Stage 3 of the Cascade Classic was held Friday morning in Tumalo, Oregon. Just outside of Bend, the 7-mile time trial loop began and ended with a gradual climb, forcing riders out of the saddle immediately.

The masters Cat. 3 racers raced first, followed by the pro/1-2 women, who rolled out in 30-second increments. As expected, race leader Lyne Bessette (Saturn), the Canadian national time trial champion, posted the fastest time of the day — 15:31 — a time that would have beat all but three of the masters men. Teammate Jessica Phillips was second in 16:26, followed by Team Basis rider Heather Albert, who entered the stage in second overall, 1:07 down on Bessette, and lost another 59 seconds.

“I just didn’t push the first hill hard enough,” Albert said. “Lyne caught me shortly after the top, and I was like, ‘Okay, I’m going waaay too slow.’”

Bajadali blasts out onto the course.

Photo: Neal Rogers

In the men’s event it was Navigators’ Chris Baldwin posting the fastest preliminary time — 13:43 — in his first race wearing the stars-and-stripes skinsuit of the national TT champion.

“It’d be a dream to win one in the jersey,” Baldwin said as he cooled down and waited for top GC leaders Jonathan Vaughters (Prime Alliance, fourth overall); Andy Bajadali (OFOTO-Lombardi Sports, third); Chris Wherry (Navigators, second); and Tom Danielson (Saturn, first) to come in. “But I don’t know, I think we’ll probably see one or two of those guys come by me.”

Baldwin’s cautiousness was merited as Danielson put in an astounding performance, passing Wherry, his 30-second-man and Bajadali, his one-minute-man, to finish in 13:34.

“Oh, it hurt,” said Danielson after his run. “It was a relentless time trial. If it wasn’t the hills it was the wind, if it wasn’t the wind it was the rollers that weren’t steep enough to stand up and roll over, so you had to sit down and grind it out to stay as aero' as possible.”

Unexplained timing mistakes kept a few riders’ times obscured, including Saturn’s Nathan O’Neill, whose 13:24 would eventually prove fastest on the day. With his TT performancem Danielson now sits in first by 49 seconds, with Vaughters second at 49 seconds back and Wherry third at 0:58.

“He’s just a super talent,” Vaughters said of Danielson. “I don’t even know if he’s really that on form right now, he’s just better than everyone else. He’s a really, really talented bike rider.”

Racing continues on Friday night with a twilight criterium in downtown Bend, followed by the tough Aubrey Butte circuit race Saturday.