Cory Williams (L39ion of Los Angeles) took a convincing sprint victory on Saturday's stage 4 of the Redlands Classic, besting Noah Granigan (Denver Disruptors) and Cade Bickmore (Project Echelon) in a bunch kick at the end of 90 minutes of criterium racing.
Project Echelon's Tyler Stites finished with the pack to retain his overall lead with one stage left to race.
There were multiple crashes over the course of the crit, with Denver GC hope Sergio Henao among those hitting the deck, though the Colombian was able to finish safely.
With the peloton arriving into the finale together, things were decided in a sprint, where Williams and L39ion made a statement in their first matchup thus far this season against Denver.
“It was a bit hectic but I have a lot of calmness with my team around me, I always knew they would deliver me to the line,” Williams said. “Today was my day to pull it off for the team. It was my first time battling Denver, especially in a crit. Its nice to show them that this is our turf, maybe next time for them.”
Stites leads the race into Sunday's final stage with a nine-second advantage over his Project Echelon teammate Ricky Arnopol, with AJ August sitting third at 12 seconds back.
Results powered by FirstCycling
