San Dimas wrap-up: three biggest lessons for Redlands

Many of the teams and riders that raced in San Dimas will start in the Redlands Bicycle Classic on March 22nd. While Redlands is a tougher race and deemed more important since it carries National Racing Calendar points, San Dimas results inform what to expect as Redlands unfolds later this week.

1. Beware of blue and white. Joseph Schmalz of the ELBOWZ Racing team left San Dimas with a nice set of accomplishments: best young rider jersey (which he also won in 2011), a Stage 2 win, and second overall on GC. He won a couple of road races earlier in 2012, and a handful of cyclocross races in 2011. This kid is fit and could either be a GC threat in Redlands or fade under a longer, harder race. He slotted into 25th place in GC at Redlands last year following a 12th place GC result at San Dimas.
2. Team Exergy, BISSELL Pro Cycling, and Kenda/5hr Energy p/b Geargrinder duked it out in San Dimas. Expect them to fight hard in Redlands.
3. Clara Hughes on Specialized Lululemon delivered the second best performance among the pro-women at San Dimas and rode aggressively. With Exergy Twenty12’s Kristin Armstrong not on the women’s registration list, Clara could produce a great result at Redlands or provide strong support to help her teammate Amber Neben defend her overall title from last year.