Riders stream down a gravel descent Sunday at the inaugural Gorge Roubaix. ©Pat Malach
Sue Butler returned to road racing with a win Sunday at the Gorge Roubaix. © Pat Malach
THE DALLES — On a day when luck mattered almost as much as fitness and cunning, Portland Bicycle Studio’s Cliff Heaberlin and River City Bicycles’ Sue Butler made the most of all three to take the wins at the inaugural Gorge Roubaix.
Butler celebrated her return to road racing by taking the sprint from a select lead group that had been whittled down by 32 miles of rollers, wind and gravel. Butler bridged to a breakaway group of three that included Ironclad/Yakima’s Anna Christiansen, River City Bicycles’ Megan Chinberg and West Coast Women’s Cycling’s Sara Fletcher. Butler outlasted Christiansen up the final climb to the finish for the win. Fletcher finished third.
The Cat 1-2 men’s two-lap, 72-mile race came down to a gallop up the final wall among a group of about 20 survivors. Soraz/Capa’s Dwayne Farr overcame a late-race flat with the help of a teammate’s wheel but was unable to get past Heaberlin’s kick in the finale. Rapha’s Kyle Valenta was third.
Cliff Heaberlin (left) held off Dwayne Farr in the final sprint to take the win at the Gorge Roubaix. © Pat Malach
Check out the PHOTO GALLERY for this race.
RESULTS
2013 Gorge Roubaix
March 24
Men Cat 1-2
1. Cliff Heaberlin (Portland Bicycle Studio)
2. Dwayne Farr (Soraz Racing/CAPA)
3. Kyle Valenta (Rapha/River City Bicycles)
4. Michael Palmer (Veloce Racing/Smith & Nephew)
5. Ryan McKean
Women Cat 1-2-3
1. Sue Butler (River City Bicycles)
2. Anna Christiansen (Ironclad/Yakima)
3. Sara Fletcher (West Coast Women’s Cycling/Ninkasi
4. Megan Chinburg (River City Bicycles)
5. Lelah O’Shaughnessy (River City Bicycles)
Masters Men Cat 2-3
1. Tim Butler (Evolution Racing Team/River City Bicycles)
2. Brant Buchholz (Therapeutic Associates PDX Cycling)
3. Randy Salamon
4. Sage Freeman (Team Planet X USA)
5. David Masuda (crank)
Men Cat 3
1. Mark Porcella
2. Eric Gushurst (Team Oregon/Laurelwood Brewing)
3. Ferron Joseph (Trailhead Coffee Roasters)
4. Matthew Studer (Therapeutic Associates PDX Cycling)
5. Shane Bennett
Women Cat 4
1. Brenna Wrye-Simpson (Ironclad/Yakima)
2. Robin Gumpert (Filth and Fury)
3. Rachel bagley (Ironclad/Yakima)
4. Rachel Lee (Upper Echelon Fitness)
5. Jennifer Pereau
Complete OBRA results are HERE.
