fight for the GC. The chase caught him just after passing the final KOM line, when Carpenter escaped again, hovering ever so slightly in front of the field. He maintained a 5-second gap in the downtown circuits, snatching the top intermediate bonus seconds, and earning another 10-seconds at the finish with his win.

“I would have loved to take the GC, but once I caught at the top of the climb I thought I would figure out how to win the stage,” Carpenter said. “I know I have a fast bike and a fast position – just ride down the hill as fast as possible. It was touch and go for a long time, but I managed to keep the gap on the last lap. Tyler rode amazing today.

“We had a plan to put the pressure on, which we did. Stites was amazing; he rode Kyle (Murphy) back with two laps to go by himself. Kudos to him, a deserving winner.”

Stites crossed the finish relieved the battle was over knowing he had successfully defended his title for a second consecutive year with Project Echelon. He was also the victor of the KOM classification after the leader, Evan Boyle of Aevolo, had abandoned due to illness in the first hour of racing.

“That was probably the hardest bike ride I have ever done,” Stites said, exhausted at the finish. “I had to dig deep and cover everything. Robin was solo for so long, luckily I got some help from some other people. I was nervous but I just knew I had to pedal as hard as I could, it worked out.

“It was down to me and Ricky (Arnopol), not sure when he dropped off. Everyone on the team gave everything they had. I can’t believe it, it still hasn’t sunk in.”

The 17-year-old AJ August was alongside Stites in the final to secure a second overall finish on GC and the U22 best young rider classification, his first in his young career. The top three on GC all finished within 30 seconds of one another. Stites winning by another close margin of 14-seconds, after stealing yellow by 21 seconds in 2022.

L29ion of Los Angeles won the team classification. Alex Murison of the Canadian development squad, Red Truck Racing won the green sprint points classification to complete another successful year of the Redlands Bicycle Classic.

MEN’S OVERALL GC

REDLANDS, California (April 15, 2023) —

Women’s Race

L39ion of Los Angeles’ Skylar Schneider sprinted to the line earning her first victory in her debut at the Redlands Bicycle Classic, in L39ion’s first race of the year. The California-based team were heavy favorites coming into the crit, a racing format where the team has found great success over the last couple of years. Schneider had been in a two-rider breakaway with Virginia Blue Ridge Twenty24 Emily Ehrlich that made it to the line, moving Ehrlich into the overall GC lead with her second place finish. Schneider’s sister Samatha won the field sprint for third.

“I was trying not to interfere with the overall, letting Emily race her race and I raced mine,” Skylar said. “This is our [L39ion] first race of the year so I haven’t had an opportunity to unleash the sprint; I really wanted to see how it felt. To see Sam win the field sprint, putting two of us on the podium is pretty awesome. We were looking forward to today.”

The women raced for 75-minutes that included an intermediate time bonus, another time bonus available on the line and five sprint point opportunities. The GC had been extremely close, with Patobike’s Marcela Prieto holding a mere 2-second advantage over Twenty24’s Melisa Rollins and 12-seconds ahead of Ehrlich.

The first sprint points available were placed at 15 minutes into racing. Our sprint classification leader, Holly Breck (DNA Pro Cycling) launched her sprint to earn top points ahead of Rylee McMullen (Instafund Racing) who was close behind. The two would battle it out throughout the stage, as McMullen inched ever so close to stealing the jersey. Breck was able to retain the lead at the end of the day, holding a 3-point lead over McMullen and 9-points ahead of Skylar Schneider.

Skylar was the first to escape for L39ion 20 minutes into racing, making it several laps before the field reined her back in. The GC had been tight ahead of stage 4, with the top 4 within 20-seconds of one another. DNA Pro Cycling had both Shayna Powless and Anet Barrera just over a minute down, looking to snatch time bonuses. All three teams – DNA, Twenty24, and L39ion – were battling for control of the field when Skylar jumped again, this time taking Emily Ehrlich with her in the final 10 laps.

The duo drove away from the field, increasing their gap to over 40 seconds. Barrera tried desperately to bridge with eight laps to go but was alone in the chase before returning to the field in the final laps.

As Schneider and Ehrlich came around the corner for the finish, Ehrlich did not contest the win since Schneider was not a threat to the GC. The field sprinted to the line 42-seconds later, with Samantha Schneider crossing for third.

“My whole goal being out front was trying to get as much of a gap as I could,” Ehrlich said. “I didn’t expect to have an even effort in the breakaway because I was the only one that wanted the seconds. I worked really hard for them. I was going for seconds, she was going for the win so we had incompatible goals but that’s how it goes sometimes.”

It all comes down to the Sunset Loop stage of the 2023 Redlands Bicycle Classic on Sunday. Ehrlich leads Marcela Prieto of Patobike by 39-seconds. Melisa Rollins and Laurel Quiñones are tied for third 1:18 down from their teammate. The women will commence their battle at 10 AM PDT.

Men’s Race

In the first showdown between the two powerhouse crit squads – L39ion of Los Angeles and Denver Disrupters – it was Cory Williams for L39ion that outsprinted Denver’s Noah Granigan to win stage 4 of the Redlands Bicycle Classic. The two teams had fought hard throughout the 90-minutes of racing, escaping the mayhem of crashes that ensued with such a large field on the circuit. Cade Bickmore racing for Project Echelon finished third. Tyler Stites (Project Echelon) finished safely in the field sprint, retaining yellow for Sunday.

“It was a bit hectic but I have a lot of calmness with my team around me, I always knew they would deliver me to the line,” Williams said. “Today was my day to pull it off for the team. It was my first time battling Denver, especially in a crit. Its nice to show them that this is our turf, maybe next time for them.”

In their traditional move, L39ion was quick to establish their squad on the front of a long, strung-out field. There were several crashes that disrupted the tempo, the first taking place on the second lap followed by a few others midway through the stage. Denver’s Sergio Henao went down early on but managed to finish unharmed. Project Echelon had several go down in the early crash, but finished with only minor road rash. Neither Stites or Ricky Arnopol who was second on GC at the start of the day were affected for Project Echelon.

“I just tried to stay in a good position and avoid crashes to stay safe and rest up for tomorrow,” Stites said after finishing. “I saw a bunch of crashes but I think everyone is okay. Luckily none of them involved me. Tomorrow is a tough course to defend on but we’re up for the challenge.”

The GC remains the same for the top three, with Stites retaining a 9-second lead ahead of teammate Ricky Arnopol. U23 and Best Amateur leader, AJ August is third 12-seconds down. Robin Carpenter was able to seize a few seconds on the intermediate bonus to decrease his deficit by 2 seconds, trailing Stites by 40 seconds overall.

There were no KOM points available on Saturday’s crit, but the race remains extremely close. Evan Boyle (Aevolo) leads Conn Mcdunphy (SoCal Cycling) by a point with 21 points overall in the classification, Stites is just behind with 19. The men will begin the final Sunset Loop stage on Sunday at 14:00 PDT after the women’s finish.

YUCAIPA, California (April 13, 2023) — Andrew “AJ” August of Hot Tubes Development Cycling stole away with the win at Oak Glen on Thursday for stage 2 at the Redlands Bicycle Classic. Weather had descended on Yucaipa with temperatures dipping down to the low 50s at the start. The NY-native and cyclocross junior star was in his element, taking a chance to escape from the field midway up Oak Glen.

By the time the field reached the climb, conditions had deteriorated with heavy fog greatly reducing visibility. A six-man chase group including Tyler Stites (Project Echelon) and Riley Sheehan (Denver Disrupters) tried to close the gap but came up short in the end. Last year’s overall winner Stites finished second, with Sheehan rounding the podium in third.

“I knew I’m climbing quite well right now,” August said after finishing. “I thought I took it too early, but I think with the fog it actually helped being out of sight. It was brutal; the last two laps I couldn’t feel my hands. Once we hit the climb I got warm for sure.”

The men raced six circuits around Yucaipa before the climb to Oak Glen. Denver Disrupters worked to protect Noah Granigan’s yellow jersey early on, keeping a leash on anyone who tried to escape. Midway through, it was 18-year-old Evan Boyle who managed to escape solo. Racing away from the field, he would eventually reach up over a three-minute advantage. Three others took on the chase including Landis Cyclery Stephan Schaefer, CS Velo Will Gleason, and Expeditors’ Greg Talpey. Boyle gave a valiant effort in the weather the riders faced, but was caught on the last lap. The Aevolo rider snagged enough points to move into the KOM lead for his efforts.

“I was supposed to get in the break, but I was hoping I would get a little bit of support so we could put pressure on other teams,” Boyle said. I got the pacing right, going down the descent as fast as I possibly could, recovering and then flag myself up the hill. The climb was really hard; I didn’t take that into consideration when I went in the break.”

As the field made the turn onto the climb, the top teams moved into position at the front. Toronto Hustle had led the chase after Boyle, hoping to deliver Matteo –Dal Cin in a good position among the favorites at the base of Oak Glen. Dal Cin had won Redlands Classic back in 2016. Instead, it was L39ion of Los Angeles, Denver Disrupters, and Project Echelon who sent their climbers on attack, including Stites, Sheehan, and Kyle Murphy with Eder Frayre. While they were focused on one another, August took the opportunity to escape.

“We came into the day trying to be in the breakaway because it’s a hard course to be on the front the whole day,” Sheehan said. “We were able to not do any work until halfway through the race, that saved our legs a lot for the climb.
“Kyle Murphy (L39ion) attacked 500m in. Everyone was looking at each other and then August kept the tempo going to the line, a phenomenal ride by him. I was just trying to follow wheels hoping Noah would be back there for GC. In the last km, the group was pretty thin. I tried giving it a go at 500m but it was brutal.”

Ricky Arnopol finished with enough time to slide into yellow for Project Echelon, ready for the time trial on Friday.

“I didn’t expect to be in yellow but I think the day worked really well, the team rode really well,” Arnopol said. “Tyler and I both had the legs we knew we could have and we knew the day we knew we could have. To have it work out with Tyler on the podium and me being in yellow tomorrow is just a great feeling.

“I think we’re the best time trialing team in the country. We spend a lot of time working on it. It’s going to be really close but I think we have a really good shot. Tyler waxed everyone in the TT last year, so I think he can do it again.”

HIGHLAND, California (April 12, 2023) — Denver Disrupter’s Noah Granigan out-sprinted Robin Carpenter in his debut racing with L39ion for Los Angeles, to earn the first yellow jersey in the Redlands opening stage in Highland. The duo had been in the winning break of six riders that had established late in the opening stage. The field was apprehensive, keeping a tight leash on anything that attempted to escape. The winning break would gain up to a minute ahead of the field before Carpenter and Granigan took over the front of the group to battle for victory. Ricky Arnopol finish third on the line for Project Echelon.

“It was a good situation,” Granigan said following his win. “No one was attacking [in the final lap] until we got to the bottom of the hill. It was just about being patient, until you can see the banner to really open it up. The boys were good, with me in the break and we had Riley Sheehan and Reinardt (Janse van Rensberg) finish 1-2 in the field sprint.”

The Disrupters came to Redlands with a stacked squad including WorldTour veteran and 2017 Paris-Nice winner Sergio Henao, along with Sergei Tvetcov, Juan Esteban Arango, and Ulises Castillo. From the initial start as the field rolled under the finishing banner to pass kilometer zero, the field would remain compact until the intermediate bonus points and KOM battle ensued.

All the top teams remained attentive at the front with our defending champion, Tyler Stites and Team Echelon making sure they wouldn’t miss a dangerous move. Toronto Hustle, CSVelo, and Aevelo were also in the mix. It was the former Mexican Road Champion, Eder Frayre that took the initiative in the final 10 laps to start splitting the field for L39ion. Arnopol was there for Project Echelon to follow, as the break made their escape, increasing the gap with each lap before securing the win.

“We went pretty late in the race,” Arnopol said after a tough opening day. “We were kept on a tight leash. We were working really well together and then it was just a drag to the finish.”

Looking ahead for tomorrow, Arnopol and Team Echelon are ready for the challenge.

“I think we’re in good shape,” he added. “It’s going to be a super hard day.”

L39ion is also eager for the GC day ahead of them. Current US National Road Champion, Kyle Murphy spent the day in the field, along with many of the GC favorites saving their reserves for Oak Glen.

“Redland’s is our first race with the team together,” Carpenter said, returning to Southern California since last racing Redlands in 2017 with Hincapie. “It’s fun to be back, to be racing. It’s a hard one. Last time I was here, we won with TJ Eisenhart. I would have rather won, but also going into tomorrow defending would have been a lot. It seems like the peloton let Echelon race it out like the old Hincapie style.”

REDLANDS, California (April 10, 2023) — The Redlands Bicycle Classic presented by San Manuel Band of Mission Indians kicks of the North American block of stage racing with a stacked field for its 37th edition. The men’s pro race is full, consisting of 26 teams, with just fewer than 200 riders. For the women’s side, the race is proud to celebrate one of the largest fields in over a decade with 18 teams consisting of eight riders per team.

The five-day stage race will begin with the Highland circuit for the opening stage, followed by the Yucaipa road race with its famed Oak Glen hill top finish where WorldTour rider Sepp Kuss made his mark on the domestic scene years ago. Next on the menu will be the 9.1-mile time trial along Route 66, which saw its return last season since its debut in 1996. The Downtown Redlands crit is set for stage 4, filled with a day of festivities including the race expo, kids races, and the Plain Wrap Ride before the pros take over to conclude the day. Sunday will celebrate the Sunset Loop finale where the GC was shaken up in both the men and women’s races last season before crowning the new champions.

Taylor Stites and Heidi Franz rode away with yellow both by a slim margin on the final day last year to celebrate their overall victory. Stites will return in hopes of defending his title with Project Echelon, supported by Cade Bickmore, Richard Arnopol, and Stephen Vogel who all had strong seasons in 2022. The team will have a tough challenge ahead keeping their many rivals at bay. Zane White had led the GC last year, losing in the end by 16 seconds in one of his first stage races in the United States. After such strong performances on the North American circuit beginning with Redlands, the Kiwi was picked up by Aevolo for 2023, hungry to finish in yellow this time around.

Other riders to watch out for include Alex Hoehn racing for Above and Beyond Cancer, one of the United States most promising stage racers in recent years, returning after racing in Europe last season. One of the new NCL crit teams, the Denver Disruptors brings a stacked squad to fight for yellow and likely the sprint jersey. The team is boasting Redlands veteran and multi-time National Romanian Champion, Serghei Tvetcov, along with Mexican National Road Champion Ulises Castillo and Noah Granigan. Also, racing for his first time at Redlands is the 2017 Paris-Nice Champion and WorldTour veteran Sergio Henao.

L39ion of Los Angeles will line up at the start, with newly signed American veteran Robin Carpenter. Sam Boardman who won the time trial last year at Joe Martin will race alongside him, as well as the 2021 Mexican National Road Champion Eder Frayre. Matteo Dal-Cin will begin his 2023 stage racing campaign, returning with the Toronto Hustle squad. The Canadian finished second at the Tour of the Gila last season, and will be one to watch on Oak Glen. Finally, 2022 Elite National Road Champion for the USA, Ama Nesk will be making his Redlands debut racing for CS Velo Racing.

The women’s race will kick off the festivities Wednesday at 8:45 AM PDT in Highland for the opening stage. Joining the many names in Redland’s history that have made their mark in California, the 2022 Champion Heidi Franz will not be returning to defend her title for good reason. The Pacific Northwest native is racing for the Spanish outfit, Zaaf Cycling, racing among the best in the world in Europe. While Redlands will miss seeing her this year, we have a stacked field that are sure to make for exhilarating days of racing.

Canadian Emily Marcolini had climbed into yellow racing for 3T/Q+M after winning atop Oak Glen last year, retaining the lead up until the final day finishing third overall. She gave a valiant effort defending yellow with a reduced squad. She would continue her form through the block of North American stage racing, but unfortunately suffered a concussion as a result of a crash at the Vuelta a Colombia Femenina that ended her season early. She is back on form, ready to fight for that top step with her new team, ROXO Racing.

Roxo Racing boasts WorldTour veteran Emily Newsom and last season’s Best Young Rider Haley Smith. Hoping to derail their efforts will be the L39ion of Los Angeles squad with the pair of powerhouse sisters, Alexis and Kendall Ryan, along with Skylar and Samatha Schneider, all four with impressive palmarès to their names.

DNA Pro Cycling and the new American outfit based in Europe, Cynisca Cycling are both teams that cannot be dismissed. DNA will have the current Mexican TT National Champion, Anet Barrera and newly signed Shayna Powless, while Cynisca has listed Maddy Ward on their preliminary roster. Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty24 will have Sofia Arreola and Marlies Mejias, while Redlands is proud to have a development team from USA Cycling compete as well, continuing the Redlands tradition of the place where legends are born.