March 27, 2004 – Finishing in a large crowd of spectators downtown on Saturday afternoon, Alex Candelario and Tina Pic came up with high-speed victories in the fourth stage of the Redlands Bicycle Classic. Neither victories Candelario, racing for Jelly Belly/Aramark, nor Pic, of Genesis-Scuba had an effect on the overall leader of the 20th annual stage race that has but one day remaining.
Webcor Builder's Chris Horner retained his near two-minute lead over Jittery Joe Coffee's Cesar Grajales. Horner takes a 1:49 lead into the Sunset road race. Lyne Bessette, racing for Quark, stayed 53 seconds ahead of Rona's Genevieve Jeanson as the Sunset Road Race beckons in the final day of racing on Sunday. Pic finished ahead of Genesis-Scuba teammate Laura Van Gilder, the green sprint jersey leader, to win the women's 60-minute stage. Victory Brewing's Gina Grain outpedaled T-Mobile's Lara Kroepsch for third place. Mari Holden, the 1998 Redlands champion, was fourth. Bessette, showing the same form she used in winning the Oak Glen road race on Friday, took fifth.
Horner, meanwhile, showed downtown Redlands onlookers his skill and strength in pushing himself to the front of the pack on two of the final three laps. He wound up sixth in the stage, won by Candelario in an hour, 31 minutes and 24 seconds. Juan Jose Haedo of Colavita Olive Oil finished in a close second place, just ahead of veteran Gord Fraser (Health Net Maxxis). Horner may have picked up a few seconds on Grajales, overall runner-up who hails from Colombia, South America. Horner continued to control the red climber's jersey over Michael Sayers, 22-18 (no mountain points were awarded in the stage). Colavita's Aaron Olson increased his green jersey sprint points lead to 48-33 over Haeda. Canada's Gord Fraser (Health Net) was relegated to the last person in the bunch after being accused of erratic sprinting. Alex Candelario (Jelly Belly) took the stage
Horner, the 2000 champion, is gunning for his fourth overall Redlands Classic yellow jersey and third straight. Bessette is trying to win for the second time at Redlands, having won in 1999. Jeanson is defending champion. The six-stage Redlands Classic for both men and women concludes today with the Redlands Sunset Road Race.
Results:
Women
1. Tina Pic (USA) Genesis Scuba/FFCC 59.35
2. Laura Van Gilder (USA) Genesis Scuba/FFCC
3. Gina Grain (Can) Victory Brewing
4. Lara Kroepsch (USA) T-Mobile
5. Mari Holden (USA) T-Mobile
6. Lyne Bessette (Can) Quark
7. Jennifer Eyerman (USA) Red 5 Racing
8. Katrina Grove (USA) Rona
9. Amy Moore (Can) Quark
10. Bridget Evans (Aus) Lake Mary Cycles/ORC
Men
1 Alex Candelario (USA) Jelly Belly 1.31.24
2 Juan Jose Haedo (Arg) Colavita
3 Ivan Dominguez (USA) Colavita
4 Ben Brooks (Aus) Jelly Belly
5 Chris Horner (USA) Webcor Builders
6 Brice Jones (USA) Health Net/Maxxis
7 Erik Saunders (USA) Ofoto
8 Emile Abraham (Tri) Aerospace Engineering/Atlas Mining
9 Victor Ayala (Mex) Velo Club LaGrange
10 Kirk Albers (USA) Jelly Belly
G.C.
Women
1. Lyne Bessette (Can) Quark 9.35.00
2. Genevieve Jeanson (Can) Rona 0.53
3. Christine Thorburn (USA) Webcor 1.32
4. Susan Palmer-Komar (Can) Genesis Scuba/FFCC 2.07
5. Kristin Armstrong (USA) T-Mobile 2.16
6. Magali LeFloch (Fra) Quark 5.48
7. Rhonda Quick (USA) Red 5 Racing 6.00
8. Tina Pic (USA) Genesis Scuba/FFCC 6.08
9. Amy Moore (Can) Quark 6.20
10. Kim Anderson (USA) T-Mobile 6.51
Men
1. Chris Horner (USA) Webcor Builders 11.38.46
2. Cesar Grajales (Col) Jittery Joe's Coffee 1.49
3. Adam Bergman (USA) Jelly Belly 3.53
4. John Lieswyn (USA) Health Net/Maxxis 4.27
5. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) U.S. Postal Service 4.33
6. Liam Killeen (GBr) IMPSport 4.50
7. Glen Mitchell (NZl) Sierra Nevada 5.01
8. Tim Larkin (USA) Ofoto
9. Davide Frattini (Ita) Team Monex 5.13
10. Daniel Rincon (Col) U.S. Postal Service 5.27