Cliff-Ryan takes Redlands Classic stage two, Teutenberg leads overall

by VeloNation Press at 9:46 PM EST

Categories: Pro Cycling, Race Reports and Results

HTC-Columbia's Ina-Yoko Teutenberg raced aggressively in the criterium at the Redlands Classic on Saturday, distancing herself from the main field by 1'12" with the help of her seven breakaway companions. Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Colavita/Baci pb Cooking Light) sprinted to the race win, while the time gap was enough for Teutenberg to take the yellow jersey from former leader Amber Neben with one stage remaining. The German now leads the overall by 33 seconds over second placed Kat Carroll (Peanut Butter & Co.).

"Actually, it wasn't our plan to attack today," said Teutenberg after the race. "Our focus was on the time bonus seconds but it turned out a lot better than that.

"My team did the perfect job keeping everything together for the first sprint at the half way mark and then led me out for the sprint. After the first sprint there was a counter attack and I jumped on it. The field was all strung out but it looked like it was going to come back together so I attacked again.

"After a couple of laps the gap went up and I knew I had to give it everything. The break worked well together. Tibco had three riders in the break so it was also in their interest to keep the break alive. I had to get as much time out of the bunch as possible.

"I think the race is still wide open because tomorrow's stage is pretty hard to control for a team and if the legs don't work, you can't fake it. There are also a few girls still in contention so I'm sure it will be aggressive."

Tomorrow's final stage is a 100km circuit race around the hilly neighbourhoods of Redlands.