Mancebo out-wrestles Bissell to maintain overall race lead

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Grajales wins second mountaintop finish on Mt. Bachelor

Cesar Grajales (RealCyclist.com) won his teams its third consecutive stage win, and second win of his own, atop Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort during stage three of the Cascade Cycling Classic. The Colombian native caught and passed late-race breakaway rider Chris Baldwin (Bissell) with roughly 200 metres to go. His teammate and overall race leader Francisco ‘Paco’ Mancebo placed third on the day.

"It is a special day today, my wife’s birthday, so I want to dedicate this win to her,’ Grajales said. "Thanks to my teammates who did an awesome job today. And Paco because he set me up for the win."

Mancebo maintained his overall race lead heading into the stage four criterium on Saturday evening. He is currently leading the race by 40 seconds ahead of Grajales in second place and an additional 14 seconds to Jeremy Vennell (Bissell) in third.

"The main objective for today was to keep the jersey," Grajales said. "We wanted to keep first and second on the podium. We needed to get the time bonus today. Since Paco already had a big gap in the overall, I needed to get the time bonus to move me further ahead in second place. We have a comfortable gap, which is important going into the last stage because it is a hard one."

Alex Howes (Chipotle Development) is leading the King of the Mountain (KOM) competition and his teammate Lachlan Morton is leading the Best Young Rider competition. Carlos Alzate (Exergy) is leading the Sprint competition.

Pro-Cat 1 men’s field had a tough day on the bike during the ‘queen’ stage three that includes more than 6,000 ft of elevation gain spread over 135 kms. The day started with a significant ascent out of Bend, covering roughly 25 kms of road before descending the Sun River Access Rd. The riders will round Elk Lake and finish at the top of a some 30 kms climb to the top of Mt Bachelor.

A breakaway of seven riders split off the front of the field at the base of the opening climb. Riders included Ben Day (Kenda/5-hour Energy), Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissell), Jacob Rathe and Alex Howes (Chipotle Development), Jason Donald (Kelly Benefit Strategies-OptumHealth), George Bennett (Trek-Livestrong) and Liam Holohan (Raleigh).

A chase group formed that included Rob Britton (Bissell), Michael Creed (Kelly Benefit Strategies-OptumHealth), Roman Van Uden (PureBlack Racing), Alistar Radcliff (Now-MS Society) and Greg Craddock (Trek-Livestrong).

The two lead groups put pressure on RealCyclist.com race leader Francisco Mancebo and runner up in the overall classification Cesar Grajales. The team worked hard to close down the time gap before the top of the climb.

"Everyones tactics were the same in that Cesar and Mancebo are very strong riders and maybe we could have cracked their team on the climbs," Baldwin said. "the only way to beat guys like that is to isolate them from their teammates. They’ve won every stage and that is impressive. The last stage of this race is very hard and relentless. It is very hard for a team to control and they are going to have a tall order."

Alex Howes (Chipotle Development) took a solo flyer on the descent down toward Elk Lake, gaining roughly 30 seconds. His teammate Rob Squire also made an attempt to clear the peloton by himself.

Action from the field resulted in several short-lived breakaways. Teams that were aggressive before the final climb included Bissell, Chipotle Development, Kelly Benefit Strategies-OptumHealth.

Maxwell Durtschi (Trek-Livestrong) and Andrea Diaz (Exergy) formed a two-man breakaway and gained roughly 30 seconds ahead of the field. They increased their gap to nearly one minute heading into the base of the final climb. Durtschi won the intermediate sprint and Diaz attacked and continued to ride solo into the climb.

RealCyclist.com held a steady tempo from the peloton, catching Diaz at the base of the ascent. Mancebo deterred anyone from attacking on the way up to Mt. Bachelor by single-handedly setting a fast-paced tempo up the final 10 kms of the climb. His efforts caused the field to split and only seven riders remained in the lead group including his teammate Grajales, Baldwin, Jeremy Vennell (Bissell), Lachlan Morton (Chipotle Development), Dan Fleeman (Raleigh) and Phil Gaimon (Kenda/5-hour Energy).

Vennell made an initial attack, followed by Baldwin, who jumped ahead of the small group with one and half kilometers to go and gained a significant lead as he headed toward the finish line. However, Grajales timed his reaction to perfection, catching and passing Baldwin with roughly 200 meters to the line for his second mountaintop stage win.

"When Mancebo went, I was able to follow, and when I saw that Jeremy was there too my energy went through the roof," Baldwin said. "We are happy with our overall performance. I am also happy to have felt good today. I was blown away when Cesar bridged across. Not that I am that fast, but I was going fast, so I was surprised that he was able to do it that quickly. He is in good form and kudos to him."

Elite Women, Buchanan wins, as Hughes gambles on other teams to pull back break

Rushlee Buchanan (Colavita-Forno D’Asolo) secured a victory atop Mt. Bachelor, stage three of the Cascade Cycling Classic. The New Zealand National Champion attacked a late-race breakaway and soloed to the finish line ahead of her fellow countryman Ali Shanks (Bike NZ) in second and Tara Whitten (Tibco-To the Top) in third.

"I knew it was do or die," Buchanan said. "I didn’t look back until I was closer to the finish line and I kept thinking I wished the finish line were closer. I’m stoked for the win."

Six-time Olympic medalist Clara Hughes (Cycling BC) maintained her lead in the overall classification heading into the stage four criterium on Saturday afternoon. Erinne Willock (Tibco-To the Top) is currently sitting in second place, 13 seconds back, and Kristin McGrath (Peanut Butter & Co Twenty12) is in third place an additional six seconds back.

"It was a good race today and I stayed in yellow," Hughes said. "I took a gamble and thought that Tibco would do most of the work on the climb and that’s what ended up happening."

Buchanan is leading the Best Young Rider competition and her teammate Andrea Dvorak is leading the Queen of the Mountain (QOM) competition, Joelle Numainville (Tibco-To the Top) is leading the Sprint competition.

The Pro-Cat 1,2 women began the 113 kms, ‘queen’ stage three at the Wanoga Snow Park. The stage included more than 4,000 ft of elevation gain. The race started with a 10 kilometre climb, followed by a descent through the Sun River Access Rd. The riders rode around Elk Lake and finished at the top of a some 30 kms climb to the top of Mt Bachelor.

The field was highly aggressive during most of the stage, however, all breakaways were short-lived and the field remained predominantly in tact until approaching the base of the final climb.

"It was so fast for the first half of the race, downhill and nice roads that breakaways weren’t getting away," Buchanan said. "It was aggressive and things were constantly going. I felt like it was a fast race."

Shanks initiated the first significant move and was followed by Lauren Hall (Colavita-Forno D’Asolo). Two more groups bridged across to the duo that included Leah Kirchman (Colavita-Forno D’Asolo), Tara Whitten, Megan Guarnier and Joelle Numainville (Tibco-To the Top), Liza Rachetto (Vanderkitten), Anna Barensfeld (Missing Link Coaching System-Specialized), Emily Collins (Vanderkitten), Alison Starnes (Peanut Butter & Co Twenty12) and Jade Willcoxson (Now-Novartis for MS).

"The breakaway was all together going into the climb and Tibco was working at the front," Shanks said. "It was worth my while to keep pushing it so I sat near the front on the climb and all of a sudden that group dwindled down."

Four rider broke off the front of the lead group that included Buchanan, Shanks, Whitten and Willcoxson. Buchanan launched her winning move with three kilometres to go and held a small lead to the finish line ahead of Shanks and Whitten. "I just watched and waited and went on the last step pitch," Buchanan said.