Armstrong back on top in Cascade

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In her first race back since breaking her collarbone at the Exergy Tour on May 24, Kristin Armstrong (Exergy-Twenty12) proved she's back on top of her game and ready for the London Olympics by taking out the prologue time trial Tuesday at the 33rd Annual Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic in Central Oregon.

In the men's race, first-year pro Chad Haga (Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies) surprised the field by setting the fastest mark, finishing two seconds ahead of 2011 overall winner Francisco Mancebo (Competitive Cyclist).

The six-day Cascade Cycling Classic opened on a brand-new 4.5 km prologue time trial course over the gentle slopes around the Tetherow golf course on the southwest edge of town. The race of truth around the short loop, which was previously used as part of the 20km time trial course for the 2009-2010 elite nationals, set the pecking order for Wednesday's stage 1 McKenzie Pass Road Race.

Armstrong, who will represent the United States in the road race and time trial at the London Games just two weeks from now, finished with a time of 5:24, seven seconds faster than runner-up Alison Powers (Now & Novartis for MS) and 12 seconds faster than teammate Jackie Crowell in third.

"She's fast," said Powers, who has finished second to Armstrong on multiple occasions this season. "It would have been nice to be a little closer. I lost seven seconds in five and a half minutes, so she's fast. She does have London to look forward to, and she's flying. I wish her the best, and I'm super psyched to get second."

Armstrong could have gone even faster, but she said she was playing things conservatively in light of her Olympic test at the end of July.

"I took the corners pretty conservatively," Armstrong said. "There's no need to take any risks just two weeks out from the Olympic games. I really had to push the straightaways and climbs a little bit harder, but my number one goal here is to gain the last piece of fitness before London and to come out safe."

Armstrong won the Cascade Cycling Classic in 2008 – the same year she won gold in the Olympic time trial – by more than six minutes. She said the goal for this year's race is to come away with a win for her team, no matter which rider ends up in yellow.

"Whether it's myself or a teammate, I just want to get that team Exergy-Twenty12 win at this race," she said. "It's one of the last races of my career. I love this race, it's close to home and I couldn't ask for better preparation before London."

Powers' teammate Anne Samplonius, winner of last year's final stage, finished fourth Tuesday, 14 seconds off the winning mark. Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies' Jade Wilcoxson finished fifth with the same time as Samplonius. Crowell also won the jersey for best young rider.

Both Exergy-Twenty12 and Now & Novartis for MS have two riders in the top five, setting up some big battles for the overall in the days to come. Powers said she's looking forward to the fight.

"With Anne in fourth, that's perfect for us," Powers said. "We work so well together as a team and get along so well together, I'm really looking forward to the next five days. The more battling the better."

Haga's long wait pays off

Haga was just the 10th rider to start the opening time trial out of a 192-man field, and the neo pro wasted little time stamping his mark on the race, covering the 4.5km in 5:02. Then the really hard work began as he spent the next 90 minutes watching rider after rider try to knock him out of the hot seat.

"It's nerve-racking," Haga said as he waited. "I see them coming up the hill and I just cross my fingers."

The finger-crossing seems to have worked, as Haga's mark withstood the entire onslaught from his competitors. Mancebo put in a great effort and fell just short of winning yellow. Bobby Sweeting (Kenda/5-Hour Energy) finished third, three seconds down, while former BMC pro Ian McKissisk (Audi) crossed the line five seconds slower than Haga for fourth. Jamis-Sutter Home's Luis Amaran rounded out the top five with the same time as McKissick. Team Exergy's Serghai Tvetcov also finished with the same time as McKissick for sixth. Haga, meanwhile, was busy soaking up the win after a rough early season.

"This is a new feeling for me, and I'm a fan of it," said Haga, who fell ill during a race in Uruguay and then crashed hard at the Tour de Beauce last month. "It's been a rough year so far between sickness, injury and fatigue, but I'm coming back."

Although many race fans – and even some of his competitors – were surprised by Haga's win over a quality NRC field, his teammate Tom Zirbel was not among them.

"I'm so excited for him," Zirbel said. "He's just now showing everyone else what we knew about him. He had a rough spring. We raced him really hard with a lot of international racing for a first-year guy. He got through it with flying colors, and now he's showing the form that he's worked hard for."

But Mancebo is just two seconds out of the lead and is sitting in a good position to defend his 2011 title. Competitive Cyclist team director Gord Fraser said his star rider put in one of the best time trials of the season and seems to be back in the form that drove him to the top of the NRC standings.

"It's the sharpest I've seen him in a time trial all year," Fraser said. "As soon as I saw him start and the way he was pedaling, my eyes just lit up, you know, he's back. So second place, it's fine. I was really happy with his effort, his focus and his execution. Finally, you can see he's back, so I'm very satisfied."

The riders will tackle the stage 1 Mckenzie Pass Road Race Wednesday with its 32km climb through the lava flows along the Cascade peaks, followed by a descent into Sisters and another daunting climb to the finish at Three Creeks Snow Park. Haga says he's ready to defend his yellow jersey and hopes to head into Thursday's stage 2 time trial with his race lead intact.

"I raced Pikes Peak a few days ago over the weekend," Haga said, "and it didn't go badly, so we'll see how it goes tomorrow. [Mancebo] is always tough. We've got a good team, though, so I'll rely on them a lot, I'm sure."

Zirbel also gave his younger teammate a vote of confidence.

"The guy can climb really well also," Zirbel said. "So we're going to keep him out of trouble. He's going to have a great time trial as well on Thursday, so we want to put him in as good a position as possible."

But the Optum squad will have to get past the McKenzie stage and challenges from Mancebo and the rest of the field if Haga, who also leads the best young rider competition, wants to start the next day in yellow. Fraser said his team will likely go on the attack.

"I think we can afford to be aggressive," Fraser said. "We'll see how it plays out. Sometimes the best defense is a good offense, so we have a lot of different plans."

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