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

August 29 Vacaville Gran Prix

The Northern California/Nevada Elite District Criterium Championship was this Sunday in Vacaville, California. This race is also part of the California Cup series. Katheryn wanted to try to check "District Crit Champ" off her list before retiring, and I wanted a taste of race intensity before the cyclocross season starts in a few weeks, so off we went. We were successful on both counts!

Here is Katheryn's report:

Karen and I lined up with a strong field of NorCal riders for the District Championships in Vacaville, CA.

Katheryn cresting the kicker hill. Photo courtesy of Trish Black

The 6-corner course was a 1.1m loop, that we would do 16 times, in the old downtown section of Vacaville and had a nice little kicker hill on the back section: nothing too steep, but enough to sap the legs after several laps.

The pace was brisk from the start and Karen did a great job of practicing her cyclocross start and led the first lap from the gun. I found a comfortable position in the pack and kept and eye on some of the strong riders. Things were active with a couple of riders getting a bit of a gap for about half a lap but they were brought back on the hill. A few more attacks went and I was patient to allow others to cover and keep the field together. With about eight or so laps to go, there was a cash prime for the first rider across the start/finish line and I went for it and kept going. Sprinting from a bunch is definitely not my strength and I knew going solo was my best chance to win. I was not exactly planning on being solo for half the race though.

Katheryn crosses the line with a comfortable gap. Photo courtesy of Trish Black

I quickly gained about 20" on the field and the closest they got was about 11", which definitely got me nervous as I knew if I did get brought back, I would not have much left to try for another solo move. Fortunately, with Karen doing a great job covering and shutting down any dangerous moves, my gap slowly grew again. With the small crowd cheering me each time up the hill and through the start/finish, I powered through the final few laps, very relieved to hear the bell for the final lap.

I crossed the line with a comfortable gap and Karen did a great job of sprinting for 3rd, narrowly being beaten out by a strong rider from Touchstone, Mary Maroon.

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August 22 University Road Race

The annual road series here in NorCal, the CalCup is taking place for three weeks in late August/early Sept. This 7-race series is usually the final races of the season for a lot of riders, and while you won't get rich winning it, the bragging rights and coveted Velo Promo t-shirts always draw out good fields! Katheryn has been doing a lot of the races with the men's P/1/2 fields, but Lindsay represented Webcor in the women's race at the University RR. This is probably the one of the hardest races here in NorCal with a short, hilly curcuit repeated many times with little or no recovery.

Here is Lindsay's report:

University Road Race is one of the long running Northern California classics. The 3-mile hilly circuit rolls around the Santa Cruz University campus. It is more or less half up and half down with the finish being half way up the hill. It is a tough course that we complete 14 laps of. This race usually draws several of the local superstars and this year was no exception with two Tibco riders (Megan Garnier, Devon Haskell) and two Peanut Butter 2012 riders (Shelley Olds, Olivia Dillon). I was excited for this race because I felt like my climbing legs were coming along and I was looking forward to that hill...again...and again.

The first lap was pretty mellow but lap number two Shelley attacked half way up the climb and Megan (Tibco) was able to go with her. By the time I got around their teammates who were on the front blocking, they already had a good gap. I put in a huge effort to bring them back and when I finally did, we were back to the hill again where Shelley did a repeat of the last lap, but this time Devon went with her. I was barely hanging on at this point after bringing them back (I actually got dropped and had to chase back on). The “chase” group had shrunk due to attrition, or basically a field split—from the 30 or so starters there were eight of us left behind the break of two. I didn't think it would be conducive to try to bridge to the two because I knew I would be chased down by Olivia and Megan. Nobody seemed too interested in helping to chase the break, and the couple times I attacked, I didn't get too far before being chased down by Olivia and the rest of the dwindling bunch.

At two laps to go, Olivia and I clearly had the same idea and we both attacked about half way up the climb. Megan, Olivia and I were now by ourselves...this was good, I knew I could outclimb at least one of them on the last lap and finish up not too bad. On the last lap, I set a good tempo up the climb and towards the top, Olivia had been dropped and it was just me and Megan. We worked together well the last lap until the bottom of the climb going to the finish. I attacked at the bottom because Megan has more of a sprint than I do, so I might as well try something. I had a gap from her until about half way up, she caught me and kept going...which left me 4th place, a T-shirt and $5. It was a good day of racing, a tough and fun course, and good racing.

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August 21 UCI Women's World Cup – G P Plouay Bretagne

While it is mostly just criteriums left in the US in August, the road season is still in full swing across the pond. Erinne and Joelle are based in Belguim for a month of racing with the Canadian National Team. Dave, our Webcor mechanic, is there with the Canadian team as well. Erinne continues the good form she showed in Cascade with her first top 10 placing in a European World Cup race.

See these CyclingNews photos:
Erinne and Joelle on the front
Joelle on the attack

Here is Erinne's report:

After Cascade I came over here to Europe with the Canadian National Team. We now have a base in Belgium where everything is kept and where we come ‘home’ between races. This works very well logistically, other than the long drives to France, the constant rain in Belgium and the flies.

We have three Webcor team members over here on the trip: Joelle and I, and Dave is working as mechanic for us Canucks (and of course Dave is loving the Belgium beer).

This past weekend we raced the Plouay World Cup in France. Even though it was the World Cup finale for everyone else, it was our first World Cup of the year. Marianne Vos was leading the series with Emma Johansson not far behind. We knew those two riders would be watching each other very closely while the Cervelo Team and Columbia had strong teams that would be wanting a win. The Plouay course is very difficult with three hard climbs and very narrow roads for most of the way around. We did six laps. I knew my form was good and once I found out that Canada had an invite to this race, I made it a focus of this project.

The race of course started as fast as any World Cup. Cervelo was the main aggressor. They were launching attacks from the beginning and eventually got two teammates up the road together, Elizabeth Armistead and Sharon Laws. This was not a good situation for anyone else and Columbia was continually trying to bridge someone up. At the beginning of lap 3, which is normally very early for the leaders to start attacking, is when the four leaders got away. After the start finish line their teams strung out the field and launched Judith Arndt, Emma Pooley, Marianne Vos, and Emma Johansson in the first steep and very narrow climb. I was sitting about 10-15th position which is not too bad, but I think I was still in conservation mode because it was sooo early in the race. Unfortunately, when they went their teammates then all sat up and gapped the field and once I realized they were away, they were already gone... very frustrating.

Anyhow, after a bit of a flat section there is a descent and here Joelle went to the front and led me into the next climb where I tried to bridge to the break. I got an immediate gap and the break was still only 30 seconds but then Evelyn Stevens chased me down and I didn’t make it across. There were a bunch of counter attacks and I was trying to go with everything. We then hit the highway climb and this is when the Fenixis rider attacked with Evelyn now on her wheel (I wish Evelyn could have been on my wheel instead of chasing me down!). After trying to be in every break for the past 10km I now didn’t have the jump to close this gap across the flat windy section.

I was in the main peloton and most people were now happy so the pace slowed way down, Cervelo was controlling stuff and the break started gaining lots of time. I decided that my best shot was to now wait until the last lap and try one last attempt to get away. On the final climb to the finish someone attacked and I just followed wheels until I countered over the top. I got away with a Safi Pasta girl and we worked together until the end. Cervelo was chasing as they wanted a sprint in order to gain as many points as possible for the WC team overall. Luckily we stayed away and I outsprinted my breakaway partner for 8th place. Emma Pooley attacked the break and won the race solo, and Marianne Vos won the World Cup series overall.

We had pizza waiting for us after the race and then an 8.5-hour drive back to Belgium immediately after. It was a long day at work.

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July 25 BMC Cascade Cycling Classic Stage 5

The final stage of the Cascade Classic is the Awbrey Butte circuit race. This is always a hard stage and for a change, the women's start was 1pm instead of the usual morning slot, so we got the full force of the heat that is coming to Bend! This was also the final race of the 2010 season where the whole Webcor team and staff is together (except our injured riders, Amber and Gina) so we wanted to make it count! From here, many of our riders head over to Europe with their respective national teams to do some races in preparation for World Championships and Commonwealth Games.

Here is Andrea's report:

5th and last stage of Cascade :)

…and Webcor`s season's final :(

Three laps on the course of the US-national championships at up to 100° made this “only” 50-mile stage with “only” short hills (compared to the other stages in Cascade) a real hard stage!

As the podium in GC was pretty much set after the first five days of racing, with our Erinne sitting in 3rd with a comfortable time-gap to place four, our plan was – of course besides keeping Erinne on the podium or even moving her up – going for a stage win. I was especially looking forward to this stage as I felt my form coming up during this stage race after losing lots of time on day 1 (which I eventually wanted to use as an advantage for going in a non-GC-threatening-breakaway).

So I found myself in several breakaways, two of which lasted quite a while. I found myself in a promising move already in the first lap with seven other riders from different teams. Unfortunately the break included a Tibco rider sitting in 2nd place in the sprint-jersey-competition, which meant that Vera-Bradley, the team of Carla Swart in the green jersey, tried everything to chase the break down before the intermediate sprint in lap two.

The other break, which seemed to be a good one, formed shortly after we got caught the first time. We were five – all from different teams, no Top-GC-rider… so seemed to be perfect. We stayed out there for a while before Canadian Tara Whitten attacked from our breakaway. No one reacted immediately, which allowed her to get a gap that finally was enough for the stage win. The rest of the breakaway was caught by the peloton, which accidently thought they had caught all of us and didn't really know that Tara was still out there! (No race radios!)

All our team finished up in the first big group (great job to all) and Erinne kept her 3rd in GC (great race of her). We missed the stage win but tried everything and I think we can be satisfied with how we raced in our last big race in the WEBCOR – Team 2010.

Personally I want to say that it's really sad that our season here is over this early. I would have loved to leave the US and Webcor with a stage win, but for that I eventually would have needed some more races and chances. However, I really enjoyed racing with WEBCOR and racing in the US and I am thankful that I got this chance for my comeback and found my joy in cycling (and slowly also my shape;) again. Thanks to WEBCOR, Karen, Dave, Jeremy, all my teammates and all our sponors for making me “live the American dream."

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July 24 BMC Cascade Cycling Classic Stage 4

Saturday evening was the Cascade criterium in downtown Bend. This stage is always a big crowd pleaser and has an established place in the Bend community. The course is the same as the nationals crit– a long, thin rectangle. It is not really a good course for a breakaway since the straightaways are so long, but we knew people would still try! With two mountaintop finishes, the time gaps on GC are pretty good. Erinne went into the stage pretty securely in 3rd, about 45 sec. behind Cath Cheatley in 2nd and 2 1/2 min ahead of Alison Powers in 4th.

Joelle knows how to dig deep! Photo courtesy of Matthew Lasala

We knew who we had to keep in check as far as GC threats, but the main goal of the stage was to try to set up Joelle for the win. The team did a great job of covering all the threatening attacks and staying safe and near the front. There are no crits in Europe, but Andrea has finally learned how to race a good old American criterium! She was very active at the front all evening. Lindsay is also finding her form again and chased back several threatening moves. Joelle was able to patiently conserve for the final laps. Erinne got on the front with 1 lap to go and then the speedy Tibco train took over with Joelle tucked right in behind them where she needed to be (and where a lot of the field wanted to be!).

Brook Miller started the sprint early, but in a tactical twist, it was her Tibco teammate, Jo Kaesenowski who came around for the win. Joelle was thrown off for an instant and while she felt she had the legs to win, the slight hesitation meant she could not quite come around Jo, but still took a strong 2nd place for Webcor's 3rd podium appearance in as many days.

Link to these CyclingNews photos:
A close finish
Podium

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July 23 BMC Cascade Cycling Classic Stage 3

The Cascade Lakes RR is one of the classic stages of Cascade, with the finish up to Mt. Bachelor Ski resort. It was another stage for the climbers and Erinne proved again that she is one of the top climbers of the North American peloton with a strong 3rd place finish. She also extended her 3rd place GC lead by another 30 sec. over 4th place Alison Powers.

Link to this VeloNews photo of Erinne on the final climb
And the stage podium
Link to this CyclingNews photo of Erinne attacking the climb

Here is Erinne's report:

Friday was the 4th Stage of the Cascade Classic and on the schedule was the Cascade Lakes Road Race of 71 miles. I was sitting in 3rd overall and Katheryn was 9th. The team was looking good and strong and ready for an epic day in the saddle.

The race started with a blistering pace from the gun as we immediately raced up the first 3-mile climb. Attacks were launched and Katheryn nicely got into one that got away until the crest of the hill that was only brought back by Mara. So within three miles of the race, the field was split and about 25 girls were in the front group. As we hit the long descent more attacks kept coming and shortly five riders got away which included Anne Samplonius and Lauren Hall (Vera Bradley), Andrea Dvorak (Colavita), Megan Guarnier (Tibco) and Kathryn Donovan. Unfortunately we missed the break as did the Peanut Butter team. Therefore, Katheryn immediately tried to bridge and then once the next group caught us from behind, Joelle put in a massive effort to also attempt a bridge as well as Ally and Andrea. Unfortunately, all their efforts did not allow them to bridge but we were gaining on the break and were very close to catching them.

This is unfortunately when a little chaos occurred and our fabulous mechanic Dave was put to work! Right up at the front of the field a crash happened so suddenly that nobody really knows what happened, but without any time to react there were a dozen riders on the ground, including me and Katheryn. Katheryn hit her head hard and was seeing stars. Much as she was disappointed, the race doctors would not allow her back into the race. I went down with impact and this morning I'm almost wishing for road rash instead. I hit my hip hard and this morning I'm feeling some good whip-lash, but other than a little ache I'm fine. After the crash, I had to change to the team spare bike, and Lindsay, Joelle and Ally did a fabulous job of chasing me back onto the field. With so many riders going down, including GC contenders, the field slowed down and allowed all the crashed riders to catch back on.

Once back to the field the breakaway had gained a few minutes and we initially put Ally in to work with the Peanut Butter team. Then Lindsay also went to work as the gap grew to four minutes and our podium GC place was being threatened. Both girls did a great effort of rolling through almost all day.

By the base of the final and very decisive climb of the day up to Mt. Bachelor, the field was closing in on the breakaway and the field was together. The climb starts out with the steepest part and Kristen Sanders of Colavita started setting pace for her teammate Cheatley. My legs were feeling good and I knew I wanted to try and stretch my legs and see if I could hang with Mara and Cath up the climb. Therefore, I attacked up the left and only Mara and Cath could follow. They both launched a couple more attacks until finally Mara broke Cath and me. Mara soloed to the win while Cath and I stayed away to finish 2nd and 3rd in the stage. I stayed in 3rd overall while Mara and Cath stayed in 1st and 2nd. I was happy to have a good climb on the day and grateful for all the great work that the team had done all day.

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July 22 BMC Cascade Cycling Classic Stage 2

Stage 2 of the Cascade Classic is a 16-mile Individual Time Trial. The course is the same as the one for US National Championships without the extra "lollipop" loop at the end. It is similar to the TT at Tour of the Gila – gradual uphill all the way out and fast downhill on the way back. Erinne had a breakthrough TT at Gila, placing 2nd there, so she and the team were hoping for another good ride here and she did not disappoint us! We knew Alison Powers would fly down the descent, so Erinne's race was basically to the top of the climb at the turnaround to gain as much as possible there and then just hang on to the finish. Erinne went pretty fast herself down the hill – we were following in the car and saw her hitting about 48 mph and spinning her 55x11 gear! She won the stage and moved into 3rd overall, 46 seconds behind Cath Cheatley and 1:59 behind Mara.

Link to these CyclingNews photos of Erinne in action (that is a plastic bag of ice in the back of her jersey for those who are curious).
And head down.
A Veronika Lenzi photo: to the victor goes the spoils

Here is Erinne's report:

Today was the Skyliner Time Trial of the Cascade Classic. Third day of racing and a beautifully hot and dry day at that. For those of you who know me, I have never said "I'm a timetrialist." I usually answer "sometimes I can pull a good one off," but today was my first TT win ever! I could feel the support of the team rooting for me this morning and everybody wishing me good luck and telling me to go fast at some point or other before I took off. It felt really good to have the belief of all my teammates and staff behind me.

The race today was 16 miles. The first eight miles was a gradual climb and then we turned around and the last eight miles was almost all down. I knew my race and where I would gain time was going to be on the climb, so I went as fast as I possibly could all the way up. I could tell pretty quickly that I was putting time into my minute rabbit who happened to be Alison Powers and of course that was just perfect for me as I put all my focus into catching her. You see without a good rabbit, I have been known to daydream or get depressed or bored out there… Also, I had Karen and Dave in the car behind me and I know that whenever I started to drop the speed I'd hear a little tap tap on the horn just to remind me I needed to go fast again…

I ended up passing Alison about 3/4 of the way up the climb and got a little boost of excitement. I even held her off until almost 3km to go until she passed me again on the way to the finish.

Anyhow, when I got back to the team cars, one of the first things Karen and Dave said to me went something like this "Well you sure went fast but you sure didn't look pretty doing it." So I asked them what did Amber and Christine look like when they time trialed? I guess it was prettier than me. So my conclusion is, I still have some work to do. I must look prettier and I gotta start being consistent at these. But, I'm very happy with my ride, I'm building more confidence at time trialing everyday, and I can feel that my form is coming on really strong. I'm excited for the next couple of days of racing and I know the team will give it their all to help me out with GC and hopefully we can also get some more stage wins.

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July 21 BMC Cascade Cycling Classic Stage 1

Stage 1 was an epic one with a 20-mile climb over McKenzie pass (the first time the race has used this climb since 2004) and a hilltop finish up to Three Creeks. We had a good team race with Katheryn being in a break for all but the first and last 4km of the race, and Erinne finishing a strong 4th place.

Here is Katheryn's report:

Today's stage was a 74-mile point to point course that took us up over McKenzie Pass and finished at Three Creeks Snow Park. The past couple of years we have finished up Three Creeks Snow Park but the approach did not include McKenzie Pass – a 15-mile(ish) climb that started gradual and increased in pitch as the road narrows and climbs through amazing lava fields at the top.

The start of the race was neutralized until we turned onto HWY 126 and as the first 25 miles or so were a rolling downhill, the speed was fast. It did not take long before attacks started flying, mainly initialed by Tibco. We did a great job of covering things and it was finally a strong attack by Amanda Miller (Tibco) that created the first break. I was in it representing Webcor; Andrea Dvorak and Kristin Sanders (Colavita), Toni Bradshaw (Vera Bradley) made up the rest of the break. The five of us worked well together as we gained distance on the peloton. Our gap got out to over a minute and eventually another group of about seven riders joined us and as it was now a large enough group and I was the sole Webcor rider, I just sat on. Several other riders also sat on while the majority rolled through at a good but not hard clip.

At the base of the climb, the road narrowed and one of the riders from Keller Rorhback Cycling Team kind of rolled off the front and the group just allowed her to dangle there as we continued upwards. We reached a maximum of about 2' on the main peloton, which was being led by Mara Abbott's team. The ascent was beginning to wear on the breakaway as it was mainly being led by Colavita and Tibco (each of whom had two riders in the break). I made sure that I stayed near the front to make sure I did not get gapped off. At one point, I see this blur go by me on the left and realize it was Mara Abbott and Cath Cheatley who had attacked out of the main peloton and were now flying up hill. I quickly moved over to attach myself to Cath's wheel as I knew this was a crucial moment not to miss.

The move caused the break to splinter as riders did their best to hang onto to this fast moving freight train. Andrea managed to hang on and moved herself to the front to set a steady tempo for her teammate Cath. I stayed glued to Cath's wheel as I knew she would do her best to not let Mara go. Mara did attack again and Cath immediately covered her and I managed to respond and hang on. Mara seemed content to set a strong tempo with Cath and me on her wheel and when the road pitched up again, she put in a strong attack. Cath struggled to follow her but the acceleration was too much for both Cath and me and we got dropped. Cath's attempt to follow Mara caused me to get dropped first but I stayed within myself and steadily rode back up to Cath.

For the next who knows how long, Cath and I chased Mara and the maximum advantage she got was 1'20". Cath did most of the work on the climb (which seemed never ending) and I rolled through when I could. It was such a relief to reach the top and I only wish I had had time to enjoy the view before we began the descent. The backside of McKenzie pass was a gradual, more open descent and Cath and I worked well together to chip away at Mara's lead. The motobike told us we had a 3' gap on a chasing group behind but we had no idea who all was in the group.

By the bottom of the descent, we had eaten a bit into Mara's lead and began being able to see her just in the distance. We finally caught her just as the course wound us through the town of Sisters but the road was unforgiving as it was chip seal pavement and slightly uphill. My legs began to feel the effort of the race and I definitely was struggling. Our gap to the chase group was less than a minute at the base of the Three Creeks climb and as soon as the road kicked up, an acceleration by Cath and Mara caused me to loose contact with them. I did my best to keep a steady tempo and keep the pedals turning over smoothly. The group behind me was slowly reeling me in as Mara and Cath were pulling away. I kind of felt as if I was in no man's land.

I eventually got caught 3k to the finish and dropped anchor as Erinne put in a great attack to gain distance on the chase group. She was followed by Rushlee Buchanan and Andrea (Colavita). Erinne kept attacking the two and only Rushlee was able to follow her, just beating Erinne out for 3rd place. Cath ended up winning the stage and taking over the leader's jersey as she had a better prologue than Mara. The rest of the Webcor riders did a great job of finishing a hard stage.

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July 20 BMC Cascade Cycling Classic Prologue

The Webcor team of Erinne, Katheryn, Andrea, Lindsay, Ally and Joelle are back in Bend for the Cascade Cycling Classic Stage race. This is the final race of the Women's Prestige Series. Cascade has always been a good race for Webcor and we are looking forward to it!

New for 2010, the race started with a short 2-mile prologue. Prologues are not really the specialty of our team, so the goal was to minimize any time gained by the other GC riders. Erinne and Katheryn had solid rides and kept themselves in contention.

Link to this CyclingNews photo of Joelle in action.

Here is Lindsay's Prologue report:

This year for the Cascade Classic, the promoters opted for a more spectator-friendly first stage. Instead of the first relatively flat stage we have had in the past, we started with a 2-mile prologue through the Old Mill District of Bend. It was one mile out slightly downhill to the turnaround, then one mile false flat back to the finish. So all in all, the race was less than four minutes long… not even long enough to think. The prologue was a nice change of pace and a good opener for the long hilly stage 1 road race.

Spectators came out in Bend fashion and it was great to have all the support from the town. With such a short prologue, there were very minimal time gaps and the real GC would be settled the next day. Alison Powers put in very powerful effort to take the win by four seconds over Tara Whitton (a Canadian track rider on a composite team), with Alison Starnes rounding out the podium. All the Webcor riders were right up there losing minimal time and we were ready to battle in the coming hill top finish stages.
Thank you for your support!

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July 8-11 Giro d'Italia Femminile Stage 7-10

For the first time in history, an American woman won the Giro d'Italia! Amber played a critical part in this landmark event. Unfortunately however for Amber and for Webcor, the 2nd to last stage ended with an unlucky crash and broken collar bone for Amber. As always, she does her best to keep a positive attitude about a tough break, coming just as she was getting back to top form after her last injury.

See this photo of Amber 4th in the Team USA train on the front in Stage 7.

Here is Amber's report:

Stage 7: OK… NOW the REAL climbing began. We started along the south end of Lake Como and raced 15km up the east coast. At that point, we turned directly onto a 13k climb. WooHoo. Then we went downhill, followed by around 40 flattish km, before another long climb up to the Madonna Ghisallo. Game was on. The plan was to have Team USA deliver Mara and I to the bottom of the first climb. Then Mara would hammer away, while I planned to stay as close as possible, so that I could come back and help. The team was awesome! They gave us a perfect 15k leadout, and we were off. Mara was away with only two other riders at the top. However the gap was not big enough to keep off the chasing descenders. I was close enough to come back after the downhill.

In the middle of the stage, Evelyn Stevens, American, but riding for her HTC-Columbia trade team, got away solo on the flat section and stayed away to win the stage. Amazing ride by her.

While she was on escape, Guderzo's team did some chasing. I attacked before the last climb, forcing Guderzo and the others to eventually react. I was caught part way up the climb, at which point Mara went again. She was not able to solo away, but she did get away with only two others. Meanwhile, I sat on Marianne Vos, who was wearing the pink jersey. She and Claudia Hausler chased the others back on the downhill. On the run into the finish there were a few more attacks, but we ended with our group sprinting for 2nd.

Great day for Mara. She showed her strength, and we saw who the threats were. I was super happy to feel my legs and fitness coming back. Not all the way, but it was fun to have something to play with.

Stage 8: This Stage started in Chiavanna and proceeded up for almost the entire day. The first 30k were up, with the last portion being the Majola Pass. After this climb, we rode along the lake near St. Moritz. Spectacular. Then we climbed up over 2000m two more times, before finishing down in Livigno.

USA was at it again. Today, Amanda did some huge pace making along the road before the Majola. The other girls were good, too. I hit the front at the bottom of the Majola and tried to ride a tempo that would set Mara up. She was awesome. She exploded out of the bunch with Emma Pooley (Cervelo) and ended up solo'ing to victory and into the pink jersey. YES! Que que classico!!!

Stage 9: This was the stage that we all had been waiting for. We started in Livigno, headed over two "small" climbs, and then finished on the Stelvio Pass. I was really, really looking forward to this day. Mara had a good grasp on the pink, and my fitness was coming around. For Mara, the day was beautiful again. Also again, Team USA showed our strength and unity.

However… Amanda and I were in a bad crash on the first downhill. We were both in the front 15 descending really fast. Someone tried to squeeze by Amanda unnecessarily and bumped her bars. This caused her to go down hard. I was behind. Her bike flew across the road directly in front of me. I could not slow fast enough to allow it to pass by, nor could I get around it. It sawed off my front fork and took me down. Mama mia!! I ended up breaking my collarbone. Ouch. Amanda was covered with road rash but finished the stage.

Today… Stage 10 is going on while I am sitting at the hotel. I will post a quick note later, but Mara is safely in the pink jersey, and she and the USA team will win the Giro d'Italia.

It has been a really incredible race. Mara is such a special rider, and it has been fun for me to watch her grow and look out for her this week. In addition, it has been very fun to be with this entire group of American riders. We have done a fantastic job of looking out for each other off and on the bike. The atmosphere, the growth of the group, and the performances have all been super. It has been a pleasure for me to race with these guys and to be a part of winning one of the greatest races in women's cycling.

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July 5-7 Giro d'Italia Femminile Stages 4-6

Amber has been busy over in Italy, but continues to come into form and help her USA teammates.

Here are more updates:

Stage 4: Stage 4 was a flat, point-to-point stage. The interests of both the bunch and our team were to go to a bunch sprint. This would give our leadout artists another chance to work on their craft of delivering Shelley to the line, and Shelley another chance to sprint against the best in the world. In addition, it would give Mara and myself a chance to sit in the bunch. Again, it wasn’t the most exciting stage, but I did keep myself mentally involved by staying in the front portion of the peloton. I also “took a bullet” for Shelley (her words not mine,) in the final 10km when I forced my way out of the washing machine (i.e. the changing positions in the front of the peloton) to take Shelley to the front. It was funny for me to push my way out, but I had to follow through on what I started.

The USA Team rode very well again. We stayed together, kept our leaders out of trouble, and we got Shelley a little closer to a win. She finished 3rd, and afterwards it was fun to listen to Carmen and Theresa talk about the final few km’s. Not perfect yet. There was no change in the GC.

Stage 5: Let the climbing begin. This stage took us around the Lago di Orta. We did three laps, each 40k long and each with two main climbs. Nothing “long” yet. Then, the finish was a steep 2k climb similar to Fleche Wallone. The goal, again, was to keep Mara and me safe and get us to the last climb. The USA girls did another fantastic job of controlling the peloton and taking care of Mara and me. They were organized and efficient, bringing back one dangerous break midway through the race. Then, in the final, it was up to Mara to take a chance at a stage win. She was tough, but Marianne Vos’ big acceleration got her the stage win and the pink jersey. Mara was super strong, and she stayed right on track for the overall goal. My day was ok. I struggled a little with the heat, the length, and my developing form, but I am looking forward to the next days.

Stage 6: This stage “looked” like it might be an easier day. However, the climbing and the course turned out to be quite challenging. There were no long climbs, however, there were multiple 2k or less sharp ones. There were also three technical downhills. It was actually a course designed by Naomi Cantelle, an Italian rider on the HTC squad. Kind of cool.

The USA team did an excellent job of remaining on the front of the peloton for the first 35k while we safely navigated the first climb and downhill. After the GPM climb, the bunch was small, and only Mara and I were left for the US. I did my best to cover and control for Mara in the middle of the race. I knew the less stress for her, the better for the overall pink jersey goal. For the most part, this small group went into the final 5kms together. On the final downhill and on the final climb, things broke up. Mara did a great job of doing just enough. She finished with her main GC rivals. Time to recover fast, because the really hard racing was about to start.

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July 5 Fitchburg Longsjo Classic Stage 4

Ally, one of the team's developing riders, finished off the Fitchburg-Longsjo classic in good form. Being based on the east coast, she took advantage of the nearby race to gain valuable experience and fitness for Cascade in two weeks.

Here is her final report:

Today was the last day of the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic Stage Race. The race ended with a criterium in downtown Fitchburg. It was 96 degrees with a touch of humidity. The course was very simple with a slight uphill to the finish. It was 25 miles in a total of 28 laps. The field was growing smaller with the start of each stage. Colavita was in the green and yellow jerseys so they were the team to let work the race today.

The race started and Colavita rode the front. Anyone who tried to get away was brought back, and they weren’t letting anything go. I tried a few attacks hoping to get riders motivated to race; but it was shut down pretty quickly. It was going to come to a bunch sprint. Now it was time to focus on my pack skills and good positioning for the finish. The speed picked up with two laps to go and riders were starting to pop. One to go, one to go, one to go! The announcer yells to the racers and crowd. It was go go time. I fought my way to the front and fought to keep my position. I came in 15th in the sprint finish. Erica Aller, guest rider for Kenda, won the stage and Cath Cheatly kept the overall. GC did not change too much from today’s crit. I kept my 15th in GC.

All in all it was a good four days of racing and camping. I look forward to coming back next year. Keep it real readers.

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July 3-4 Giro d'Italia Femminile Stages 2 & 3

As can often be the case in the Giro Femminile, the heat is a factor. And being Italy, of course the hotels are typically not air-conditioned, making sleep sometimes difficult. Amber continues to build back her form with a solid TT today, placing 8th. The TT was won by non other than one of the world's best female sprinters, Ina Teutenburg! She continues to prove her amazing versatility!

See this CyclingNews photo of Amber cornering in the bunch in Stage 2

Here is Amber's report:

Whoa it is hot here. Puts Philly to shame. I saw 104 on my SRM while warming up today, and I think it got hotter! Then add humidity and stew. Soggy conditions. Same yesterday. Hydration is critical: Liters in must be Liters out!!!!

Stage 2: With 8 more stages, the heat, and the mountains on the way, we had a fairly mellow 130km, flat race. There were only two significant breaks of non gc threats during the stage. One had 2 riders and one was solo. Neither had any chance of surviving, but they did dangle because the peloton wasn't concerned until the circuits.

The last 30km of the race was a 10km circuit repeated 3x, and once we got there, the action and speed picked up. With another stage on the line for the sprinters, things got fast and crazy. My USA team did a great job of taking the lessons from the previous day and putting them into play today. Winning a sprint here is both skill and art. The art takes a little time to figure out, but Shelley, Theresa, and Carmen are very close to dialing in the final 1km. Shelley finished 4th in the sprint today, improving on her 7th the day before. Meanwhile, there was a huge crash in the front, less than 1k to go, that took out a large portion of the bunch. Thankfully, all of the usa girls avoided it!!

Stage 3: 17km FLAT TT.
I love TT'ing during stage races. Well, I simply love TT'ing. In a stage race, though, the TT is a day to race away from the bunch, and sometimes it is nice to not have to deal with the elbows and chaos that is a normal part of racing.

The course was flat and not ideal for me. However, I never count myself out. When I am going well, I can still compete. I actually had a good ride. And all things considered with my build, the course, and the heat, I am certainly happy with the ride. I hit it hard the entire time. It was really hot, though, and I was wishing I had the special belly cooling/aero devices that some of the others had! BUT c'est la vie… I managed it (the heat) well, and only lost time to 1 GC threat, Judith Arndt. The other usa girls who went for it, Shelley, Mara, and Alison, also rode very well. Mara had a super TT and is set up very well for the mountains. Shelley is hanging around, too, and you never know what could happen. I am feeling stronger every day, and I hope that bodes well for being a useful teammate or team leader when the massive climbing starts the last two days.

Tomorrow appears to be an innocent flat stage, but sometimes those days turn out to be very dangerous. We will be alert for sure!

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July 4 Fitchburg Longsjo Classic Stage 3

Ally continues to enjoy the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic and her camping experience.

Here is Ally's report:

Good evening, I am sitting around the camp fire with a full stomach, my feet up and listening to the fireworks in the distance. Life is pretty good. I am really enjoying Fitchburg, MA. The racing is good and the weather is perfect. I couldn’t ask for anything more.

The TT went as good as it could. I did an early morning spin for about an hour. Came back to camp, made breakfast and headed to the TT start. When I got to the race it was time to focus. I wanted to keep my top 10 GC so I knew I needed to have the TT of my life. I did my warm up and got to the start.

It all happened so fast, I rode as consistent and hard as I could. I passed my 30 second woman and hurt pretty bad when I came across the finish line. I rode around for a bit then checked results. I came in 21st for my TT, putting me at 15th for GC. I know it isn’t a top 10 but I did my best and my TT’s are improving very slowly but surely.

Now back at camp I am focusing on racing the crit tomorrow, keeping in my head to stay safe and ride smart. This race has gone by so fast I wish it was a little longer.

Thanks for reading!

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July 3 Fitchburg Longsjo Classic Stage 2

Ally, our outdoor enthusiast, continues to ride strongly in Fitchburg.

Here is Ally's stage 2 report:

It was a good day to wake up in a tent: we brewed some jpmurph coffee and made oatmeal. I was ready to race. We loaded up our sweet mini van and headed to the race start at the Wachusett Ski Resort. This 6-lap race was a whopping 64 miles. It was pretty much up, up, up, straight up a wall, down hill and rolling then back up again. It was going to be a good day in Massachusetts for a bike race.

Doing all the pre-race things has become pretty easy. This isn’t my first rodeo and it won't be my last. I’m in this for the long run. Commitment.

Ok back to the race, I get all my pre-race things in order and it's time to do the last few things before I head to the start line. Find a bathroom and sign in; ok it's time to get the party going. Racers have become so funny – the race starts in 30 minutes and already a good group of women are lining up. It's 85 degrees out and getting hotter I do not feel the need to go stand in the sun waiting to race a road race. I am very happy with sitting inside sipping my icy cold water bottle.

Race time! The officials called up the top 10 riders and I was very pleased being one of them. The whistle blew and we were off. The race started off slow for the first few minutes and then teams and riders became aggressive hoping to establish a break in the very beginning. Colavita brought their A game and was shutting down anything that did not seem right. Each time up the steepest part of the climb leading into the feed zone the pace was really pushed. I stayed in the top 5 women and each time up the climb we would have a gap. Nothing would stick. The gap was shut down in a very few short minutes.

Since I came to this stage race without teammates, I had to be more aware of other riders around me – people I knew who would be good to be in a break with and or work with if something went up the road. Breaks would go for a little bit but nothing was going to stick. Not until the last lap when Cath Cheatly made her third attack in a row did anything finally stick. She and two riders went up the road. We got a small rotating pace line but we started too late and we only brought the time down by only a few seconds. I came in fifth in the group sprint and eighth in the overall for today’s stage. It was a good day.

Now I am back at camp with my boyfriend. While all the other racers have host housing or a hotel room, we are making gourmet meals over the fire and just relaxing. Pretty much every rider that knows I am camping really thinks I’m crazy. I feel I am just living. Life is pretty good.

Take it easy out there.

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July 2 Fitchburg Longsjo Classic Stage 1

While the rest of the team is recovering from a month-long racing road trip, Ally, now based on the east coast, is racing the Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic in Massachusetts.

Here is Ally's report:

The travel to The Fitchburg Longsjo Classic Stage Race was not the most ideal. What was supposed to be a 4.5-hour car ride turned into an 11-hour drive. We hit every traffic jam from Philadelphia to Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Driving through New York is a nightmare as well. This made for an extremely long day in the car of random conversations, free style hip-hop lyrics, laughs and complete stops on the interstate.

My boyfriend and I rolled into our campsite after 11pm with many tasks at hand. Air mattress- check, tent- check, water- check and sleep- double check! I am so happy it was a late race start for stage 1.

The morning was very pleasant, no rushing around. Just making some of John’s JPMurph cycling coffee and breakfast. There is nothing else like waking up to some JPMurph Coffee! Freshly roasted. I love waking up in the woods there is something incredibly soothing about waking up in the outdoors.

John and I headed to the race; I was fired up for the day (Probably due to the mass consumption of JPMurph coffee). With a great night of sleep and a full belly, the day was going to be good. I am trying to make myself remember something our trusty mechanic Dave Drumm has told me a few times. Off the bike your friends are your friends and on the bike it's game on. Your only friends are your teammates.

Once the race started, the groups kicked off with attacks from the beginning. BMW had a rider off the front on the first lap. Colivita let her go and then began to really race. The Colivita riders made the pace extremely hard trying to shell the field. They won the first, second, and fourth sprint. Those ladies in White with Olive Oil on their jerseys were not slowing down. I followed attacks and worked on my positioning. I was able to keep good positioning towards the front and race aggressive. With the race getting harder, the field growing smaller, and the laps becoming less, I was becoming more confident with myself in the race. I just felt good about everything. Last lap and Colivita was drilling it at the front riding for Catheryn Cheatley to win the stage. I found myself in good positioning going into the last corner and gave a dig to the finish.

Coming in 10th today with the sprint I am very happy with how the day went. Catheryn Cheatley won the stage and other very strong riders followed. The ride back to the tent was extremely pleasant with thoughts of cooking food over the fire and most of all making smores.

The night is winding down, I have had two smores; for those who don’t know what a smore is its: Hershey chocolate bar, gram cracker and a fire roasted marshmellow. Smores are nothing but great race food for the next three days of racing.

Today has been a pretty good day. Thanks for reading… Until tomorrow. Peace.

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July 2 Giro d'Italia Femminile Stage 1

Amber Neben went straight from Bend, OR to Italy for the Giro d'Italia Femminile to race with the US National team.

Here is Amber's report for the first stage:

The American team for the Giro is Mara, Shelley, and Sinead from PB2012, Carmen and Theresa from Colavita, Alison and Amanda from TIBCO, and me (Webcor!)

We started this year's Giro with a short 55km stage (from Muggia to Trieste) instead of a prologue. Having raced in Italy before and knowing that (a) the circuit was flat and short, (b) everyone was fresh and nervous, and (c) the winner was guaranteed to be in the pink jersey, I totally expected craziness, chaos, and speed. I was joking with the other American veteran in the peloton (Kim Anderson) at breakfast about what was to come. Her comment was that we better put our diapers on. Well said…At least for the majority of us non-bunch-finish specialists.

I am happy to say that goals #1 and #2 were accomplished for the American team. We all stayed safe and nobody lost time. The 3rd goal was to try for a stage win with our sprinter, Shelley. We didn't get that, but we will go for it again tomorrow.

Other than those details, there is not a lot to say. There were no breaks, a handful of crashes, and we finished in about 1:20.

The good news is that we are out of our no star housing. I am hoping that the next place will not require me to wade through a flooded bathroom in my flip flops! We are driving now. Tomorrow's stage is 132km of flat racing again.

Ciao, Ciao!!

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Link to June race reports
Link to May race reports
Link to March-April race reports