Stage 4 – Nature Valley
Stage 4 – Nature Valley
After resting from an all out individual time trial this morning, we loaded the vehicles and headed to stage 4, an evening criterium in downtown Minneapolis. With 4 Webcor riders in the top 20, we wanted to race conservatively in the criterium and focus all our energy into moving up in GC in the final 2 stages.
This criterium had 6 corners on a 1.2km circuit. The corners were really technical and this made it even more fun to race as I love technical crits. In fact, my happiness was equivalent to:
– Giving Mara a long steep climb and a bag of apples
– Giving the Bay area riders a Peets coffee
– Giving Rach chocolate, coffee, sunny weather and telling her you like the Queen
– Giving Bev a nice cup of tea
– Giving Laura compression tights to wear
– Telling Bernard the gears on my Orbea changed perfectly or
– Seeing how pleased Merry is to hand out cokes in the last feedzone without dropping any.
It rained hard all afternoon so as I rested from the time trial, I plotted and planned a complete shattering of the peloton with a satisfied little Mona Lisa smirk on my face. Unfortunately, the rain stopped and everyone seemed super happy except me. My consolation prize was that luckily the course was still technical so it would remain challenging for most of peloton.
Team Lipton worked hard on the front by keeping the pace high to protect their race leader, Kristin Armstrong. Team Cheerwine also wanted to look after Catherine Cheatley (2nd in GC) from mishaps, so they also did a good share of pace making. Their strategy was perfect and enabled us to sit in for a free ride. Riding 4th or 5th wheel behind the Lipton or Cheerwine train was lovely and not at all taxing on the legs. I hardly braked and stayed out of the wind and rested.
There were time bonus sprints every 7 minutes so Laura and I followed the sprinters wheels and covered the predicted counter attacks. An interesting piece of data is that sitting on the sprinters was fast, and my Polar data showed 50km/hr for each sprint!
The pace was so high that there was no chance of a break succeeding and the peloton prepared itself for a bunch kick. Lipton started the lead out with 3 laps to go. On bell lap, they were out of riders and as the field bunched through the start/finish line Cheerwine and Aarons took over. Laura was sitting in 5th wheel whilst I took Brook Miller’s (Tibco) wheel just behind. Van Gilder (Cheerwine) jumped from the final corner and took the stage, ahead of Nichole Wangsgard and Brooke Miller. Laura finished 9th whilst I took it too wide on the last corner and didn’t contest the sprint.
Now its off to eat and rest which again put the Mona Lisa smirk back on my face.
By Kirsten Robbins in St. Paul, Minnesota
| Laura Van Gilder (Cheerwine), stage winner, looks ready Photo ©: Frank Rowe |
Deep crowds lined the streets to watch their showcased event streamline through the technical 1.2-kilometre circuit. Cheerwine’s Laura VanGilder repeated her 2006 stage win in a similar fashion, storming out of the final corner and holding off Nichole Wangsgard (Team Group Health) and Brooke Miller (Tibco) to take victory.
“There were certainly some great competitors out there racing tonight but winning never gets old,” said VanGilder. “Lipton did a great job out front today and so did my team, keeping me in good position. I jumped out of the last corner and I knew it was a long way to the line so I was hoping just to hold everyone off.”
Several crashes after the first corner and through the narrowed chicane on the backside of the circuit marred the women’s race. Both TEAm Lipton and Cheerwine kept the speeds high at the front of the field for the full 40 minutes, hoping to keep their GC riders safe and protected from accidents or time gaps. Every seven minutes the bell rang for an intermediate time bonus/point sprint. Aaron’s Rebecca Larson was consistently in the mix, winning the first two and placing in the last two. Larson took the lead of the sprint competition during the Cannon Falls road race and has now further increased that lead.
| The women’s field rounds the corner Photo ©: Frank Rowe |
Though the intermediate sprints were also for time bonuses, second placed Catherine Cheatley (Cheerwine) chose not to contest the bonus sprints, despite being just 27 seconds behind Kristin Armstrong (TEAm Lipton). “I knew that the other sprinters would be going for the sprint competition and that would make it really hard to compete for,” Cheatley said.
Cheatley also leads the best young rider competition and faces a tough task holding onto the jersey for the remaining two stages. “I haven’t raced here before,” she noted, “but I have heard the last two stages with their climbs on the circuits are very hard.”
With only a 27 second buffer over second place, world champion time trialist Armstrong intends on playing a conservative race on tomorrow’s penultimate stage.
“Tomorrow is a long race. I definitely want to make sure that I’m being conservative,” said Armstrong. “I think there’s going to be aggression with us. People are going to want to attack, make a breakaway, but I need to wait for the finishing circuits.”
1 Laura Van Gilder (USA) Cheerwine 40.01
2 Nichole Wangsgard (USA) Team Group Health
3 Brooke Miller (USA) Team TIBCO
4 Shelley Olds (USA) PROMAN/Paradigm
5 Catherine Cheatley (NZl) Cheerwine
6 Alex Wrubleski (Can) Colavita-Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light
7 Susannah Pratt (USA) Ryan Collegiate
8 Stacy Marple (USA) Team TIBCO
9 Laura Yoisten (Can) Webcor Builders
10 Erica Allar (USA) Ryan Collegiate
11 Kristin Sanders (USA) Aaron’s Pro Cycling Team
12 Lauren Franges (USA) TEAm Lipton
13 Iona Wynter (Jam) Colavita-Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light
14 Katie Mactier (Aus) ValueAct Capital Cycling Team
15 Catherine Walberg (USA) Team Kenda Tire
16 Brenda Lyons (USA) TEAm Lipton
17 Leigh Hobson (Can) Cheerwine
18 Helen Kelly (Aus) Webcor Builders
19 Kristin Armstrong (USA) TEAm Lipton
20 Marni Hambleton (Can) ValueAct Capital Cycling Team
21 Betina Hold (USA) Cheerwine
22 Jennifer Bodine (USA) Ryan Collegiate
23 Carmen McNellis (USA) Aaron’s Pro Cycling Team
24 Kori Seehafer (USA) TEAm Lipton
25 Teresa Moriarty (USA) Flanders/MBRC
26 Tiffany Cromwell (Aus) Colavita-Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light
27 Maria Luisa Calle Williams (Col) Colombia National Team
28 Rebecca Larson (USA) Aaron’s Pro Cycling Team
29 Heather Labance (USA) Advil ChapStick
30 Lara Kroepsch (USA) TEAm Lipton
31 Rushlee Buchanan (NZl) Jazz Apple Cycling Team
32 Kelly Benjamin (USA) Cheerwine
33 Sarah Bamberger (USA) Cheerwine
34 Virginia Perkins (USA) PROMAN/Paradigm
35 Felicia Gomez (Can) Aaron’s Pro Cycling Team
36 Rachel Heal (GBr) Webcor Builders
37 Meredith Miller (USA) TEAm Lipton
38 Robin Farina (USA) Targetraining Womens Team
39 Rachel O’Connell (Aus) Cheerwine
40 Betsy Galenti (USA) America’s Dairyland
41 Amber Rais (USA) Webcor Builders
42 Anna Milkowski (USA) Targetraining Womens Team
43 Leah Guloien (Can) Team Group Health
44 Alison Littlefield (USA) Contender Bicycles
45 Sharon Allpress (USA) ValueAct Capital Cycling Team
46 Natalie Klemko (USA) Advil ChapStick
47 Marjan Huizing (USA) Team Kenda Tire
48 Jadine Riley (USA) Team Group Health
49 Julie Bishop (USA) Harris Teeter Naturals
50 Debbie Dust (USA) Team Kenda Tire
51 Katheryn Curi (USA) Webcor Builders
52 Christina DeKraay (USA) Harris Teeter Naturals
53 Sarah Caravella (USA) Aaron’s Pro Cycling Team
54 Tamyra Barnard (USA) Team Kenda Tire
55 Victoria Bastide (USA) Team TIBCO
56 Catherine Powers (USA) Aaron’s Pro Cycling Team
57 Courtenay Brown (USA) ValueAct Capital Cycling Team
58 Tricia Bailey (USA) Team Group Health
59 Katharina Weber (USA) XPlane/Team Revolution
60 Kristin McGrath (USA) Ryan Collegiate
61 Andrea Myers (USA) Targetraining Womens Team
62 Martina Patella (USA) ValueAct Capital Cycling Team
63 Mara Abbott (USA) Webcor Builders
64 Andrea Luebbe (USA) Ryan Collegiate
65 Kate Ligler (USA) PROMAN/Paradigm
66 Lisa Dunnwald (USA) Team Group Health
67 Casey Cessna (USA) Nova Cycle Sports Foundation
68 Heather Sborz (USA) Arizona State University
69 Megan Elliott (USA) Unattached
70 Kristin Wentworth (USA) Team Kenda Tire
71 Carrie Cash (USA) XPlane/Team Revolution
72 Kirsten Robbins (Can) Advil ChapStick
73 Beverley Harper (USA) Webcor Builders
74 Anne Guzman (Can) Team Kenda Tire
75 Alison Shanks (NZl) Jazz Apple Cycling Team
76 Heidi Goldberg (USA) Team Kenda Tire
77 Marisa Asplund (USA) Team TIBCO
78 Laura Charameda (USA) Advil ChapStick
79 Holly Borowski (USA) PROMAN/Paradigm
80 Kathleen Billington (USA) Targetraining Womens Team
81 Kathryn Clark (USA) Harris Teeter Naturals
82 Moriah MacGregor (Can) Colavita-Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light
83 Abby Lyn Cooper (USA) PROMAN/Paradigm
84 CarrieAnn Kopernik (USA) Nova Cycle Sports Foundation
85 Kim Geist (USA) TEAm Lipton
86 Madeleine Puissant (USA) Nova Cycle Sports Foundation
87 Devon Haskell (USA) Ryan Collegiate
88 Liza Rachetto (USA) Team TIBCO
89 Katie Lambden (USA) Team TIBCO 0.38
90 Susan Peithman (USA) ABD Cycling Team 0.44
91 Michelle Kiesanowski (NZl) Aaron’s Pro Cycling Team 2.30
92 Rebecca Much (USA) Targetraining Womens Team
93 Corie Berrigan (USA) Team Kenda Tire
94 Patria Lanfranchi (USA) Team Group Health
95 Annie Lux (USA) Harris Teeter Naturals 2.52
96 Jill McLaughlin (USA) ValueAct Capital Cycling Team 3.05
97 Arielle Filiberti (USA) Targetraining Womens Team 3.20
98 Liza Rachetto (USA) Team TIBCO 2.20.37
Pro women
1 Kristin Armstrong (USA) TEAm Lipton 4.37.53
2 Catherine Cheatley (NZl) Cheerwine 0.27
3 Shelley Olds (USA) PROMAN/Paradigm 0.36
4 Katie Mactier (Aus) ValueAct Capital Cycling Team 0.42
5 Leigh Hobson (Can) Cheerwine 0.43
6 Alex Wrubleski (Can) Colavita-Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light 0.48
7 Laura Van Gilder (USA) Cheerwine 0.51
8 Felicia Gomez (Can) Aaron's Pro Cycling Team 0.58
9 Rachel Heal (GBr) Webcor Builders
10 Brooke Miller (USA) Team TIBCO 1.03
11 Amber Rais (USA) Webcor Builders
12 Kristin Sanders (USA) Aaron's Pro Cycling Team 1.04
13 Teresa Moriarty (USA) Flanders/MBRC
14 Lauren Franges (USA) TEAm Lipton 1.05
15 Helen Kelly (Aus) Webcor Builders
16 Kori Seehafer (USA) TEAm Lipton 1.06
17 Heather Labance (USA) Advil ChapStick 1.10
18 Nichole Wangsgard (USA) Team Group Health
19 Meredith Miller (USA) TEAm Lipton 1.13
20 Mara Abbott (USA) Webcor Builders 1.21