Wilborne-Lechuga gives Hagens Berman-Supermint a big win in Redlands Classic opening stage

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Scotti Lechuga gave Hagens Berman-Supermint its first win of the season Wednesday at the Redlands Bicycle Classic when she burst away from the bunch on the climb to the finish of the Highland Circuit Race, taking the victory by several seconds over Twenty16-Ridebiker's Alison Jackson and Kristin Armstrong.

"Lindsay Bayer was kind of my right-hand girl today, and she dropped me off at just the right point," Lechuga said as she waited for the podium ceremony. "I kind of went a little earlier than expected, but that played into my favour because no one responded."

Lechuga's early jump provided enough of a gap for her to handily take the win, and she now leads Armstrong, who won the race's only time bonus, by six seconds going into stage 2. Jackson is seven seconds back in third, while 2015 champion Mara Abbott (Amy D Foundation), who earned a two-second time bonus in the intermediate sprint, is 11 seconds back for fourth.

The opening stage of the 2016 Redlands Bicycle Classic was contested under blazing Southern California heat on the 4.5km circuit that finished with the long, wide finishing drag up Base Line Road. The women played things conservatively on the first day in the heat, with several small moves going early but nothing able to gain any traction. Armstrong's team kept her near the front of the peloton throughout, enabling her to snag the three-second bonus ahead of Abbott and Rally Cycling's Sara Poidevin at the end of lap 6 of 14.

From there the peloton stuck together except for a brief attack by Poidevin at the end of lap 9 to secure the QOM jersey.

Things looked good for Armstrong as the peloton took the bell for the final together, with Twenty16-Ridebiker at the head of affairs and Armstrong sitting second wheel. But as the riders emerged on the horizon of the final climb, Lechuga had slipped away and opened her winning margin.

Armstrong was wary of Lechuga's explosiveness in the uphill finale, but the two-time Olympic gold medallist could only watch her ride away on the final ascent.

"Scotti I knew from last weekend had a really, really good jump, and she didn't go for any of the QOMs and so I think she was trying to save her legs," Armstrong aid. "She was pretty tucked away all day. But that explosion, that power is something that's a strength of Scotti's, so congratulations to her. She's been training really hard. I'm happy for her success."

Thursday's second stage takes the peloton to the Yucapia Road Race, which finishes with an 8.6km climb to the Village of Oak Glen. Lechuga said she's going to enjoy her win on Wednesday and come out swinging on Thursday. "It's a challenging race and a lot can happen there," Lechuga said. "We have the best climber in the world here with Mara Abbott and the best time trialist in the world here with Kristin Armstrong, so I really don't know what to expect other than I'm just going to go out there and do my best." 

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