Routley finishes 5th at the Redlands Bicycle Classic

Entering the fifth and final day of racing at the Redlands Bicycle Classic, Travis McCabe (Team SmartStop)  held a slender lead over Tom Zirbel, Will Routley (both of Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies) and a whole host of others. Canadian Rob Britton, McCabe’s team-mate, was tasked with helping defend this lead. Despite Britton’s efforts and that by his team they succumbed to the relentless attacks and demanding nature of the final stage and lost the leaders jersey. The stage victory and overall honors went to Joseph Rosskopf (Hincapie Sportswear Development) who attacked in the closing moments of the race and carved out a 36 second winning margin over a small chasing pack.

Will Routley who started the day in 3rd place in the GC finished 11th on the stage and fell to 5th overall. Meanwhile the top Canadian finisher on the stage was Garret McLeod (Team H&R Block) who finished fifth, 34 seconds behind the winner.

The Redlands Bicycle Classic is the first stop of the USA Cycling’s National Racing Calendar (NRC). The next race in the series is the Winston-Salem Cycling Classic and will be April 18th.