Link to each race report from the list below or just scroll down to browse:

07-30-08 Swedish World Cup

The Webcor team headed north after Thuringen to Vargarda, Sweden for the next round of the World Cup. All the top teams for Thuringen came as well as a few teams and riders with fresh legs. In the end, the freshness didn't matter, as all the top placings came from riders who had raced Thuringen. Webcor had a good race with Erinne finishing 5th. This continued Webcor's tradition of top 7 placings in all the World Cup races we have competed in this year. Webcor held onto our 6th place overall team ranking out of 30 teams.

Here is Erinne's Report:

Wednesday July 30th the Webcor Team was racing in Sweden at the World Cup. It was our last World Cup as a team for the year before we all start going our separate ways for the Olypmics. Alex and I just arrived tired and sleepy in Japan after a long day of travel. The others I assume are already back home in close to the same condition.

Anyhow, the World Cup course was relatively flat but by no means did that make it an easy race. We did an 11km technical loop 12 times. It was a course that was easy to get out of sight from the field on, and therefore we expected there to be many opportunities for breaks. Our team goal was to cover moves early on and become more active as the race played out.

We had Rebecca and Janel cover the early moves. They did a great job as the first lap was really fast. After four laps or so their job was done and they graciously went to help Avery in the feed zone. It was really hot and the feed zone was fast so we needed lots of bottles. Alex and Katheryn were to cover the next moves as they had more World Cup points and would thus have a harder time being allowed in breaks. Christine and I were to be saved a little for the last third of the race.

At about half way through though Christine got into a break that stayed off for at least a lap. After that, again there was lots of action but nothing stayed off for long. We were at about four laps to go when I started getting more involved. At about 3.5 laps to go, I saw Karin Thurig (Cervelo) attack on the right with I think Kim Anderson (Columbia) and Andrea Thurig (Bigla) on her wheel. That being three of the big teams represented I went next. After me, Kori Kelley-Seehafer (Menikini) and Charlotte Becker (Nurnburger) came up to complete the break of six riders. Most of the big teams were represented and everybody seemed to be relatively happy with the mix.

Team DSB, Team Flexpoint, AA-Drink, and Platteland missed the break and continued to try and bridge or chase. Alex, Christine, and Katheryn as well other teams that were represented in the lead break shut down every move and the gap quickly grew to two minutes.

Back up in the break, the first bit we all worked except Kim, and then more and more people started to sit on until it was just Kori and I pulling easy into the hill. Karin attacked on the hill but was brought back and at the top Kori and Kim rolled off. I had just been the one rolling through into the climb so felt I shouldn’t react first so I waited but nobody else jumped. Then the four of us started rolling and Karin suggested we keep Kori and Kim at 5 seconds in order to keep Kim working. Unfortunately that plan didn’t work as Andrea attacked us, then I sat on for a kilometre before the next climb and I tried to bridge. I was caught at the top and for the next lap my group didn’t work very well together. We sometimes chased and other times we were attacking each other.

On the last climb Karin attacked but again we caught her by the top. Kori and Kim were probably only 15 seconds at that point but my group again didn’t work. We continued to attack and roll quite slowly to the finish. We had lots of time on the field and I think we all decided we were going to sprint for 3rd. So at a couple kilometres to go I asked Karen what to do and she said "go early, and go for the podium." My last attack was at about 750m to go up this little underpass hill, but I got caught and went into the sprint fourth. I managed to pass Andrea and finish 5th. Kori Seehafer won her first World Cup by winning the two up sprint against Kim Anderson. Charlotte Becker won our group’s sprint with Karin Thurig next and then me. The field finished 2' 43" back with Katheryn, Christine, and Alex.

Next up for Team Webcor is the Olympic Games and USA National Championships.

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07-27-08 Thüringen Rundfahrt Stage 6

Sunday was the final stage of the Thuringen Rundfahrt and Webcor made it onto the podium with Erinne taking 3rd in the stage in a hard-fought race.

This race was one of the hardest races of the season. While it lacked the long climbs of the Giro d'Italia or Tour de l'Aude, the terrain was relentless and the racing was supurb. The leader's jersey changed teams every single day except the last one, where it finally landed on the shoulders of the defending Champion, Judith Arndt. All the top teams were here and at least half the field was on their way to the Olympics in two weeks in peak form. Webcor was in the mix every day and we finished 4th overall on team GC out of 16 teams. The race was extremely well organized and the number of spectators out on the tiny roads of eastern Germany watching a women's bike race was truly impressive (with plenty of beer to combat the hot day!). This was the 21st edition of the race and it has developed quite a following. See:p

Erinne in the break

Here is Erinne's Report:

The 6th and final stage of the Tour was a hot 126.4km. We did one large loop and then finished on 2.5 smaller loops of about 35km with three times up the final QOM which was 8km from the finish. Other than the four QOM’s, the course was still incredibly rolling, windy and hard, which seemed to be the theme of the week. The day started out aggressive and never really stopped. While Columbia was on the defensive protecting their yellow jersey, other teams like Cervelo and Nurnberger, DSB, and Webcor were looking for opportunities and a stage win. Webcor did a great job early in the race covering and being represented in the breaks. It took a lot of effort and strong attacks all day until the field started to really tire and breaks started to stick a little longer.

On the first time through the QOM climb I had just gotten away with Susan De Goede from Nurnberger and a Safi Pasta rider. We worked a little but were caught on the climb. The climb was so exciting and truly similar to those mountain stages at the Tour de France when the crowds jump back at the last moment as the racers ride through and you think that there’s no way they’re going to make it.

After that QOM was the sprint along the start finish line that Susan De Goede won. Somewhere around half way through the second to last lap Leigh Hobson from Canada got away solo. She was able to stay away until the QOM and take some valuable points away from other riders who were threats to take over the Mountain jersey from her teammate Felicia.

After the QOM there was a short descent and then another 1km climb where Priska Dopman from Cervelo attacked. Kim Anderson from Columbia went to pull Priska back with around five of us on her wheel. Once Kim caught Priska there was a pause and it was obvious people were sitting up and not going to work so I decided to counter. It worked well and I had a immediate gap. I think it was Katheryn who came over my radio encouraging me that it was a good move and to keep going. So I put my head down and decided to race my bike. I was just over 1 lap from the finish and just over 35km to go. I knew I had to get through the next 10-15km because the sprint point was coming up and the road was wide, windy, and I would be in sight of the field. After that I would turn on to much smaller roads and be out of sight and hopefully "out of mind."

So I eventually made it to the turn and soon after that I had a break mate, Andrea Thurig who had bridged up to me from Team Bigla. We immediately worked really well together and grew our gap to almost two minutes at one point.

Back in the field the rest of my teammates were doing a great job covering attacks from other teams. Now at the bottom of the final QOM and about 8km to the finish, Andrea and I had just over a minute. I was the stronger rider on the climbs so I lead the QOM in hope that Andrea would help on the descent, but unfortunately she wasn’t able to pull much on the descent and by the second climb we only had an 18 second lead. I knew I had to make it to the top of the climb without getting caught and was hoping others would hesitate at the top and I would once again be able to get time. But on the climb Trixi Worrack and Judith Arndt broke away from the rest of the field and were working together to catch me which they succeeded in doing about 2 or 3 km from the finish. As they went by I jumped on their wheels. At about 1km to go when they started playing cat and mouse I tried one last attack. Unfortunately I didn’t go very far with my tired legs and looked behind to see the field close. I decided a third place and a podium was still in my reach so I lead out the sprint in order to stay away and finished third.

My teammates finished in the main field just 21 seconds behind. We had three Webcor riders finish in the top 25 GC. We had a terrific week of training and racing and for some it was great prep for the Olympic Games, and for the others for the USA Nationals. Today we travelled to Sweden already, are sitting in our new hotel room and will be having our next adventure with the Sweden World Cup on Wednesday.

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07-26-08 Thüringen Rundfahrt Stage 5

Stage 5 of the Thuringen Rundfahrt was a 19k individual time trialbeginning and ending in the town of Schmolln. The Webcor team was looking forward to this stage and we moved up to 4th place on Team GC after the TT.

Here is Katheryn's Report:

The course started in the town center and after a short cobble section took a right and headed the riders out into the country, passing fields of sunflowers, corn, and wheat.

Similar to the terrain we have been experiencing all week, it was not a flat course, and the few flat sections there were allowed riders a brief respite before the road either went up or down. The most challenging part of the course came at about 15k into it when we went through the town of Sommeritz and took a left turn up a steep climb. Keeping the legs ticking over was key as there was about another 750m of false flat before taking another left back into Schmolin.

Janel was the first off . She had a road bike with a borrowed pair of clip-ons, and her instructions were to do a steady effort and make the time cut. As Katheryn was still having some issues with her rib, she also rode conservatively. Erinne had a great ride and displayed her strong stage racing legs by finishing 15th. Unfortunately Alex was misguided on the course and took a wrong turn. Christine displayed her great time trial skills against the best and finished a very respectable 7th among the top TTers in the world. She is definitely on great form for the Olympics.

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07-25-08 Thüringen Rundfahrt Stage 4

Stage 4 was the longest stage of the race at 124km. It was another hard and aggressive race and for the 4th day in a row, the leader's jersey changed teams.

Here is Christine's Report:

Today’s stage was a 125km loop starting and finishing in Schleiz. The profile did not look quite as much like shark’s teeth, but we were still expecting plenty of short, steep climbs. There were five categorized QOM climbs and four sprint bonus lines to contend. The course was generally uphill for 40km, then long descending into a valley, punctuated by several steep climbs, and then mostly uphill for 25km to the finish.

Sadly, we left Rebecca at the hotel to recover from some stomach bug she must have caught while racing in the Czech with the US National team less than two weeks ago. The other five of us are starting to feel tired but happy for all the good fitness this terrain is giving us.

Apparently, we aren’t the only tired ones as the peloton started out more calmly today. Since we do not have anyone racing for the QOM jersey, the first 40km were about maintaining good position into the climbs to be sure we did not miss any attacks off the front that were important. Once the significant descending started, there were a few attacks, but the only one that stuck, as the peloton was reluctant to chase, included Alison Powers (super descender with ski racing background) from the US National team and Loes Gunnewijk from Flexpoint. The next 40km were spent with team Bigla setting tempo on the front since their rider, Noemi Cantele, had taken over the leader’s jersey with her epic ride yesterday. The gap grew to two minutes before a flurry of attacks, mostly initiated by CerveloLifeforce, started to lower the gap. Once the climbing started at 100km, we quickly caught the two escapees.

The last QOM pitch at 105km was more or less a steep end to the second to last QOM at 102km. On this final grade, Judith Arndt (Columbia), Trixi Worrack (Nurnberger) and Grete Treier (Gauss) attacked off the front. The climbing didn’t stop after the QOM line but continued as a false flat for another 10km with slight head/cross winds. Karin Thurig (Cervelo) escaped here with Emma Johannson (Swedish National). At this point, the front group was shattering, with Erinne, Christine, and Alex holding onto the group over the top, and Katheryn (battling a bruised or broken rib from Cascade) and Janel trailed off a bit. There was no coordinated effort from this tired group, and the gaps to the leaders grew to 2.5 minutes by the finish. Treier took the win over Arndt and Worrack, and Thurig soloed 1:40 later, having gapped Johannson who finished another 20 seconds in arrears. Priska Doppman (Cervelo) escaped off the main chase group with a few km’s remaining to finish 30 seconds ahead of the group with Alex, Erinne, and Christine. Katheryn finished with the next bunch, and Janel valiantly fought solo to finish another minute behind Katheryn but well ahead of the final chase groups.

We are hoping for some movement up on GC tomorrow with a 19km time trial.

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07-24-08 Thüringen Rundfahrt Stage 3

The racing here in Germany continues to be hard and aggressive! There is not a flat kilometer anywhere. The Webcor team did a good job of covering many attacks, but unfortunately not the one that finally stuck. The yellow jersey again changed hands for the 3rd day in a row.

Here is Erinne's Report:

Today’s stage 3 of the Tour of Thuringen was a 104.7km race with three QOM’s and three sprints, but again there were hundreds more climbs than only those three, as the terrain went up and down all day. I have never raced on such hard courses and with such aggressive racing.

The first QOM was at kilometre 7.1 and the Canadians lead out Felicia Gomez for that which she is now leading. After that there were so many more climbs and descents and corners and wind that I can barely keep track of them. The second climb was at 44km and just before that, after a flurry of attacks, a break of seven got off. Webcor as well as Nurnberger, DSB, and many other teams missed the break and Webcor and Nurnberger were trying to bridge. Katheryn and Christine both put in good attacks and I countered Christine’s which eventually got me off solo trying to bridge a 30 or 40 second gap. I got to 20 seconds before I was caught again. After that the grouped slowed a little until the break gained 1 minute 30 seconds. At this point Nurnberger rounded up their whole team and set up a good chase but were only able to match the break and they weren’t gaining.

In the meantime, the break was working hard and winning all the QOM’s and sprints; Emma Johansson is now in the Sprint Jersey. With Nurnberger not gaining on the break, they decided to launch Trixi and Claudia on one of the hills. With the chase going on everyone was kinda sleeping and not in great position when the attack went and then Judith went flying by also from behind to catch up with the two Nurnbergers. At this point, Webcor got to the front and chased. We were about 20km from the finish. There were still lots of attacks in our group as the racing here never ends.

So Christine, Alex and I finished 2’21” down from the leader of the day who was Noemi Cantele from Bigla. She attacked the break and won solo. Katheryn almost hung in there till the final kilometres after doing a load of work on the front. Janel finished in a group not too far back. Rebecca is sick and pulled out of the race.

Tomorrow we once again have many steep continuous rollers and 125km to do. Wish us luck!!!

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07-23-08 Thüringen Rundfahrt Stage 2

Stage 2 of the Thuringen Rundfahrt was a full length stage with plenty of short, steep climbs. The team is getting through their jet lag and was represented in all the major breakaways of the day.

Here is Christine's Report:

Today's stage was 111km starting and finishing in the town of Gera. Like all of the races, it was non-stop up and down terrain with no climb longer than 2km, but many of them steep and a couple of them with cobbles just to make the legs burn that much more! With a day of racing to open up the legs after our long travels, we were interested in being more aggressive in the race today, hoping for a good breakaway opportunity.

Filled with enthusiasm for the day, Rebecca started the action with an awesome attack just about 12km into the race. She was joined briefly by a couple riders that would have been good mates, but the pace of the fairly fresh bunch brought them back. Christine countered with Monica Holler (Bigla) on her wheel. Their break stayed away for a few km before being caught after several riders bridged across, mostly with teams looking to take points at the first sprint line for the Sprint competition.

Katheryn attacked just over a km before that sprint line and was joined by Karin Thurig (Cervelo), who ended up taking the full
points. The field settled for several km's before Christiane Soeder (Cervelo) attacked and drew out three riders: a Swedish national, a German national, and Suzanne de Goode (Nurnberger). Christine (who was to monitor the time trial specialists in the peloton) bridged across and soon the break of five was working cohesively together and gained 35 seconds on the field. The next sprint line was also for seconds, and Christine managed third for just 1 second advantage. Shortly after, Soeder started a turn too hot, and bailed into the weeds next to the road. Christine had to deviate immediately behind but stayed upright.

Soeder and Christine's detour obviously slowed the breakaway, and soon the five were joined by a group of six riders who had been working to bridge up to the front group. Now the break contained two Cervelo (Carla Ryan joined), two Nurnberger (Claudia Hausler joined), two Columbia (Judith Arndt and Louise Keller joined), to German nationals (Hanka Kupfernagel joined), one Bigla (Noemi Cantele joined), one Swedish national and Christine for Webcor. This group had a lot of horsepower but was not a cohesive working group. With DSB Bank missing the break, and their rider in the leader's jersey from her stage 1 win (Angela Brodtka Henning), they worked the front to keep the break no more than 1 minute advantage. There was one more time bonus and sprint competition at 51km, but Christine did not gain more time as she was trying to meter her efforts while being outnumbered. Soon after, the riders began attacking one another on the steeper climbs.

Around km 65, Christine was gapped over a cobbled section through town as Arndt attacked, apparently knowing a cobbled climb was around the corner. With the disorganized break in front, and one Nurnberger previously dropped from the break (de Goode), team Nurnberger took over the chase, and Christine was caught, but then the remains of the break was caught within another couple km's.

A new flurry of attacks ensued. One particularly dangerous one went without a Webcor rider, and Katheryn put in a heroic effort to bring it back. A well-timed but also huge effort was made by Priska Doppman (Cervelo) around 12km to go. She dangled in front of the group with a slim 20-25 second advantage.

Soon, we entered the town of Gera for the final 10km by first crossing the finish line for the final sprint competition before
looping back around to the finish. Priska still held her slim lead. The final 2km contained several tight turns and two sketchy railroad crossings. Erinne did a good job helping Alex keep position near the front, but the swarm ensued. Priska managed to hold off a fast-charging field for a well-deserved win. Alex finished 15th. Erinne, Katheryn, Janel, and Christine all finished with the front group. Rebecca came in shortly after having retrieved extra bottles for the team in the feed zone just before the pace quickened to catch
the break.

We have another day of big rollers tomorrow. Let's hope the rain holds off while we race. So far, we have had evening showers and
threatening clouds but no rain during the races. Cobbles can be quite slippery when wet!

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07-22-08 Thüringen Rundfahrt Stage 1

The Webcor team of Christine, Katheryn, Alex, Erinne, Rebecca, and Janel are here in eastern Germany racing the 6-stage Thuringen Rundfahrt. This is the 21st edition of this race, making it one of the longest running stage races for women in the world. It is a top-rankend UCI category race and the final preparation race for a lot of riders going to the Olympics, including our Webcor Olympians. There are no climbs longer than about 3-4 km in this area, but neither are there many flat kilometers! You go up and down and round about through little towns all day long, with occasional cobbled sections to spice things up. I have done this race four times myself and it was always one of my favorites. The organization runs with typical German efficiency!

The first stage was a short 61km and ended in a field sprint with all six Webcor riders safely in the front group.

Here is Alex's Report:

Today, we started out the 6-stage Tour of Thuringen with a 61km race on the rolling roads of Germany! With such a short race, we thought it would be fast, and without any significant climbs, some teams would be keen on forming a break. As expected, it started out really fast!

The first QOM was 3.8km into the race. We stayed well positioned but didn't use our energy for the QOM. The sprints at 24.4km and 40.2km also had time bonuses, so we wanted to try to get some of those to gain time, and take time away from any potential GC riders. Cervelo and Columbia were very aggressive trying to form a break. For the first 20km's of the race, Katheryn and I covered several breaks and in the second 20km of the race, Christine and Erinne covered several breaks. Christine got into a break of about seven riders which looked promising, but it only lasted a few minutes.

At the last sprint (40.2km) that went through the start/ finish (9km to go), up the cobblestone climb, I was up with the top 10 riders and a break was formed at the top. They drove it, but it was brought back after about 5km, and was then countered. This break had seven riders with no Webcor, so Erinne bridged up immediately. The break looked very strong and almost every team was represented in it… except DSB.

With about 3km to go, DSB went to the front and started to close the gap. At 1km to go I was unsure if we would catch them, but at the right hand turn with 300meters to go, I passed Erinne so I knew we had caught them. I went into the cobble climb, with the top15 riders and finished 11th. It was a good hard opener to the week of racing. With the long travel and jet lag, things should only get better throughout the week.

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07-13-08 Cascade Cycling Classic Stage 6

The Webcor Women finished the Cascade Cycling Classic with yet another podium stage finish as well as securing 2nd, 4th, 7th, and 11th overall in the individual GC and winning the team GC. See this CyclingNews photo:

Gina winning the field sprint for 3rd

Here is Gina's Report:

The final stage of the 2008 Cascade Classic was met with clear blue skies again and temperatures in the 90’s. The race started in the early afternoon with nice ripe hot pavement. As team WEBCOR rolled up to the sign-in area, the other categories were on the race course and riders were trickling in past the start finish line. One rider didn’t trickle in. He sprinted in like it was world championships, which was fine, but I think he forgot where his brakes were because he didn't start to slow down like most people do after finishing the race. He was wobbling on his bike going full throttle yelling “get out of the waaaay” and who was “in his way” (on the side of the road) but Katheryn. Like a seasoned cyclist Katheryn knew the best thing to do was just STOP. So, she did, and they guy proceeded to crash right into her. She ended up dislocating her shoulder and bruising/injuring her ribs (darn ribs on this team. Good thing we have 12 each). A doctor nearby helped Katheryn put her shoulder back into place.

Like a rock star, Katheryn started the race and was riding as strong as ever. Our main goals were to keep Christine’s 2nd on GC and keep our team GC 1st place. On the first of four laps of the circuit, Kristen Armstrong shredded the field by driving the pace up the feed zone climb. Not attacking, just going hard enough to string the field out like a candy bead necklace. And that was it; from there the lead group was about 20 going to the first KOM climb where she kept going and brought Amber Rais with her.

Between the part where the field was smashed to smithereens and the KOM climb, I saw Katheryn go from the front of the pack to the back looking like she was fixing her shoe (OH NO!! Not another foot pulled out of a shoe!!!!). No, she had dislocated her shoulder again!!!! ON THE BIKE. I drifted back to take a look at what was going on and was going to stop, but realizing that I was all of a sudden the 3rd rider for our team GC, I had to stay in the pack and not stop to help out our GC rider in case we didn’t’ make it back on. Never in my career have I had the honor of riding with such a tough chick. Katheryn continued to pop her shoulder back in place with help of a rider who was on the side of the road. Amy Dom' helped pace her back to the caravan and she was back within 1/2 a lap. UNBELIEVABLE. From here, we had four Webcors in the main group. Amy had done a great job helping to get Katheryn back on and she was done for the day.

The pace wasn't high for a lot of the middle part of the race, but it was a fast rolling course. Some groups caught up to the lead group but got whittled down each lap up the feed zone climb and KOM. With Kristen Armstrong off, and Amber Rais about 12 minutes behind Christine in GC, there was no real chase for them. We just kept the pace high enough to keep the gap within reach. Knowing that we wouldn't be catching them, it was my duty to stick it to them climbers and hang in there for the field sprint for 3rd The final lap up the climbs took care of most of the other sprinters, and the field was down to about 15. After the KOM, it was 5 km to go.

WEBCOR set a good fast tempo after the descent and set me up for the sprint. Janel did a rippin’ pull on the front and actually got a gap, so Christine yelled for her to just GO! As there were two girls from Aaron’s right behind Christine, this made them chase Janel!!! HA!! A bit of a twist to the leadout, but it was perfect. Aaron’s chased Janel and I just sat on them until we caught Janel at about 500 meters to go before the last roundabout. I was (relatively) fresh from sitting in and following wheels to the finish and I unleashed the sprint for 3rd. I slowed down after crossing the finish line for 3rd and didn't hit anybody.

Team WEBCOR crushed Cascade Classic 2008 in team GC, and although we couldn't tire Kristen Armstrong out, we all worked really well together and certainly tried. We finished the day and tour with some great buffalo burgers and some liquid hops.

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07-12-08 Cascade Cycling Classic Stage 5

Stage 5 was another road race with a mountain top finish. Webcor started the day with Christine in 2nd overall, 1:55 behind Kristin Armstrong and 55 seconds ahead of Julie Beveridge (Aaron's) in 3rd. Kristin continues to ride strongly, but the team in green will fight to the end to chip away at her lead! Link to this CyclingNews photo of Katheryn:

Katheryn setting tempo

Here is Katheryn's Report:

Starting west of Bend, Stage 5 would challenge the riders to a 71-mile race around Mt Bachelor, finishing at a ski resort on the mountain's side.

With no significant climb until the finish, Webcor knew Kristin needed to be forced to work early in the race as to not be fresh for the last 10 miles rolling upwards. The green machine was counting on other teams having similar agendas, and a promising break happened just before the first feed zone; Janel attacked, drawing out Amber Rais (Tibco) and Felicia Gomez (Aaron's). As both riders were below Janel in GC, she was given the green light to work with them. This combination of riders also looked to be enough of a threat to make Kristin work. The trio gained some distance on the peloton and Kristin was forced to the front to set pace. Unfortunately, Felicia stopped working, and despite other riders trying to bridge to the break, it was nullified within a few miles.

Tibco was very active with attacks and counter attacks and it was Rushlee Buchanan's attack that finally stuck. Since she was no threat to any of the major GC riders, she was allowed to gain a maximum advantage of several minutes.

As the peloton approached the last 20k, Meredith Miller (Aaron's) set a good tempo going up a climb and strung the field out a bit. Christine radioed back that she was not feeling great and needed to be careful not to blow coming into the finish. Fortunately, there was a flat section before the climb kicked up again and the pace settled down.

Aaron's again went to the front when the road pitched up using Alison Testroete and then Felicia to set hard tempo. The field was quickly whittled down to Felicia, Kristin, Christine, and Julie (Aaron's). Katheryn was gapped off a bit but kept the lead riders within site. Kristin then put in a strong acceleration and separated herself from the trio. This also caused Felicia to get dropped and Katheryn steadily made her way up to her. Julie was setting tempo with Christine on her wheel but Julie's strong effort eventually caused Christine to be dropped.

As Julie was close behind Christine on GC, Katheryn quickly got up to Christine to set tempo and reduce the gap to Julie. In the end, Kristin won the stage followed by Julie 30" later. Felicia sprinted around Katheryn and Christine to claim the final spot on the stage podium. Katheryn and Christine were able to minimize the damage done by Julie and she only finished 15" ahead of
them, securing Christine's 2nd place for another day.

Janel finished in the next group behind Katheryn and Christine, and Amy and Gina, having done a great job early in the race rolled in a few minutes later.

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07-11-08 Cascade Cycling Classic Stage 4

Only a few hours after the time trial, the Webcor team was on the start line for a critrerium in downtown Bend, Oregon. With Gina, our team sprinter, showing great form this week, the team was looking forward to a good race and an opportunity to practice their leadout train. The team rode a great race, with Gina just getting nipped at the line to finish 2nd, the 4th podium stage placing for the team in as many stages. They even earned $700 in primes along the way! Link to this CyclingNews photo of the final sprint.

The final sprint

Here is Janel's Report:

Race: 60-minute criterium on a 6-ish corner, flat course

Tonight, the Green Machine hit the downtown city streets of beeeautiful Bend, OR, to contest the 4th stage of the Cascade Classic. It was our second stage for the day, but did this stop our excitement and motivation? Heck no! This town is amazing – not only were the streets lined with fans, including our hosts from each of our homestays, but there were bikes parked everywhere and it's obvious that this town is made of cyclists! Go Green!

The race began and Katheryn, Christine, and Janel were comfortably patrolling the front because they had been called up to the line. Kristin Armstrong (Cervelo) set a high pace for a number of laps and the field was strung out. Gina and Amy worked their way up to the front to be safe from the sketchiness in the back and whenever you saw the pack round a turn, there was sure to be Webcor Green all over the front.

We covered attacks by Aaron's and Tibco, and Katheryn was often in the front driving the pace to keep things safe. Many attacks were predictably timed around prime laps. Speaking of primes, did we mention that we seriously got in on that action?! By the end of the race, Gina and Katheryn had each taken two primes, and Janel took one. Boo-yah.

With the pack all together and ten laps to go, our guest director, Laura Charmeda, started talking us through what needed to be done to get Gina the perfect leadout for the win. Katheryn, Christine, Amy, and Gina were up front and Gina had excellent position. With two laps to go, Katheryn and two Aaron's riders took over the pace setting for the finishing sprint. Gina, safely on Christine's wheel, was feeling spunky, but somewhere before the second-to-last turn, things got a little nutty and Gina was forced to take a longer line than she had hoped. She turned on the fire of her Olympic engine, and hammered to the line… she barely got pipped by Brooke Miller (Tibco) and took a solid second place!

So, Gina made her second trip to the podium, this time representing the sprinter she is, and thus we brought home another six-pack of local brew. It was a great team race and it was fantastic to finish off our double day on a high note!

When the race was wrapped up, the team regrouped and started to get ready for a scrumptious burrito dinner. We sat down to relax on our chairs that Avery, our super soigneur, had set up in the shade. As we took off our helmets, shoes, socks, and such, somebody must have been thinking, "Man! Those girls look stinky!" because at that moment we were dutifully treated to a sprinkler shower! Oh yah! Fur sur. The sprinklers popped up and we entertained all the on-lookers with frantic throwing of bags to the dry street as we laughed ourselves to tears. If anyone knows that this is a good omen, let us know ;)

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07-11-08 Cascade Cycling Classic Stage 3

Stage 3 of the Cascade Classic was a long time trial. Given the strength of the Webcor team in time trials, it was a good chance for us to move up on GC. Christine finished 2nd in the TT to Kristin Armstrong and moved up to 2nd overall. Katheryn finished a strong 3rd, signaling her return to form after her two broken collarbones earlier in the season. Link to this CyclingNews photo:

Katheryn riding strong

Here is Christine's Report:

It is rare for NRC stage races to have long time trials, so the "chrono-aficionadas" of Webcor were pleased to see the posting for this 14-mile time trial as part of Cascade Cycling Classic this year. The profile showed a mostly uphill outbound 7-mile stretch and mostly downhill return leg for the out and back course. A pre-ride of the course earlier in the week suggested a very fast return.

Our masterly mechanic Dave set up our sweet Orbea Ordu bikes with proper gearing, and we were set for some fast times. We were aiming to move up some on individual GC from 3rd, 4th, and 6th with some good efforts. Christine, who has experienced going out too hard at altitude in a time trial before, was a bit nervous to capitalize on the uphill outbound stretch, and reigned in the effort a bit. She had a decent downhill effort to finish 52 sec behind Kristin Armstrong, but more than a minute ahead of Julie Beveridge (Aaron's) to overtake her for 2nd in GC. Katheryn had a fabulous ride to finish 3rd overall, just 1:47 behind Kristin. Janel continued her series of good days to finish 8th overall and maintain her 6th in GC. Amy also had a good day, but the surprise came from our "sprinter" Gina who finished a fantastic 29th overall riding her road bike with clip-on bars. We're thinking she has a future in time trialing after the Olympic Points Race gold she'll get this summer.

We had some pampering from our super-soigneur Avery after the race, but only had four hours to rest before the evening criterium.

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07-10-08 Cascade Cycling Classic Stage 2

Stage 2 was another long road race and with a hilltop finish climb of about 10 miles. It was not the stage we predicted our star sprinter, Gina to make the podium on, but races don't always go as predicted!

Here is Gina's Report:

As predicted, there were a lot of attacks pretty much from the start of the140km stage today. Our plan was to cover all of the important ones. And that we did. Webcor was awesome. Having five riders here, four of which were in the top 10 on GC, meant that we had to sacrifice a few by having Janel, Amy, and myself try to be the main ones covering attacks, thus saving Christine and Katheryn.

Ideally, Janel or Amy would get in a break… but as the dice were thrown, it was me, Gina, who got in the break when that elastic band broke and people were tired of chasing. So along it rolled. We were ok with the break being 3 minutes or so because we knew from previous years that big ol' 10-mile mountain top finish would fix any break up the road that was not made of up climbers. Our break was mostly not climbers. Definitely nobody in threat to our GC. Well, the break rolled up to 5 minutes by the base of the final climb at 70 miles. I had been sitting on the break. At one point I was going to be called back to the pack to help chase to bring down the time gap. Over the radio Laura Charameda, our fearless director, and I were discussing what to do. She said one last thing to me: "Well Gina, I am going to leave you here in this break; don't work and you'd better stay with Kristen (Sanders) on the climb!! Can you do that??"...PAUSE...DEAD AIR SPACE...."UHHH, yeah Laura I will do my best. I am feeling pretty good today and Kristin is the only person here that would be a threat to me on the climb today." So away Laura went, leaving this mammoth mountain of a climb to Webcor's sprinter. This was not how the day was predicted.

Back in the pack, Janel and Amy were on the front around the 5 km to the KOM mark, doing some work to bring down that time gap. Random attacks were going off and only one rider's attack really stuck... She got off and then really, really got off because her lead moto took her off course and she ended up waaay in front of us finishing way before the break that she never caught. That sure confused everybody at the finish line. So I don't know what happened with that. Too bad for her though.

Anyways, the Webcor soldiers then had Kristin Armstrong to contend with for the final 10-mile climb. At this point they were 5 minutes behind us. Kristin Armstrong apparently attacked as Christine predicted on the first steep part of the climb. Christine did her best to stay with her. Julie Beveridge from Aarons was hangin' with Christine, and it was the two of them just behind Kristin. Christine had to play her cards right so that Julie didn't attack her and get time on Christine. So Christine's always thinking head played the game right, and the two of them cranked through the finish line together with Julie just outsprinting Christine for 5th and 6th place.

As for me on the climb... I put away the sprinter's legs and strapped on the climber's legs after Laura and I talked on the radio :-))) Alison Testroete (Aaron's) set great tempo for Kristin Sanders (Aaron's) for a few miles. Hard enough so nobody attacked, and we dropped four of the eight riders in the break. What was left was Brooke Miller (Tibco) who put in a flying final effort of attack or get
dropped.... she did both... and then Kristin Sanders attacked me. No way. I was on her like white on rice and then we climbed together until about 1.5km to go when the pitch got steeper and I lost Kristin there. But I kept good tempo and cranked it in across the line for second place. Veeery shortly thereafter Kristen Armstrong (yellow jersey) and Christine and Julie came powering in.

Good day today. Podium finish, kept our GC riders up there, and we are still winning Team GC; Christine is in 3th, Katheryn is in 4th, Janel 5th, and Amy 8th.

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07-09-08 Cascade Cycling Classic Stage 1

The Webcor women's team of Christine, Janel, Amy, Gina, and Katheryn are now in beautiful Bend, Oregon for the Cascade Cycling Classic. This is a tough stage race with three hilltop finish road races and a good time trial. The team finished the first stage with three riders in the top five and a commanding lead on Team GC. Here are a couple of CyclingNews photos:

Katheryn and Janel in the break 1
Katheryn and Janel in the break 2

Here is Katheryn's Report:

Stage 1: Prineville Road Race
Distance: 83.2 miles
Terrain: flat to rolling with one significant 5-mile climb in the middle and finishing on a 1.- mile climb (Pilot Butte State Park)

Armed with our new '09 Orbea Orca frames, the five Webcor women joined the 80 other women for the first stage of the Cascade Cycling Classic. As the GC was wide open, with no prologue or time trial to start the 5-day/6-stage race, we had in the back of our minds the riders to keep an eye on, but knew that the race could unfold a number of ways.

The pace was mellow as we rolled out of the Redmond Deschutes County Fairgrounds and pretty much stayed mellow until Sarah Barber (Bobs-Bicycles.com) attacked while we made our way through a beautiful canyon. As she was not a major threat to the GC riders and teams, no one responded to her aggressive move. She soon gained a good gap on the field and eventually it grew to 3'. There was a flurry of attacks from Tibco as we approached the base of the first climb, and Brooke Miller did manage to separate herself from the field for a bit.

At the base of the climb there was also a feed zone. Both Christine and Katheryn were caught in bad position as they fought with other riders to get a much needed feed (temperatures were creeping into the low 90's) and both had to do huge efforts to get themselves to front of the group. Kristin Armstrong and Julie Beveridge (Aaron's) were already 50 meters off the front and Katheryn set steady tempo – with Christine, Janel, and Felicia Gomez (Aaron's) in tow. Just as they crested the QOM, they had the other two in sight along with Sarah Barber who had been picked up by the front duo.

Unfortunately, as there had been a bad crash in the men's race (our best goes out to Ben Brooks from Team Type 1 who was the rider involved – speedy recovery), there were emergency vehicles blocking the road just after the summit and the race officials were forced to neutralize the women's race. This was a mixed blessing as it provided riders a breather, but they were also forced to sit out in the hot sun for about 45 minutes! Fortunately team directors/mechanics/swanies did their best to keep the riders well hydrated. The race officials did keep track of where riders were when they crested the hill and when they determined it was safe to resume the race, started riders with the appropriate time gaps. This was good for Webcor as they had three riders in the lead group of seven, kick ass!

Immediately the front group drove the pace to put as much time as they could on the pursuing peloton. Knowing the final 1.2 miles of the race would be the hardest, the three green gals did their best to moderate their effort and stay hydrated. Unfortunately, Felicia started to feel the effects of the heat and was just sitting on. Janel was also beginning to cramp, but after eating, drinking, and sitting out a couple rotations, was back on the front, rolling through with powerful pulls.

With about 10k to go, Christine tried sitting on as well, but as soon as she stopped working, so did Kristin and Julie. As they wanted as much time as possible, Christine started working back into the rotation and then so did the others. Then with about 5k to go, Janel attacked hoping to soften up Kristin and Julie. When she was caught, Christine and Katheryn traded off attacks and managed to drop Felicia and Janel, but Kristin and Julie hung on tough.

The final turn onto Pilot Butte was a hard 180 and just after the turn, Katheryn attacked again and got a small gap but was covered by Kristin and Julie. Christine did a great job of keeping them in sight and hung on to take third, 17 seconds behind Kristin who won just 3 seconds ahead of Julie. Katheryn and Janel rolled across to finish 4th and 5th, 31 seconds and 1:10 back respectively.

Amy won the "field sprint" to claim 8th, 4:09 back and Gina showed her climbing skills to finish 24th.

In the end, the Webcor women ended up with all 5 riders in the top 25 and a 5+ minute lead on team GC. Whoopie!

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07-05-08 Canadian National Road Race Championship

Webcor had a small but cohesive team at Canadian nationals and Alex won her 2nd national Road Race title with strong support from Erinne. She also placed 3rd in the time trial, securing a spot in the time trial at the Olympics for herself. Link to these photos from CanadianCyclist:

Teamwork
The Leadout
The Win

Here is Alex's Report:

The Canadian National championship road race was in Beauceville Quebec. A very small town… also the area where they hold the men's stage race Tour de Beauce. Saturday we did the time trial which was 20 km on a fairly flat course, with indescribably bumpy roads! Sunday was the road race – a 28.5km loop that we did four times. The course was very flat, with only a few small gradual climbs that were not enough to make the race selective. Without many "teams" at nationals, there usually aren't very many tactics involved, so we knew that it would be tough to create a selection in this race. The advantage we had against the other teams was that we would work as a team, and they wouldn't. Erinne and I had two plans for laps 3 and 4 that involved attacking in the cross wind before the turn into a small climb with a tail wind (if we were still together in the same group by then).

Lap 1 – the first 10 km of the loop was a massive head wind, where some unknown riders launched several suicide attacks (most brought back by Merrill Collins). They all came back within a few minutes, without any effort on the field. On the first lap Anne Samplonious launched an unexpected attack into the cross wind. Erinne was near the front so was on her wheel quickly. However I was mid pack so it took me a while to get up to them. A selection was formed but didn't manage to stick because nobody worked once we turned the corner. No one was really prepared for that early of an attack and effort.

Lap 2 – more suicide attacks in the head wind and then as expected, Anne attacked again into the cross wind; I was on her wheel and countered. Felicia Gomez and Merrill Collins pulled me back and then Anne countered, and then Erinne countered her. By then we were on the hill in the tail wind and the pack was completely shattered. When we started descending we had a group of 12 including Anne Samplonius, Leigh Hobson, Felicia Gomez, Julie Beveridge, Audrey Lemieux, Joelle Numaineville, Merrill Collins, and a few others we didn't know.

It took us probably 10 km to convince EVERYONE in the group to roll through! We used some encouragement, but I think it was Erinne's threats that finally convinced them! Haha "Nobody gets a free ride! You either roll through or we start attacking the crap out of you!" to quote Erinne Willock.

So from then on everyone rolled through. Nobody tried anything for all of lap 3, and the gap grew to over three minutes.

Lap 4 – Erinne and I decided to stick with our plan, in hopes to get Erinne away solo or with one or two other riders in the last 10 km. She was feeling good. I attacked mid way through the cross wind, and was brought back by Felicia and Merrill again. Then Erinne countered me and had a gap with Leigh and Felicia. She wasn't going to work if Leigh was there, so she sat on as Felicia and Leigh drove it. Anne attacked and tried to bridge, and I was on her wheel. We caught back on and eventually there were nine of us. A few more attacks went by Felicia, Anne, Julie… mostly brought back by Merrill. It was clear that nobody was going to get away on the slight descent tail wind with only 10 km to go. Erinne went to the front and drove it up one last climb (and really hurt everyone, including me!). Then she stayed at the front and rolled it and everyone was happy with her at the front. With 2 km to go, she picked it up a bit and with 1 km to go, she went as hard as she could and took me to 500 meters (head wind finish). Merrill, Julie, and Anne all went too early. I got on Anne's wheel, Felicia sprinted off the right side of her and I went to the left. And that was it. There were too many people in the way to raise my arms, but Erinne raised hers for me in the background (see this Rob Jones photo).

Thanks to Dave, mechanic extraordinaire, and my coach Dan for helping us out so much this weekend!

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Shortly after the sprint, the break was caught and from then on in the race there were many many efforts and short breaks. Christine and Janel covered some great moves while Alex and I recovered for a bit and then we were all active again. It was constant attacking and we all did a great job of covering every important move.

On the last lap through the finish I think Christine covered Oneone and then Judith Ardnt countered, with three riders on her wheel. I bridged up to them with Meridith Miller and caught them just before the climb. Just over the crest of the climb with like 5km to go, Ardnt attacked on the descent and rode away solo for a stage win and to take over the yellow jersey. My group got caught again by the field and the rest of us finished in a field sprint where Alex finished in 13th.

Felicia Gomez from Aaron’s took the Queen of the Mountain jersey, and Suzanne De Goede took the sprint classification.

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Link to race reports for June 2008
Link to race reports for May 2008
Link to race reports for February-April 2008