Stage 1 – Johnstown Road Race – 73 miles (120km)

The Johnstown road race consisted of 3 x 40km loops with many tight and technical corners through the Johnstown area.  Again it was pouring with rain and with 4 sets of railway crossings each lap I stayed up the front where it was safe.  There were dozens of crashes with team mate Katheryn going down hard.  She broke off her left STI lever which left her stuck in the big ring. Luckily it was a flattish day and she didn’t bother with a bike change.

My job was to help Andrea out in her quest for the sprint jersey and she finished the day, one point behind Tina Pic (Genesis).  With bonus seconds available to the top three finishers, I helped bring Gen to the front for the bunch kick but she finished 4^th, missing out on a few vital seconds.  Bessette (Quark) finished 3^rd, extending her lead to 25 seconds while Rona continued to lead the team competition which is excludes bonus seconds from its calculation.