Nature Valley Grand Prix
Stage Three: Downtown Minneappolis Classic Criterium
June 10, 2005
Webcor Builders Women's Cycling Team
Report by Christine Thorburn

This was destined to be 40 minutes of pain for our preferred climber team! It rained hard for a couple of hours before the race but the roads were drying by the time we raced with some puddles for fun and annoyance. This is a technical 6-corner crit, but corner three has a decreasing radius with a curb that tends to take riders out each year. There were four intermediate time bonus sprints AND the finishing time bonuses! T-Mobile took off with a vengeance. Christine slipped on the start line, so was too far back despite her call-up. Erinne was back to feeling herself and covered the first critical attack by T-Mobile with Ina taking Kori Seehafer down the road without Christine. This was very dangerous since Kori was only 46 seconds back on GC. Christine chased herself and then got some crucial help from Felicia who busted butt to move up without a call-up to the line from the beginning. With 12 laps to go, a rider two in front of Christine crashed into the destiny curb, and Christine stayed upright but her front wheel was tacoed and the bars twisted. Erinne, Felicia and Stef were all caught behind it and went to the pit with Christine, who had to run there without a front of her bike. Christine panicked, but neutral eventually got the bars straightened, and Felicia gave her a front wheel and got another from neutral. We all got back in the next lap except Cat who was caught in between (she learned she should have taken a free lap by being "slowed" by the crash) and chased the rest of the race. Felicia did land on her right knee and had a deep bruise but was able to keep racing. We finished safely despite the officials letting lapped riders stay in the race the final six laps! It was chaos.

Still in yellow. Laura Van Gilder took enough time bonuses and a third place finish to move ahead of Kori for 2nd on GC, around 35 seconds behind Christine. Ina won the stage, and Rochelle Gilmore (guest riding for Victory Brewing) was 2nd.

Stage 4: Red Wing Road Race
June 11, 2005

This was a critical day for the Webcor women. It was an 82-mile flat to rolling loop and then four 3-mile finishing circuits with a painful roller (but not good for a solo breakaway) in Redwing, MN. The weather was threatening thunderstorms from the start. T-Mobile was also on the attack from the start, but the Webcor women were ready, covering everything immediately. We had a 2-mile stretch of gravel during which Ina predictably attacked. Lynn Gaggioli was the only one to get her wheel. Erinne got to the front and gradually pulled them back with Christine, Laura VG, and Kori following right behind. It was not in T-Mobile's interest to keep this break, so we just needed to work enough to keep it in check. Then the downpour began with very close lightning. Grace Fleury (Quark) attacked with Cat in tow. Finally, when the thunder and lightning hit simultaneously, the officials stopped us at a farmer's shed until the storm passed. We were cold and wet, but needed to refocus once the racing resumed nearly 20-30 minutes later. They restarted with the same time gap to Grace and Cat. Grace was on a mission, and eventually the remainder of the Webcor women had to go to the front to slowly reel her in during the very hard crosswinds. Christine kept guard of the pesky T-Mobile intruders while her teammates did a great job of catching Grace (with Cat sitting on) just as we entered the circuits. Then it was a new race with T-Mobile on the attack again. Erinne responded to everything with Christine just behind, and eventually a break was established with Kori Seehafer taking the initiative and Erinne, Christine, Annette Beutler (Quark) following. Kori and Erinne worked to keep this break since Laura VG was not present. First, Lynn Gaggioli bridged up. Eventually, Kimberly Baldwin (T-Mobile) bridged up with Tina Pic (Quark) and a few other non-GC threats. Kori and Kimberly kept trying to get away, but Erinne and Christine were prepared. Erinne led into the final corner while Christine faught--and lost--the battle for Tina's wheel. Tina predictably won the sprint and overtook the 2nd place in GC at 26seconds behind Christine. Annette Beutler was 2nd and Kori Seehafer 3rd, now in 3rd GC at around 38seconds.

Still in yellow due to the incredibly diligent and hard-working efforts of the entire Webcor squad dedicated to keeping Christine safe and rested.

Stage 5: Stillwater Criterium
June 12, 2005

This is a fantastic crit similar to Cat's Hill but with a longer climb and a longer false flat section before the raging fast descent with an off-camber final corner before starting the climb again. The race was 50 minutes and started at the bottom of the climb and finished at the top of it! We ended up doing 13 laps. Since there were finally NO time bonuses this day, we were content to control the race but not make it too hard. We just had to prevent either Quark or T-Mobile getting their GC riders in a break without Christine. Felicia, Katheryn, and Erinne did quite a bit of work to keep the pace fast and safe. About halfway through the race, Rebecca Much (T-Mobile) attacked before the descent and went into the final corner too hot. She hit the curb on the exit of the corner, but fortunately no one else went down, with Erinne and Christine sitting top five at this point. Rebecca did a magnificent tumble and was left with just bruises (guess it pays to be 19 years old!). It seemed clear that the other teams had resigned to not being able to take over the yellow jersey, and Christine and Erinne plotted how Erinne could make a final lap escape for the stage win. Unfortunately, Audrey Lemieux of Quark made one last attempt to get away to take the "Best Young Rider" white jersey from Erinne, so Erinne had to cover her with less than four laps to go. This was energy she needed for the final lap. Christine led the 2nd to last lap at a pace just fast enough to keep the group single file, and then Erinne made a brilliant attack into the right corner just over the top of the climb, with Christine shutting the door behind her. There was a pause before Laura Van Gilder responded. Erinne dangled off the front initially but increased her lead going into the final descent. Then the sprint was on from the base of the climb, and Lynn Gaggioli--who had taken that power climb well all day--managed to steal the win from Erinne, who held on for second with a local MN gal taking 3rd for the stage. Christine finished safely in the same time to stay in yellow to the end.

It was a fabulous showing for the Webcor women, who are thought to be "just" climbers and were not favorites for this typically flatter stage race. We are all in great form for our respective nationals: US nats next week in Park City, UT, and Canadian nats the 2nd week of July.

Keep cheering us on! Oh yeah, this was the 2nd of the Women's Prestige Series, with Redlands being the first. Both Christine and Erinne have won both the overall GC and young rider competitions, respectively, each time, so the team is fairing quite well in this series. Bermuda, here we come...