Redlands, CA – The UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis made a late bid in the final kilometers of the Redlands Classic to deliver Rory Sutherland to a stage and overall win, but the effort was disrupted just a couple hundred meters from the end.

“Brad White did a great job to bring back a late attack by Luis Amaran (Jamis) on the final lap in downtown Redlands,” said Team directeur sportif Gord Fraser. “Karl Menzies took over the front with Rory on his wheel. Things were looking good coming into the final 200 meters but then Luis Amaran made an aggressive move that put Rory into the curb and almost caused him to crash out with 200 meters to go. That pretty much killed his momentum and any chance he had of grabbing the bone time on the line needed to get the overall win. It was definitely a disappointment.”

Sutherland At Redlands

Until that point, things had gone pretty much according to plan. Coming into the first KOM, with a three-second bonus on the line, the team set up Sutherland to win the bonus. With race leader Ben Day crossing the line in third to take one second, it moved Sutherland two seconds closer to the race lead, just four seconds back.

An attack went immediately following the KOM, and Andrew Pinfold of UnitedHealthcare Presented by Maxxis covered the move. Though on the hot, hilly course, the sprinter was a bit out of his element with several strong climbers for break mates. After a while, Pinfold dropped back to the main bunch, while the break’s gap grew first to 2:35, and then another half-minute wider after Day got tangled with one of hiss teammates and hit the tarmac.

Day’s squad was left to bring back the break, which they did coming into the closing circuits on the same course the criterium covered Saturday. The catch prompted Amaran’s late move, which UnitedHealthcare Presented by Maxxis took responsibility to shut down setting up the last-lap efforts on behalf of Sutherland.

Despite not getting the victory, Fraser noted that the team rode exceptionally well again today, and it gives the team momentum going into the rest of the season.

Kilun wins two stages and overall of Topsport Stage Race

Roman Kilun of UnitedHealthcare Presented by Maxxis ventured to the Central Valley of California to take on the two-day, three-stage Topsport Stage Race this weekend and came away with two stage wins and the overall title against a strong NorCal elite field.

Kilun At Topsport Stage Race

Roman KilunThe race opened with a double day Saturday, starting with a 90-minute circuit race in the early part of the morning. Kilun rode conservatively, staying in the main bunch for the entirety of the race, but not contesting the sprint in order to save some energy for the 10-mile time trial that would follow just an hour and a half after the end of the circuit race.

The strategy paid off. “It was a bit hard going from the circuit race to the time trial an hour and a half later but it worked out okay,” he said.

Kilun won the time trial and took the race lead by a thin two-second margin. That set the stage Sunday for a tense, 92-mile road race on a rolling course with time bonuses out on the road.

Kilun benefited from a break that got up the road, with riders who weren’t a threat to his lead picking up the bonus seconds. He worked with other teams to bring back the break, and when the inevitable attacks started after the catch.

“I tried to cover the moves late,” he said. “When we got to the last climb, I put in an attack and got away. There was still one guy up the road and I caught him. We came to the line together and I was able to get over him in the sprint.”

Kilun added that the first-year race was well-run, and the road race covered much of the course used for the famed Copperopolis Road Race in and around the town of Copperopolis.

Photo: Jonathan Devich, Epic Images