Cool-headed Australian Ben Day yesterday produced a flawless performance on the final day of racing to secure the overall victory for Fly V Australia p/b Successful Living Foundation in California’s San Dimas Stage Race.

Leading the General Classification by just one second heading into the third and final stage, Day pounced on his rivals with a six-second “hot-sprint” time bonus that proved enough to claim overall race honours from Jelly Belly’s Phillip Gaimon and Rock Racing’s Chris Baldwin.

The celebrations didn’t end there for the Australian-led team, with Gold Coast speed merchant Jonathan “Jono” Cantwell rocketing home in the sprint to win the stage three street-race criterium.

Cantwell’s lunge on the line saw him beat out Sebastian Haedo (Colavita) for second and John Murphy (OUCH) for third.

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The podium for the Cannondale Incycle Old Town San Dimas Classic criterium (from left): Cody O’Reilly (fourth place), Lucas Sebastian Haedo (second), winner Jonathan Cantwell, John Murphy (third) and Shawn Milne (fifth).

San Dimas, Calif. – Shawn Milne added to Team Type 1’s polka dot jersey collection by winning the King of the Mountains classification Sunday at the San Dimas Stage Race.

The Beverly, Mass., resident scored the seventh King of the Mountains (KOM) title in the 15-month history of the men’s professional team program. Last week, it was teammate Jesse Anthony who earned KOM honors at the Tour de Taiwan.

Milne also registered his second top 10 finish of the three-day, three-stage event by placing fifth in Sunday’s Cannondale Incycle Old Town San Dimas Classic criterium. He finished sixth and Fabio Calabria was seventh in Saturday’s 84-mile (135 km) San Dimas Hospital Road Race.

Calabria was the only one of the 150 starters in the race who had Type 1 diabetes. The 21-year-old had to closely monitor his blood sugar level before, during and after racing because his body does not naturally produce insulin.

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Chad Beyer within striking distance of San Dimas GC

San Dimas, CA - Fielding such a strong team for the San Dimas Hospital Road Race, BMC started the day with an aggressive plan. The rolling course around the Frank G Bonelli Regional Park also includes the tough Cannon climb which has 13% pitches.

Realizing they have a strong group of climbers, BMC planned to make the race as hard as possible for everyone. Though Jelly Belly rider Phillip Gaimon only just managed to steal BMC’s thunder for the stage win, the team is still well placed with Chad Beyer sitting in 8th half a minute down.

Covering moves from the get-go
The game plan for BMC revolved around keeping team mates in the consequential early moves, while holding some strength in reserve for the final push to the finish line. “From the start we were looking to go with the good moves,” Chad Beyer explained. “On the first lap Jeff Louder and I were in a good break with about 10 or 11 guys, but since it was so early in the race, no one was pushing it 100%.” Though that move was caught after two or three laps of the circuit, BMC riders such as Chris Barton, Taylor Tolleson, Brent Bookwalter and Jonathan Garcia inserted themselves into multiple breaks, covering anything that looked dangerous.

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San Dimas, Calif. – On the same day Team Type 1 lost half of its eight-rider squad to illness or injury, there was actually something for it to celebrate following the second stage of the San Dimas Stage Race.

Shawn Milne won three of the four King of the Mountain sprints during Saturday’s 84-mile (135 km) San Dimas Hospital Road Race to move into the lead in that classification. But that wasn’t all. The 27-year-old, fifth-year professional also finished sixth on the stage, while teammate Fabio Calabria – the only rider in the race with Type 1 diabetes – was seventh.

“I’m feeling pretty good after going to the Vuelta Mexico,” Milne said. “Hopefully, I can keep this form rolling into Redlands.”

Milne only needs to finish Sunday’s 90-minute Cannondale Incycle Old Town San Dimas Classic criterium to become Team Type 1’s seventh King of the Mountains (KOM) winner in the team’s two-year men’s professional team history. Last weekend, Jesse Anthony scored the KOM jersey at the Tour de Taiwan.

Milne’s accomplishment and the two top 10 finishes overshadowed an otherwise difficult day for Team Type 1. Darren Lill crashed out of the race and Anthony and Aldo Ino Ilesic also did not finish. Moises Aldape was eliminated after suffering a flat tire.

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Santa Rosa, CA - Though the team was unable to send a squad to San Dimas in 2008, BMC is looking forward to returning to the race in 2009. “I really like San Dimas and think it is a great three day race,” General Manager Gavin Chilcott reported. “Schedule conflicts made it impossible for us to be there last year, but we are very happy to be using it as a nice spring-board into Redlands.”

Though the race starts with a very tough uphill time trial, it is not necessarily a pure climber’s event. “To win the overall, you have to climb well enough to do very well in the time trial, but the other two stages are certainly not easy and you have to remain tactically astute,” Chilcott explained. Chilcott will be looking to Jeff Louder as well as Chad Beyer and Brent Bookwalter to provide the team with some strong cards to play. Jonathan Garcia will also return to racing for the first time since the Tour of California after recovering from an illness. “The team won the race in 2007 with Scott Moninger,” Chilcott said. “So we are anxious to go back and try again for the GC.”

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Oakland, CA – Cameron Evans of the OUCH Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis returns to the San Dimas Stage Race this Friday wearing the number 1 of defending champion.

In 2008, Evans won the race in dramatic fashion, escaping off the front on the final stage and erasing a one-minute gap to race leader Santiago Botero (Rock Racing) to take the overall title.

The rising Canadian star begins the race as a much better-known quantity this year, and comes into San Dimas following a stellar performance at the Vuelta Mexico that included winning Stage 6 of that race.

San Dimas also marks the return of 2007 and 2008 NRC champion Rory Sutherland following his strong performance in the Amgen Tour of California. The team will be led on the road by captain Tim Johnson.

The race begins Friday with a 3.7 mile climbing prologue, followed Saturday by a hilly road race run on a 7.15-mile circuit. The race concludes Sunday with the Old Town Grand Prix, raced on a 1.2-mile circuit in downtown San Dimas.

OUCH Presented by Maxxis for the San Dimas Stage Race, March 20-22:
Jonathan Chodroff, USA
Cam Evans, CAN
Tim Johnson, USA
Roman Kilun, USA
Bobby Lea, USA
John Murphy, USA
Andrew Pinfold, CAN
Rory Sutherland, USA

Photo: Jonathan Devich