Bevin tops Cherry Blossom crown with criterium win

Apr 25, 2010 by editor

THE DALLES — Rubicon-Orbea’s Patrick Bevin couldn’t resist adding another cherry to his overall crown at the 2010 Cherry Blossom Cycling Classic. New Zealand’s U19 rider of the year picked off the Cherry City Criterium Sunday afternoon from a flying field that averaged just under 30 mph for the 50-minute event.

With his teammate Mike Northey out of the race because of a crash on stage two, and teammate Roman Van Uden missing the entire stage race because of an injury he suffered at the messy NRC Dana Point Criterium, Bevin had just two helpers left in the bunch to defend the jersey. But it was more than enough.

“It went really well with the boys,” Bevin said later. “Quinn (Keogh) and Aaron (Tuckerman) rode really well. I was never really worried. I only had to keep an eye on one guy, and he was kind of hard to find for awhile. I think he was kind of sore. Then, coming down to the money end, it just stepped up real nice. It was quite spread out. There were a few gaps, which is good because I like it quicker. Coming into that last corner I was fourth wheel and just lined it up.”

Jelly Belly’s Jacob Rathe finished second, clinging to Bevin’s wheel but not able to get around, and Steven Beardlsey, (Gentle Lovers) finished third.

“He queued up on my wheel,” Bevin said of Rathe. “I had a sneaky look back with about five to go, because I knew he was looking for me.”

But Bevin’s two-rider lead out and his top-end speed proved too much for the Jelly belly rider who is now headed to Europe with the USA Cycling U23 National Team.

“The guys had to go early on the back straight because we had Quinn who was second, and normally would have rolled first, so there was that panic,” Bevin said. “But then things stepped up fast and I came up into perfect position.”

The top end of the General Classification remained unchanged after the criterium, with stage two winner Sam Johnson (Hagens Berman) nailing second and stage three winner Ian McKissick (Lenovo) in third. Johnson, who bided his team in the bunch during the crit and helped try to move teammate Phil Elasser up in GC, said he was happy with his second-place showing this year after finishing fourth last year.

“This felt a lot better,” he said. “I got stage win, and that just feels fantastic. Patrick Bevin was super strong, but I wish that we could replay that first stage and see what would happen if we didn’t give him a two-minute head start on the first day. But, honestly, he is incredibly strong and he is a very deserving winner, as he proved today with that crit win.”

And Bevin also, even as he was soaking up the prizes and the cheers that went along with his first U.S. stage race win, wondered if he couldn’t have pulled it off with a little less pain.

“I still maintain that if I knew how hard stage two was going to be I’d change my tactics,” he joked. “I was pretty sore this morning for the TT. But I felt good tonight.”

Bevin, who finished 11th at the NRC Dana Point Grand Prix Criterium after narrowly avoiding the late-race melee that took out Van Uden, plans to continue his U.S. campaign this coming week at the Tour of the Gila.

“I’ve never raced at altitude, so I’ve got no real expectations,” he said. “I hope to survive the first and last stage and hopefully throw my hand up for the middle two. Then we’ll do Joe Martin the week after, which suits me a lot better.”

Check back later for more photos.

RESULTS
Cherry Blossom Cycling Classic
Stage 4 Criterium
Sunday, April 24

Pro/1/2 Men
1. BEVIN, Patrick L(Rubicon-Orbea) 49:44 @ 0
2. RATHE, Jacob (Jelly Belly Cycling) ” ”
3. BEARDSLEY, Steven (Gentle Lovers) ” ”
4. REEB, Donald (HP Chiro/Scott’s Cycles)” ”
5. TRAFTON, Brandon (California Giant Berry Farms) ” ”

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1. BEVIN, Patrick (Landrover Orbea) 7:40:05 @ 00:00
2. JOHNSON, Sam (Hagens Berman) 7:41:17 @ 01:12
3. MCKISSICK, Ian (LENOVO) 7:44:57 @ 04:52
4. REYNOLDS, Lang (Hagens Berman) 7:48:49 @ 08:44
5. RATHE, Jacob (Jelly Belly Cycling) 7:49:09 @ 09:04