Hood River, OR – Chris Baldwin of the OUCH Pro Cycling Team Presented came into the final stage of the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic Sunday needing to make up a 13-second gap to race leader Paul Mach (Bissell). But the tight, windy 1 km course provided little opportunity for the team’s newest member to escape and put time on Mach.

“It’s a bit frustrating not to capitalize on the small margin,” he said. Instead, Baldwin finished in the main pack and easily preserved 2nd place overall.

The day before, on the Wy’East Road Race, Hood’s queen stage, Baldwin was aggressive in trying to shake Mach to close down what was then a 15-second gap. Baldwin had help from teammate Roman Kilun in setting up attacks going into the final climb, but with the team’s third rider, Jonathan Chodroff, out of the race after being taken out in a crash, Baldwin was on the wrong end of a numbers game with Bissell. He put in several attacks near the end of the finishing climb trying to dislodge the young Bissell rider from his wheel. But at the stage’s end, he was unable to get away, settling for second place on the stage just ahead of Mach.

“They got a bit of time on me during the first road stage Thursday, and Mach was able to do a really strong time trial the next day,” Baldwin said. So strong that the two-time national time trial champion was only able to gain three seconds on the Bissell rider despite winning the stage. “On Saturday, all he had to do was follow my wheel. Give him credit. He rode a strong, smart race.”

Though he was frustrated with finishing 2nd, overall Baldwin was pleasantly surprised with how well the race went. He finished with one stage win, a 2nd place and a 3rd place, to go along with Chodroff’s 3rd place in the time trial.

“When I first talked to Mike (Tamayo, OUCH Presented by Maxxis directeur sportif), we looked at this race as more for training,” Baldwin said. “I didn’t know how I was going to feel with the new equipment. That’s a really personal thing. The first road stage was only the second ride I did on my new Kuota, and the first one was for about an hour the evening before. Some guys can get on a new bike and just go. I’m at the other end of the spectrum. I’ve very finicky.

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Oakland, CA – The OUCH Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis has added Chris Baldwin, a two-time U.S. National Time Trial Champion, to its roster for the remainder of the 2009 season.

“Chris has been one of North America’s top stage racers for this entire decade,” said team directeur sportif Mike Tamayo. “He’s an excellent time trialist and one of the best climbers around. He adds tremendous depth to our stage race squad. He’s had some great rides already this year, and I think he’ll really excel with this organization.”

OUCH Presented by Maxxis team leader Rory Sutherland has battled against Baldwin for the past two years and is glad to now be riding along side him.

“Chris is a good guy and a great rider,” Sutherland said. “His talents compliment in areas where we need more help. Obviously he’s a great time trialist, and he’s probably a better climber than I am, especially at altitude. He’s going to be a huge asset for us at races like Hood and Utah.”

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Bend, OR – The Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team flexed its muscles this past week winning six out of eleven races it entered as its riders prepare for Philly week, a series of three races in the greater Philadelphia area held the first week of June.

The incredible string of wins began with Dominique Rollin’s win at the GP Granby Time Trial near Bromont, Canada on May 10, 2008. Rollin won the 19 kilometer time trial in a time of 24:04.14, a mere 6.8 seconds over second place finisher François Parisien (Symmetrics).

The sixth annual Mt. Hood Cycling Classic began on Tuesday May 13th with a short 1.8 kilometer prologue time trial. Ivan Stevic showed he’s returning to form after a long nine-month bout with a sore right knee by placing third with a time of 2:48.7, 3.7 seconds behind the winner Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissell).

The following day, the riders competed in stage one, the Mt. Tabor Criterium. Team Bissell controlled most of the race, which was held on a hilly circuit in the heart of Portland. Despite 90 minutes of attacking by Toyota-United, and other teams, the field remained intact with two laps to go. The final three kilometers saw the Toyota-United boys in red, white and blue turn it over to their two fast men, Hilton Clarke and Ivan Stevic, who finished the job taking 1st and 2nd respectively. As a result of Clarke winning the stage, he also picked up the leaders yellow jersey, king of the mountain and sprinter’s jerseys for his efforts.

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Canadian Andrew Pinfold (Symmetrics) outsprinted his breakaway companions to win the final stage, the Hood River Criterium, of the Mt Hood Cycling Classic. World B Champion Ivan Stevic (Toyota-United) was second and Italian Alessandro Bazzana (Successful Living) came in third.

Andrew Pinfold (Symmetrics) wins the sprint ahead of Ivan Stevic (Toyota-United) and Alessandro Bazzana (Successful Living)

“I was on [Chris] Wherry’s wheel and he sat up, I knew that he’s not going to deliver me to the line, I was just waiting for that, and I was able to get on, I think it was Bazzana’s or Stevic’s wheel, and I came around him at the end. I came around the corner in third wheel.” said Pinfold.

Australian Rory Sutherland protected by his Health Net-Maxxis teammates came in safely across the line to win the overall general classification, shadowed at the line by second place Darren Lill (BMC) and third place Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissell).

“I think it was a learning experience for a lot of the guys, a lot of the boys hadn’t done that kind of stuff before. Look at the start list, look at the teams that are here, this is probably one of the. I’d say, one of the best field ever put together on the domestic scene, this and Redlands of course, so it was by no means an easy feat that’s for sure. The guys seemed to get better every day, and really rode above and beyond today, to be honest they don’t get paid enough to do that kind of stuff because they just killed themselves for somebody else and that’s a pretty amazing thing.” said Sutherland about his team.

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US Crit Champion Tina Pic (Colavita/Sutter Home) made her Stars & Stripes proud on Sunday, winning her second stage, the final criterium at the Mt Hood Cycling Classic. Pic outsprinted Joanne Kiesanowski (Tibco) and Jeannie Longo, riding for the composite team River City Racing to cross the line first after a week of racing in Oregon.

Tina Pic (Colavita/Sutter Home) outsprints Joanne Kiesanowski (tibco) and Jeannie Longo to win final stage at Mt Hood

“I have to say that was a bit painful, fifth stage in the race. I was hot and I was struggling to get to the finish because I got a bad start. Jeannie [Longo] was going for the finish, it was pretty impressive, wow, but I got her.” said Pic.

Canadian Julie Beveridge (Aaron’s) kept the leader’s jersey even though she crashed in the last 100 meters, as she was given the same time as the field.

“A little bit, after the time trial it definitely was, it’s still sinking in.” said Beveridge when asked if she understood the importance of this win.

By finished second and grabbing important time bonus seconds, Longo jumped to second place on GC ahead of three-times Mt Hood winner Leah Goldstein (ValueAct). To keep things in perspective, the 49-year old Longo had already won three World Road Championship before Beveridge was born in 1988.

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Mara Abbott, riding for the composite team Discover Bicycles/Athletes for a Cure, jumped from the field led by Jeannie Longo to catch the remnants of the break of the final climb to Mt Hood Meadows ski resort to win stage 4, the Wy’East Road Race at Mt Hood Cycling Classic.

“I knew that coming up here was my best chance, the pace slowed down a bit, Jeannie Longo was leading but she was switching side to side a lot, and she switched to the side and we bunched up a little bit and I decided to go. I caught the break about half way between when I attacked and the finish, it was awesome.” said a smiling Abbott.

As expected, the race came down to the last 2 miles. An early break with Martina Patella (ValueAct) and Kelly Benjamin (Cheerwine) was off the front, and the Aaron’s team, driven by Meredith Miller, led the chase. Longo added her power to the chase in the final miles.

“The break stayed away with 2 k to go. I caught Meredith with about 800 k to go.” said Beveridge.

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Barring disasters, Australian (Rory Sutherland) is set to win his second stage race in two weeks, as his team worked tirelessly to reel in a threatening breakaway in the Queen Stage of the Mt Hood Cycling Classic.

“It’s not over until it’s over. Luckily enough today, we’ll have created some good gaps in the GC again, and there’s only maybe 2 guys to really watch. We’ll go out there fighting tomorrow and try to bring it home for two tours in two weeks.” said Sutherland.

Escapees from the break, Australian Caleb Manion (Toyota-United) outsprinted James Mattis (Cal Giant) to win stage 4, and a charging Sutherland came in third, four seconds back. Mattis attacked the break on the final climb and Manion jumped on his wheel ahead of a charging riders from the field.

“It was a pretty hard climb, it’s my first time here so I didn’t know what to expect. I think James from Cal Giant, he attacked really early, maybe 4K to go, I thought it was actually a little bit to early but he got such a big gap straight away, I was like ‘I sort of better go now’. So I sort of jumped across to him, he was going really, really strong, that’s how it stayed, I did a few turns, he did a lot of work actually, he was really strong, then we come together with 200 to go and then it was a sprint to the line.” said Manion.

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I caught up with Rock Racing’s Doug Ollerenshaw at the Mt Hood Cycling Classic. As a Portland native, Doug received some of the loudest cheers during the race. I could tell when he was on the attack during stage 1, the Mt Tabor Criterium in downtown Portland, as the screams of ‘Dougie’ could be heard all over the course.An all-around nice guy, the 29-year old is known to slay himself for his teammates and race aggressively trying to get into breaks. Oh and he’s also a mechanical engineer.

Doug at Tour de Georgia, Photo by Ken Conley

Lyne: What did it feel like to have your name yelled out loud during the Mt Tabor Criterium stage?
Doug: It was great, I had a lot of friends out there, it was motivating, I had hoped for a bit more from myself in front of the home crowd but it’s a tough field, tough to do much against the field. I put in a hard attack early on, and it got loud, it was fun.

Lyne: There was a lot of drama surrounding the Rock Racing team early this year, how did it impact you in your training?
Doug: The uncertainty was a little tough, I think a lot of it was a bit overblown, the riders we’re all normal people, it was a lot of the media attention. A lot of it was also cultivated by Michael Ball I believe, he was trying to create a buzz and he certainly did so but things have definitely settled down a bit. Everybody has a better idea of what to expect, things are going really smooth now, no problems at this point.

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In a new twist in the pro women’s race, the winner of the Mt Hood Time Trial did not take over the general classification at the Mt Hood Cycling Classic.

As in previous years, Leah Goldstein (ValueAct) put in the best time, stopping the clock at 43:01 with an average speed of 24.83 mph (39.95 kmph). Best Young Rider Julie Beveridge (Aaron’s) crossed the line with a time slower by seven seconds and Jeannie Longo (River City Racing) was eighteen seconds back.

“It’s one of my favorite time trials, I came a few days early and I actually rode that course a few times just to know the corners and the wind not so bad like it was last year. I’m not such a daredevil, I don’t take chances, I don’t go into bars on corners and stuff, just because the stability on the bike because of the calm conditions just made me more confident to be more aero and tucked. I felt good from the beginning, when I woke up this morning I felt pretty good, I had a good feeling about the ride today.” said Goldstein.

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In idyllic conditions for a time trial, Rory Sutherland (Health Net-Maxxis) won stage 3, the Mt Hood Cycling Classic Gorge Delights time trial in a decisive manner, stopping the clock with the fastest time of 37:29, with an average speed of 29.61 mph (47.64 kmph).

Slotting into second place, Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissell) was 25 seconds slower, and GC leader into the stage, Darren Lill (BMC) finished in third place, at 32 seconds back.

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