TRIA Orthopaedic Center Your Cycling Blog

By Cynthia Lou, Nature Valley Grand Prix

Stillwater, Minn. – Giorgia Bronzini (Colavita Forno D’Asolo presented by Cooking Light) attacked at the bottom of Chilkoot Hill Sunday to secure her third stage win at this year’s Nature Valley Grand Prix as Amber Neben (HTC-Highroad) held on to win the race overall.

Kristin Armstrong (Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12) attacked the penultimate time up the leg-breaking climb that was packed with spectators, hoping to repeat her previous years’ success at the Stillwater Criterium. But Neben’s HTC-Highroad teammate, Evelyn Stevens, and Bronzini jumped after her. Bronzini’s win was the reigning world road race champion’s third of the five-day, six-stage race.

Giorgia Bronzini (Colavita Forno D’Asolo presented by Cooking Light) wins atop Chilkoot Hill Sunday at the Stillwater Criterium, the final stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix.

“I have no words for Evie (Stevens) – she made the race,” Bronzini said, laughing. “I tried to save my power for the last climb because I came here with all of the best climbers and I’m a sprinter. So I tried only to follow (wheels) and save my best sprint for the final.”

Between attacks from Team TIBCO/To The Top and Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12 and the sheer difficulty of the 18 percent average grade on Chilkoot Hill, an elite group of riders quickly separated themselves from the peloton. The decisive breakaway group formed within five laps of the 13-lap race and featured a mix of experienced veterans and promising newcomers. It included Bronzini, Neben with teammates Stevens, Ally Stacher, and Amanda Miller, overall runner-up Erinne Willock (Team TIBCO/To The Top) and teammate Joelle Noumainville, defending champion Armstrong and teammate Kristin McGrath, Anne Samplonius (NOW and Novartis for MS), and Jade Wilcoxson (Nature Valley Grand Prix Pro Ride).

As the teams battled for the general classification, Armstrong and Bronzini were able to sit in the pack and save themselves for the finish.

“I wanted to sit and let Highroad do their work to protect the jersey,” Armstrong said. “I knew two minutes would be too much to gain today so we went for the stage win for the team. I tried my best, I tried to go with two to go but everyone out there was really strong. I just couldn’t get that extra acceleration.”

Neben said it actually was a very easy day for her because her team was so good.

“I didn’t really have to do anything but just watch them,” Neben said. “It went according to plan. I’m proud of them, they rode really well this week. I have the yellow, but really, we all won.”

The HTC-Highroad team protected overall winner Amben Neben on the way to also winning the team classification Sunday at the Nature Valley Grand Prix.

Stevens’ performance earned her the Freewheel Bike Most Aggressive Rider jersey.

“Ally, Amanda and Chloe raced their hearts out,” Stevens said. “Amanda and Chloe took it on the back, then I would take control on the climb. I think it was perfect teamwork – no one could get away. It was really exciting.”

Before the race, Stacher was honored with the “Carla Swart Sportsmanship Award,” recognizing the female athlete at the race who sacrificed her own chances for the good of her team. Swart was a South African Olympic hopeful and the most decorated collegiate rider in U.S. history who died when she was hit by a truck during a training ride.

We raced how Carla would have raced,” Stevens said. “She was just an amazing woman, and I know Ally was her best friend. I can’t think of someone better than Ally to wear that jersey. The way she rode today, she rode her heart out. It’s just incredible, the whole team.”

Stacher’s performance also won her the Tria Orthopaedic Best Young Rider jersey, and HTC-Highroad won the Team classification.

Riding for the Nature Valley Pro Ride team, Wilcoxson finished with the front group of elite riders to win the Nature Valley Grand Prix Best Amateur.

“I was really nervous to start it, but it turned out to be a really good course for me,” Wilcoxson said. “I kind of shocked myself as well. I was really surprised to hang with the big dogs like that. I just wanted to be able to finish the race today, so, I’m really excited about the results.”

Leah Kirchmann (Colavita Forno D’Asolo) held onto her Sports Beans Queen of the Hill jersey and Wheaties Fuel Sprint Competition jersey.

Jersey winners of the Nature Valley Grand Prix Sunday (left to right): Sports Beans Queen of the Hill and Wheaties Fuel Sprint Competition winner Leah Kirchmann (Colavita Forno D’Asolo), Tria Orthopaedic Best Young Rider Ally Tria Orthopaedic Best Young Rider, Freewheel Bike Most Aggressive Rider Evelyn Stevens, overall champion Amber Neben and Nature Valley Grand Prix Best Amateur Jade Wilcoxson.

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by Cynthia Lou, Nature Valley Grand Prix

Menomonie, Wis. — It was a battle of a pair of former world time trial champions Saturday at the Menomonie Road Race as Amber Neben (HTC-Highroad) took over the yellow race leader’s jersey from Kristin Armstrong (Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12) at the Nature Valley Grand Prix.

Rising star Lisa Kirchmann (Colavita Forno D’Asolo presented by Cooking Light) took the stage win and rode aggressively enough to claim three classification jerseys: the Tria Orthopaedic Best Young Rider, Wheaties Fuel Sprint, and Sport Beans Queen of the Hills.

As Amber Neben (left) and Erinne Willock charge to the line, Leah Kirchmann (Colavita/Forno d'Asolo presented by Cooking Light) begins to celebrate her win Saturday at the Menomonie Road Race of the Nature Valley Grand Prix.

Neben will start Sunday’s Stillwater Criterium with a 21-second lead over Erinne Willock (Team TIBCO/To The Top), 38 seconds over third-placed Leah Kirchmann (Colavita/Forno d’Asolo presented by Cooking Light), and 52 seconds over Armstrong, who slid to fourth.

The atmosphere was reverent, but competitive, at the start of the race, as riders lined up with memories of Friday’s crash-cancelled stage still top of mind. Rolling out of the neutral start, Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12 controlled the pace and set out to protect Armstrong’s jersey.

At first, it looked like a repeat of Thursday’s Cannon Falls race was on, with all early attacks being brought back. But within the first 14 miles the decisive break that would change the complexion of the race was launched.

Figuring in the break were: Inga Cilvinatte (Diadora-Pasta Zara-Manhattan), Kirchmann, Megan Guarnier and Samantha Schneider (Team TIBCO/To The Top), Ally Stacher (HTC-Highroad), Anna Barensfeld (Missing Link Coaching Systems presented by Specialized), and Tayler Wiles (Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12). The escapees quickly grew their lead to a minute.

“Immediately on the feed zone climb (at Star Hill), we were able to get her (Armstrong) isolated,” Neben said about her team’s strategy. “It was once I was able to get across to the break that I thought we would have a chance. There were enough numbers in the break to ride with me. It came down to the length of the day, and we were motivated at the front to keep going.”

Wiles dropped off the pace at the third Queen of the Hills competition and returned to the peloton to support Armstrong, who was beginning to slip out of the overall lead.

”It was really aggressive today,“ Willock said. ”We had two girls up in the break, and Joelle (Numainville) drove it hard over the top of the third KOH, and it was over the third KOH that I bridged across.”

”Before Erinne and Amber were in the break, I was the leader of the group and we all worked pretty evenly to keep it away,” Kirchmann said. ”But as soon as they got there, I wasn’t leading the race anymore so I could save my legs for the sprint.”

The seven entered the finishing circuits with a 33-second lead that increased to 45 seconds, then stretched to more than a minute, thanks to Neben and teammate Stacher working to extend the lead over the hilly four-mile finishing circuits. Back in the second group, Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12 was doing the majority of the chasing.

”I knew there was a chance to move up onto the podium on GC, and that was our goal,“ explained Willock. ”Leah didn’t do any work all day, and that’s fine, and that’s the way the game goes.“

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strong>Minneapolis – Amber Neben and her HTC-Highroad team sit atop the Women’s Prestige Cycling Series standings after the first event, the Redlands Bicycle Classic.

Neben’s overall victory at the four-day USA Cycling National Racing Calendar event in California puts her ahead of Erinne Willock (Team TIBCO/To The Top) and fellow HTC-Highroad teammate Evelyn Stevens in the individual standings of the only national bicycle racing series exclusively showcasing the country’s top female cycling talent.

“It is always a positive thing to be wearing a leader’s jersey, and I am excited to have it,” Neben said. “It is even better that the team is in the first position, since they were instrumental in helping me get into it.”

On the strength of Neben’s overall victory and Stevens’ strong performance at Redlands, HTC-Highroad leads the Women’s Prestige Cycling Series team standings ahead of Team TIBCO/To The Top and Colavita Forno D’Asolo. Last year’s team winner, Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12, is fifth.

In the Best Sprinter competition, Rouse Bicycles riders Christina Smith and Robin Farina hold down the top two spots, respectively. Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Colavita Forno D’Asolo) is third. Like the Individual and Best Young Rider leaders, Smith will wear a special Women’s Prestige Cycling Series jersey (produced by Champion System) at the next WPCS event.

Leading the Best Young Rider competition is former Canadian junior national road champion Denise Ramsden (Juvederm-Specialized-Mazda). Her team is a merger of the long-running Specialized-Mazda-Samson Groupe Conseil women’s team from Montreal and last year’s Team Nanoblur-Gears formation out of Toronto. The squad is Canada’s only UCI women’s road team.

Denise Ramsden (Team Juvederm-Specialized-Mazda) dons the Women's Prestige Cycling Series Best Young Rider jersey after the Redlands Bicycle Classic. (photo courtesy of Kristin Frith)

The Redlands Classic was the first stop on the 2011 edition of the Women's Prestige Cycling Series. The other three races are the SRAM Tour of the Gila (April 27-May 1), Nature Valley Grand Prix in Minnesota (June 15-19) and the Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic (July 19-24) in Oregon.

For more information about the Women’s Prestige Cycling Series, visit the official website, www.WomenCyclists.com.

INDIVIDUAL CLASSIFICATION
1. Amber Neben, HTC-Highroad, 220.
2. Erinne Willock, Team TIBCO/To The Top, 165.
3. Evelyn Stevens, HTC-Highroad, 132.
4. Carmen Small, Team TIBCO/To The Top, 121.
5. Andrea Dvorak, Colavita Forno D’Asolo, 110.

SPRINT CLASSIFICATION
1. Christina Smith, Rouse Bicycles, 220
2. Robin Farina, Rouse Bicycles, 165.
3. Theresa Cliff-Ryan, Colavita Forno D’Asolo, 132.
4. Chloe Hosking, HTC-Highroad, 121.
5. Catherine Cheatley, Colavita Forno D’Asolo, 110.

BEST YOUNG RIDER CLASSIFICATION
1. Denise Ramsden, Team Juvederm-Specialized-Mazda, 220.
2. Amanda Miller, HTC-Highroad, 165.
3. Mara Abbott, SC Velo-Empower Coaching, 132.
4. Lindsay Myers, Danbury Audi, 121.
5. Lex Albrecht, Team Juvederm-Specialized-Mazda, 110.

BEST TEAM CLASSIFICATION
1. HTC-Highroad, 504.
2. Team TIBCO/To The Top, 324.
3. Colavita Forno D’Asolo, 296.
4. Team Juvederm-Specialized-Mazda, 227.
5. Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY12, 128.

About the Women’s Prestige Cycling Series

The only only national-level competition produced by women for women features four races in its eighth year. Its origin can be traced back to a discussion at the 2003 Women’s Cycling Summit Conference, held at the Nature Valley Grand Prix. Since then, more than 30 teams have participated in some of the United States’ top races from coast to coast. The four events on the 2011 schedule are: Redlands Bicycle Classic in California (March 31-April 3), SRAM Tour of the Gila (April 27-May 1), Nature Valley Grand Prix in Minnesota (June 15-19) and the Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic (July 19-24) in Oregon.

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