Pro women racers ride through Mitchell during the second stage of the Cascade Cycling Classic, the Painted Hills Road Race Race, on Thursday, May 30, 2019.(Dean Guernsey/Bulletin photo)

MITCHELL — Emma Grant needed to atone for the last time she raced in the Cascade Cycling Classic.

In 2017, she would have won the final stage had she not sat up to celebrate too early as another rider passed her at the finish line to win.

“I’m happy Cascade is back, because I’ve never been able to live down that last stage, because I posted up and got lunged at the line,” Grant recalled Thursday.

“My brothers, anytime they need a one-up on me, they bring that up and they have this meme of me. So I needed to come back and put things right.”

The British rider for Sho-Air TWENTY20 put things right on the most difficult stage of the Classic, the 77-mile Painted Hills Road Race on Thursday.

She climbed away from the other riders to win the stage in 2 hours, 33 minutes, 55 seconds, and take over the pink leader’s jersey on a day that included rainstorms and a taxing 7,200 feet of climbing near Sutton Mountain in remote Wheeler County.

Grant and her two teammates swept the stage podium, as Jasmine Duehring finished second, 3:06 behind Grant, and Jennifer Luebke, of Bend, finished third, 3:51 back.

Grant, 27, has a 2:54 lead on second-place Duehring in the general classification and a 3:51 lead on third-place Luebke.

With that big of a lead, Grant might have little trouble retaining the leader’s jersey for the duration of the five-stage race.

“It would be nice, but I love my two teammates as well, so if it stays in the family that’s all we really ask for,” Grant said.

Instafund la Prima rider Michele Schaeffer broke away early on and rode solo for much of the race with a big lead before Grant caught her with about 30 kilometers to go.

“I did two big climbs by myself,” Schaeffer said. “I started feeling sore and started cramping. As soon as she (Grant) accelerated away from me, I couldn’t latch on. But I just kept riding as hard as I could all day. Go for broke, I guess.”

Schaeffer ended up finishing 13:04 back after exerting so much effort riding alone for so long.

Grant made the decision to bridge the gap at about 40K from the finish line.

“I caught her on the climb, and I just committed to staying away,” Grant said. “It’s so reassuring having my two strong teammates in the field, knowing if I blow up that they’ll finish strong. (Schaeffer) was out there a long time. Kudos to her. That was a long time to be out front, especially in the rain.”

Grant will try to defend the leader’s jersey in Friday’s 64-mile Cascade Lakes Road Race, which finishes at Kapka Butte Sno-park west of Bend.

— Reporter: 541-383-0318,

mmorical@bendbulletin.com