Stage 4 –  Gila criterium

Webcor’s overall position in Tour of the Gila was dominating as we lined up for the 26 mile criterium in downtown Silvercity.  Mara Abbott was wearing the pink leader’s jersey, Rach Heal was 2^nd in GC, Amber Rais 5^th, whilst Helen Kelly, Bev Harper and Laura Yoisten were all looking strong and working hard to protect their team leaders.

The 1 mile course was located in Boullard st, Silvercity.  The finishing straight was lined with many art galleries, popular cafes and ice cream shops.  The weather was rather cool with really strong gusty winds, however, the finishing straight was lined with many local spectators.  The course had a 200m kicker (600ft climb) on the back straight, as well as a super fast descent into the home straight.  There was a rowdy party on the hill with people drinking, ringing bells and generally having a blast.

Our plan in the criterium was to rest Mara and Rach as much as possible so they were fresh for the final “Gila Monster’ stage tomorrow.  Their job was to sit in and not hit the wind at all.  Meanwhile, Amber, Helen, Bev and Laura were given the green light to cover moves early, get aggressive in the second half, and go for a stage win.

Everyone warmed up well on trainers prior to the start which helped the heavy leg feeling we all had from 3 days of racing at altitude.  As we had been on the podium every day so far, Amber jokingly asked “whose turn is it to podium today”.  Helen pulled on her Lake shoe covers, smiled cheekily, and said “Oh ok, I will”.

On the 2^nd lap, Helen covered an attack by Meshy Holt (expresscopy).  Three other riders followed, Jill McLauglin (Touchstone), Victoria Bastidi (Tibco) and Andrea Dovorac (Colavita).  The peloton didn’t react and soon the break had a 20 second gap on the field.  With no GC riders in the break to threaten our overall position, Helen was given the go ahead to work in the break.

The wind made the course difficult and the short sharp climb hurt everyone’s legs.  The group worked well together and with 10 laps to go, the time gap had extended to 1min 50sec.  Back in the peloton team Cheerwine had missed the break and tried several times to bridge, however they were quickly re-absorbed.

Both Helen and Meshy Holt stopped working with 3 laps remaining, each eyeing the other.  Both were nervous about a late solo attempt.  With over 2 minutes on the field with one lap to go, the cat and mouse game started.  The pace of the break slowed and all 5 riders started manoevering about, watching each other.  Helen quickly moved to the side of the street so she could watch for the attacks from one side only. This would make it easier to chase if someone attacked.

Meshy Holt (express copy) tried first, attacking in the head wind section after the 1^st corner.  Helen jumped hard and got to her wheel before the 2^nd corner.  Meshy sat up and Bastidi (Tibcor) attacked hard up the climb, getting a 10m gap.  Jill McLauglin (Touchstone) chased with Helen on her wheel.

The break reached the final corner doing 50km/hr (30 miles/hr). Jill passed Victoria on the outside and had so much speed through corner that she opened a 10m gap as she entered the finishing straight.  Jill immediately started sprinting with Helen desparetely trying to close the gap.  With 50m to go, Helen drew level with Jill and the two of them drag raced to the finish.  After 2 days of working hard, Helen’s legs couldn’t match McLauglin, who took the win by a wheel length. Helen was pleased with her return to form and to be back on the podium.  Victoria Bastidi (Tibco) rounded out the podium in 3^rd.

Webcor are now posed to successfully defend 1^st and 2^nd in GC tomorrow. Stay tuned to hear what happens.