Montreal, March 28, 2004 � Lyne Bessette (Team Quark) successfully defended her yellow jersey and won the Redlands Bicycle Classic today, beating RONA�s Genevi�ve Jeanson and Webcor�s Christine Thorburn. This is Bessette�s second win in this Southern Californian event � she won the 1999 edition.
Today�s stage, a 99.5-kilometre race on a scenic and tough course in Redlands, was activated by Canadian Nicole Demars (Victory Brewing) right from the first climb. The peloton let her go, as she was down more than 28 minutes in general classification before the stage. Her lead over the main field reached more than 2 minutes at one point, but American Susan Haywood (T-Mobile) launched a counter-attack and bridged to Demars with 5 kilometres to go.
Behind, the field was not preoccupied by this struggle for the stage. Bessette focused on defending her yellow jersey. Still hurting after her Thursday post-stage crash, Jeanson didn�t attack. She focused her energy on defending her second spot in overall standings, and her red climber�s jersey. But she could not respond to attacks by Canadian Sue Palmer Komar (Genesis Scuba), who eventually scored enough points to win the red jersey for herself.
Demars finally beat Haywood and the pair crossed the line about 45 seconds before the peloton.
�I was fortunate that the peloton didn�t race more aggressively today�, said a relieved Jeanson after the race. �I wouldn�t have been able to respond and I could have lost more than my red jersey. This stupid crash may have lost me the race, I don�t know. Still, I�m happy with my week; it was our first major race this year and the team�s chemistry is good, the spirit is excellent. I look forward to our next races.�
Team RONA will soon be flying to Europe to enter the Trofeo Banca Popolare Alto Adige, in the Bolzano region of Northern Italy (April 16-18), and the Fl�che Wallonne in Belgium (April 21).
source : Daniel Larouche, RONA Cycling Team
Put on line on March 27, 2004 by SVP
