Skylar Schneider (L39ION of Los Angeles) sprinted to her second victory in a row at the Redlands Bicycle Classic on stage 5 Sunday, while Emily Ehrlich’s ninth place in the 110km Sunset Road Race was enough to secure the overall victory.
“Whenever they attacked we were up there so it was perfect,” said Ehrlich, who rides for Virginia's Blue Ridge Twenty24. “It’s the biggest win of my racing career. I have only been racing seriously for three or four seasons, but this is everybody’s win. The whole team was amazing.”
In the general classification, Marcela Prieto (PatoBike) came second with a gap of 33 seconds after finishing in the lead group alongside Ehrlich. Melisa Rollins (Virginia's Blue Ridge Twenty24) finished third overall, 41 seconds back.
A select group established a gap early in the nine-lap, 68.1-mile Sunset Road Race, which brought the five-stage Redlands Bicycle Classic to a close. Schneider beat Marlies Mejias (Virginia Blue Ridge Twenty24) in the dash to the line, adding to her win from Saturday’s stage 4 criterium.
From the 18-strong leading group, Samantha Schneider scooped up the final place on the stage 5 podium for L39ION of Los Angeles while teammate Alexis Ryan finished in fifth place, behind DNA Pro Cycling’s Shayna Powless.
“The race was brutal, it was my first time doing it. Every year I hear how hard it is and how iconic,” Skylar said at the finish about Redlands Bicycle Classic. “Not only the climb, but you have to be really focused because it’s such a fast downhill.”
In the sprint classification, Holly Breck (DNA Pro Cycling) held a three- point advantage over Rylee McMullen (Instafund Racing) going into the finale and held on to the green jersey even though Skylar Schneider moved past McMullen with points. Kathleen Abadie (Fount Cycling Guild) held on for the mountains classification and Virginia's Blue Ridge Twenty24 finished as the top team.
Results powered by FirstCycling
