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

June 27 Austrian National Elite Road Race Championship

Sunday was a busy day with Webcor riders competing in their national championships in three different countries! Andrea had the longest trip – all the way to Austria. It was a worthwhile one though as she came through with the big victory!

Here she is on the podium

Here is Andrea's report:

Austrian Road Championships - victory!!!

...about 2 "cancelled" nights, Austrian race organisation, a clear lead and a narrow victory

With a disappointing Nature Valley GP, a flight delay with a chaos-night at Denver`s airport ont my way home from Minneapolis to Sacramento, and only two days at home in El Dorado Hills… I didn`t feel like it would be worth spending another two traveling days, another sleepless night on the plane to go to Austria trying to gain the Austrian Road Title.

However… flight was booked, family and friends were waiting for my arrival… I found myself on the plane from San Francisco to London and then London to Munich only two days after my arrival home from Nature Valley and only two days before our national championships. This time flights were on time and except for crying babys right, left, in front and behind me all the 12 hours of flying time (I guess it must have been 20 kids at least ;) my journey went well. Without any sleep I arrived in Munich friday noon, and forced myself to stay awake and get on my bike immediatley. After training and a great massage from my friend I felt better (but tired). Saturday was a traveling day to Oberösterreich – through half of Austria!!! (which seems not that far after spending half a year in the US!), race preparation and making up sleeping time.

Sunday`s race included almost 2000 meters of difference in altitude on three laps of 38 km. There was one long climb each lap and a steep 500m climb 1k before the finish line. Honestly I didn't feel that great on race day, and my feeling didn't get better when everyone told me how much the level of Austria's women's cycling had improved this year. Although I am not the same strong rider I've been yet, everyone seemed to watch me during the race. But teams were much more balanced this year, and whereas I competed as a soloist against one dominant team with more than 10 riders in past years, it was a really colourful-mixed-jerseys-peloton this year. Also for me it was the first time having teammates from my Austrian club since 2005 (the last time I won the title).

In the beginning of the race, weaker riders of teams attacked, and as I had to concentrate on the strongest, I didn`t go with these attacks. In the middle of the race, three of these riders were three minutes in front and although we knew these were not the strongest, we began to chase (wouldn't have been the first time with surprising Austrian champions). Immediately after we caught the thee, another girl attacked and one of my teammates went with her, and as nobody worked in the peloton they again made a lot of time immediately. In the last long climb 15 km before the finish I went full speed, made up two minutes to the leading girls and could catch them at the top of the mountain. Unfortunately my teammate couldn't follow and so we were two in front.

In the long downhill and flat section the group behind us caught up again, but at this time I was already confident for having a good hill-top-finish as I was the strongest on the long climb. So I waited till the 1000m and gave all I had in this 500m-climb. Nobody could follow and I had a huge gap with 400 flat meters to go… For some reason my legs (not me!) wanted to make the decision more exiting for the spectators – and for the first time in my cycling-life, my legs suddenly cramped. I saw the finish line in front of me and it seemed I couldn't reach it anymore… the girls behind me came closer and closer… somehow I managed to do some more pedal-turns and then rolled over the finish line – as the winner – only twp seconds before the silver-medalist!

It was great!

I expected nothing and won it all! My first victory since I won Mailand`s UCI-race in the beginning of March 2008!!! Besides all my joy of the win, I was soon aware again why I don't really miss Austrian racing: my name was never mentioned by the announcer – not even when I crossed the finish line first, there was no winner`s interview, no national anthem. I couldn't believe they didn't forget the champion's jersey at the winner's ceremony… not that I don't like green, but I am so excited to wear my red-and-white jersey for another year. (but I promise I'll still "go green" :)

Thanks WEBCOR (and my Austrian Radteam NÖ), for making my successful participation – far away from my temporary home – possible.

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June 27 Canadian National Elite Road Race Championship

The Candian contingent of the Webcor team, Erinne and Joelle, raced their national championship road race yesterday. It was a great day for the team – for the 3rd time, Erinne helped a Webcor teammate win the coveted Maple Leaf jersey!

See these CanadianCyclist.com photos

Here is Erinne's report:

This year the Canadian National Championships were held in Edmonton, Alberta which is a town up north and along a river valley. Therefore the course which we did nine laps of, had a loop around the city park and then we went up the river valley hill three times at three different locations with 180-degree turns at the top to take us straight back down. It was a good little course; the loop around the park was flat, the first hill was steeper and one minute long, the second and third climbs were more gradual and about two minutes long.

The Webcor team consisted of Joelle and I (Erinne) and our super staff Jeremy! (Also, my husband Tony flew out last minute and was riding around cheering!

The big teams or competition were Tara Whitten, the Futuroscope team which held Julie Beveridge, Anne Samplonius, Nanoblur, Total Restoration, Cascades and the Ontario and BC teams.

Off the start line Lex Albrecht from Cascades rolled off the front and once she noticed she had a gap she started a solo break. She eventually got 3.5 minutes and was going really strong for five laps. On the sixth and seventh lap she started to lose time and only got caught with 2.5 laps to go. During that time, there were several attacks that were intermittent but nobody put down a team chase and nobody kept the attacks going. The course was hard, but unfortunately every hill was short and had a descent immediately after that also descended the same road. Therefore, nobody was getting away or out of sight.

I threw in two big attacks about half way through the race, but I didn’t have the legs today to break it apart and nobody seemed too interested in keeping moves going. I guess everyone thought they were sprinters… Anyhow, we could tell pretty early that it was going to be a sprint finish and with three laps to go I focused my efforts on keeping the field together or only working in moves that made the major competition chase me. Joelle was able to mostly rest for the last three laps except for once when she covered a hard counter from something that I had been in. She did a great job of being attentive and patient. On the last lap up the second of the three climbs, Anne and Tara put in the last attack. I chased them back on the descent and then kept an easy pace up 3/4 of the final climb. Then a BC Team girl took over at the front and I decided to attack up and over the overpass and into the final descent. I was hoping this would make Tara or the BC Team chase me. Julie Beveridge bridged up to me and by the bottom of the descent we were caught.

At this point we were just out of 1 km to go so I decided to stay at the front and put my head down for as long as I could. I didn’t want the group to bunch up again and I knew behind me that Joelle was more than capable of finding her own position and we wanted to keep the finish fast and safe. I took the group to about 600-700 metres to go and when I was done at the front, a BC team rider, Steph Rhorda took over the leadout ( for Alison Testroete). Guess who was on her wheel though? Yes Joelle!!! It was really perfect. Steph took them around the last corner to about 250meters to go and then Joelle started her sprint and never let up and even had a gap by the finish. Arms up!!! Canadian Champ!!! Yippeee!!!!

Joelle was ecstatic! The only bummer was that Joelle is very bad at urinating on demand… yes she took hours in the doping control and was the last one to finally get enough millilitres. I officially say she failed that part of the day! The only good part of it was the fact that we didn’t have time to eat so when we got to the airport we had a big feast of burgers and fries!!! mmmmmm

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June 27 US National Elite Road Race Championship

Also yesterday, the US Webcor contingent of Katheryn, Amber, Lindsay and Ally raced the US national championship road race in Bend. It was the same course as last year but a comfortable 75-80 degrees, which was about 25 degrees cooler than last year. The course is not a pure climbers' course nor a sprinters' course, but a true all-around course where the riders make it hard!

With only four Americans on the team, Webcor was definitely outnumbered and had to race fairly conservatively, especially the first 3/4 of the race. The team did what they could but in the end it was not our day.

Here is Katheryn's report:

An 8:10am start time is never fun although at least in Bend, the sun was up before we were as we made our way to the start of our 113k race. The course would be the same as last year, four laps on a 28k loop that was far from flat but not mountainous.

We had a short 2k neutral roll-out and as soon as the gun went off, attacks started flying. A small break of two riders got about a minute on the peloton but was brought back just after the feedzone. Things seemed mellow for the most part going up the steeper of the two climbs before another group of four got away including two Tibco riders Megan Guarnier and Devon Haskell. They quickly gained time on the group and it was Peanut Butter who put in a strong chase at the base of the feedzone climb. Again, the pace up the second climb was not too bad and when we reached the top and turned right, things got fast and furious with attacks. The first break was caught and eventually Robin Farin (Vera Bradley), Rebecca Much (Tibco) and Rachel Warner (BMW-Bianchi) dislodged themselves off the group; their gap would eventually grow to over 2:30.

The third time up the second climb, Evelyn Stevens (HTC) went to the front and strung it out to reduce the time to the escapees. She managed to take almost two minutes off their advantage. After we crested the top of the climb Kat Carroll (Peanut Butter) attacked to bridge up to leaders, I followed, but unfortunately Colavita was not happy to have missed this so they brought us back. I tried a couple more times to bridge up to the leaders, but had no success. The three up front continued to dangle just ahead of the dwindling peloton and as we hit the feedzone climb for the last time, they were reabsorbed.

Mara Abbott (Peanut Butter) went to the front and put in a hard pull that strung things out and Amber was in good position while I was a bit too far back and got gapped off. Fortunately Alison Starnes (Tibco) was motivated to be with the group and pulled us and a few other riders back up. I did not work my way up far enough when we hit the final climb up Arche Briggs and had to put in a big effort to get to the front. Unfortunately, Mara and Evie went to the front and put in a strong effort and forced a selection of five – the other three being Janel Holcomb, Carmen Small (Colavita) and recent winner of the US Nationals Crit, Shelley Evens. I was gassed at this point and could not get my legs to go any harder.

There were a few attempts by some riders to close the gap to the lead five but they were gone. Janel eventually ended up getting dropped by the leaders and caught by my group, which Amber was also in.

Peanut Butter had the huge advantage of having two riders in the break of four and in the end, Mara attacked the break with about 2km to go and ended up winning with her teammate Shelley 2nd. Carmen was 3rd, Evie 4th and Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Colavita) won the bunch kick for 5th.

Amber did a great job of being well positioned but is still finding that her top end acceleration is still not exactly where she wants it to be. She now heads over to Europe with the US National Team to do the Women's Giro.

Lindsay and Ally were present at the front the first two laps and took pressure off Amber and I the early part of the race.

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June 25 Canadian National Elite Time Trial Championship

One more national championship update: the Canadian time trial championships! Canada has the odd rule that for national championships, only riders on Canadian Provincial teams and UCI registered trade teams are allowed to have their team cars follow them in the time trial (and in the road race). This rule leaves out Webcor. Erinne and Joelle had solid rides with Erinne coming in 4th, quite close in time to the win, which brings on the inevitable "coulda shoulda" thoughts. For the most part though in a time trial, one has to be satisfied that if you could have gone faster, you would have!

Here is Joelle's report:

It was sunny and warm on Thursday for the National time trial race. The main goal for Erinne and I was to qualify for a spot on the worlds time trial team since this was the only tt that is taken into consideration for those spots. Erinne already had a few good results in the tt at other races this year, so she was confident of a good finish here.

The top ten riders were starting at 2-minute intervals, making it more difficult for the top riders since they could not see the rider starting before them. Also, we didn’t have a follow vehicle, being a non-uci team, to relay times to us as we rode, giving us a disadvantage over other teams.

Erinne put in a solid ride and placed just out of the top three even with the disadvantage of not knowing her time as she rode and was 18 seconds out of first place. For a 20k time trial this was a solid result. I finished 9th at one minute and fourteen seconds out of first and felt that that was my best effort.

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June 25 US National Under-23 Criterium Championship

For the first time in many years, the elite women's criterium was held at the same time and venue as the national time trial and road race. Also for the first time in many years, the Under-23 race and Elite race were held simultaneously for the women, meaning the first U23 rider across the line in the elite race was the U23 national champ. This made for a very different (and much faster) race for the U23 riders than the relatively small field they raced in the past few years when the races were separate. Lindsay is the only U23 rider on Webcor this year and is getting her form back after her injury, so we knew she had a good chance to place among the U23 riders and Ally was there to help her. Katheryn and Amber decided to use the extra day to recover from the TT and get ready for the RR (and avoid the high crash potential of a national criterium championship!).

Lindsay rode in good position the whole race but was unfortunately on the wrong side of the split caused by a crash with 1 1/2 laps to go. She ended up 7th of the U23 riders. The U23 winner was Sam Schneider, last years' defending champion who was 5th overall in the race. The Elite champ was Shelly Evans, who is proving to be the top US sprinter lately both in road races and criteriums.

Here is Lindsay's report:

On Friday night, Ally and I saddled up to do some crit racing in Bend, Oregon for national championships. The course is the same criterium course used for Cascade Classic, so we had both previously raced the course. It is 4-corner rectangle through downtown Bend, all flat, definitely a drag race to the finish.

Since it was just Ally and I, we had to use our matches wisely as the other major teams had full squads. Vera Bradley and Tibco both rode very aggressively, sending riders on the attack. There were no breaks that gained more than 15 seconds on the field, and mostly it was riders soloing off the front. There were enough strong teams that wanted it to come to a field sprint so there was no point in making a huge effort to bridge to a break or attack on my own. So, both Ally and I did a good job of surfing around in the top 20 and following attacks. Unfortunately, about ¾ of the way through the race, Ally went down in a slow motion crash leading into one of the corners. After a quick bike change, she was back at it.

At 1.5 laps to go, there was a major crash on the corner before the finishing straightaway. This crash took out Brooke Miller, one of the favorites for the race. There was a separation in the field because of the crash and on the last lap I was left with a gap to close to the 10 or so leaders. I couldn't muster up enough umph to get up there and finished around 20th position… safely!

Ally and I had a good time out there racing with a bunch of crit racers. It was definitely a good prep for Cascade crit!

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June 24 US National Elite Time Trial Championship

The American contingent of the Webcor Cycling team is here in beautiful Bend, OR for the national championships. Yesterday was the time trial. Amber showed she is well on her way back to peak form after her injury by placing a strong 2nd place behind Evelyn Stevens of Columbia HTC. Mara Abbott was 3rd.

See this CyclingNews photo of Amber on the podium

Here is Amber's report:

Amber Neben on the podium in Bend, OR. Photo by Karen Brems

National Championship Time Trial: Bend, Oregon 19miles

Here is my race report… and because it is a TT… it is pretty much just about me… hopefully, I will have more green TEAM stuff to write about on Sunday.

It has been a few years since I have had a chance to race my National Championships. When I made a race plan back in the winter, I thought a peak for nationals and the Giro would be a good change. However, racing life sometimes creates the need to be flexible, adapt, and overcome. And… I would like to think that I am pretty good with… being…flexible, adapting, and overcoming.

I did my best to make the most of nationals. It came a little bit earlier than I would have preferred, but I was still able to come back with some form to fight.

The American contingent of Webcor flew from Minneapolis to Bend on Monday. That gave us a couple of days to settle into our host houses and to see the course. I was thankful to have the two days to scope out the course, since I had yet to race it. Everyone else had either raced it at Nationals last year or at the Cascade Classic. I used Tuesday and Wednesday to recover from NVGP, get some leg speed, keep the engine firing, and take a technical look at the course. There was actually a lot to do, but I managed to get prepared.

The race itself went well for me. I do not think I could have asked for more, although I did want to win. I went out with a good strategy and was able to carry it out. I hit the first section that was uphill well, and then I tried to hang on coming back down. I did my best to keep my speed rolling and minimize my losses. If the race was only back to the corner where the “lollipop” started, I think I would have been close. However, I struggled a little to finish the race. I think the last 15’ish minutes were indicative of my lack of race fitness. However, I fought hard all the way back to the finish, including safely avoiding a semi truck-trailer that snuck onto the closed course and was about to turn right in front of me.

I crossed the line and was in first place, but since I was one of the first to go, I had to wait until the rest of the field finished. I actually stayed in the hot seat, or hot patch of sidewalk, until the very end. Evie was the last to start and finished with the fastest time knocking me into second. (FYI She had a fantastic ride, and I give her all the kudos. I am sure she will win many more race titles as she progresses into her career.) I finished with the silver, and I am happy that I am continuing to progress, and I am anxious to play in the road race.

As for my green mates, they are also fresh and ready for the Road Race, (or crit tonight for U23 Lindsay.) Katheryn probably wishes she ate something different for dinner. Her TT was derailed by some bad food. Ally is gaining valuable experience with every race, including her TT with the elites yesterday. Lindsay chose to save her legs for the U23 crit and road race… And the staff… our great staff… was excellent as usual.

Alrighty… off to go watch the crit. Road Race is Sunday.

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June 20 Nature Valley Grand Prix Stage 6

The final stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix is the Stillwater Criterium, which is really more of a hilly circuit race than a crit! Erinne started the day only 0.06 sec. behind Ruth Corset in 4th place. There were no time bonuses at the finish, so to move onto the GC podium, she had to gap Ruth in the finish by at least 1 sec. Interestingly, this race awarded extra large time bonuses in the flat stages (above the limit of 10 sec), had no time bonuses in the hilly stages and disallowed TT bikes in the TT. It seemed the sprinters were given every possible advantage!

The team rode a great race, and the race overall was exciting in that the leader's jersey changed every day! Erinne did gap Ruth in the finish by about two bike lengths, and was awarded 3rd overall in the podium ceremony based on printed results, but the results on the website today show her in 4th with no time gap at the finish – we are still investigating.

See this CyclingNews photo of Amber on the hill

Here is Erinne's report:

The Stillwater Crit at the Nature Valley Stage Race is well known to be a very selective and hard day of racing. The circuit is very cool and sits in downtown Stillwater where we finish up this major hard hill of about 20%. The spectators are out in full force on the steep hill and it’s quite the rush. We had 13 laps of a few miles each and the race is less than an hour long but GC is always shuffled on this day and yesterday was to be no exception.

The day before, Linda from Columbia had taken the yellow jersey from Shelly Evans and when I was standing on the start line beside Shelly, she proceeded to tell me that she was not happy with 2nd and that we were going to race today! Well that was fine with Webcor too! We wanted to race hard as well knowing there was still chance to move up on GC. I had done a big effort the day before and my legs had felt good so I was hoping I had one more day in me.

Of course the race started hard from the gun and didn’t really let up. Webcor was up at the front showing our presence. Eventually about half way through, a break formed with Evelyn Stevens (HTC), Shelly Evans (Peanut Butter), Ruth Corset (Tibco) and Cath Cheatly (Colavita). The team immediately looked for me (I had gone into the steep hill a little too far back and didn’t make the break) and brought me about half way to the break and then I attacked and bridged up to the four. So it was now five of us up front, but I was pretty spent from my bridge. Anyhow, I knew it was a good break, so I took my pulls but eventually I got popped on the steep section of the hill, which I think is when Evelyn attacked. Luckily I had teammates coming up behind me and I jumped on their train. Up front Evelyn had attacked the break solo, Ruth and Cath were together and Shelly was coming back to our now small group. Amber and Mara (Peanut Butter) went to the front and successfully brought back Ruth and Cath, but Evelyn stayed away. Mara was giving it all she had in order to keep Evelyn close enough so she didn’t take over the lead. So, Evelyn won the stage with 14 seconds but finished 2nd in GC. Shelly won our group kick and succeeded in getting the yellow jersey back.

Ruth and I were battling it out on the final climb and initially I was given a one second lead over her which put me into 3rd in GC but this morning it seems the organizers may have taken my one second away and have moved me back down to 4th in GC. So yesterday I got onto the podium with the preliminary results but I’m not sure what the official word is. Either way, we did a great race and we also won team competition for the day since we had myself, Amber and Joelle in the final group.

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June 19 Nature Valley Grand Prix Stage 5

Saturday was a new stage for the Nature Valley Grand Prix, and the first road race since the Cannon Falls stage was cancelled due to tornadoes. Jeremy, our team soigneur who lives in St. Paul, had pre-ridden it a couple of weeks ago to give us the inside scoop and said it was a good one! Lots of rolling hills. It was a great team race and Erinne won the stage and moved up to 4th on GC.

CyclingNews photo of the win
Erinne going into the finish

Here is Erinne's report:

Today was the new Menomonie Road Race. In previous years we had the Mankato stage that was pretty unselective until the final circuits and then had a major climb in the finishing circuit. This year the new Menomonie course was a total 76 miles and rolling the whole way with lots of turns. We had two intermediate sprints that did not have time bonuses and four QOMs along the way. The 2nd and 3rd QOM were the most significant and close together so we knew those were going to be a good time to get away. Team plan was to of course, move up on GC and win a stage. Team plan accomplished!!!

In the beginning 32 miles we had Andrea, Lindsay and Ally doing a great job of covering moves and making sure Webcor was represented. Vera Bradly was being aggressive and sending riders up the road which made Peanut Butter have to roll through at the front to protect Shelly Evan's lead. On the second QOM, the field was together and Ruth Corset (Tibco) attacked on the climb which spread out the field. From then Columbia kept the pace high between the 2nd and 3rd QOM and the field continued to be strung out.

On the 3rd QOM, I was among five riders who crested the top, but we didn’t work together so we were soon caught by a small group of about 10 riders including Joelle and Amber. People attacked and Amber and Joelle both went with moves and then I countered one of the moves and got off on my own. Soon, Linda Villumsen bridged up to me and immediately we both started working together. Back in the small group, Shelly Evans was pretty isolated from her teammates at the moment and she had to chase Linda and me with her only teammate Mara Abbott. Linda and I were slowly gaining when eventually our time gap jumped to 1:40 seconds.

I gather that this is when the field finally caught the group of 10, and at this point Peanut Butter was getting organized to start a team chase, because then our time gap started to go down. Linda and I were working well together and we hit the circuits with only about 40 seconds and we knew we had to drive it in order to stay away. The circuits were pretty flat but were three miles around and we had four laps to do, meaning we still had 12 miles and only a 40-second lead. We put our heads down and went for time. In the end, we were away for about 55km and finished with a 26-second lead over the field and I won the stage! I moved into 4th on GC and Linda into the yellow jersey. Shelly Evans dropped down to 2nd in GC. Also, when the field came in Joelle got 2nd in the field sprint and finished 4th on the day.

It was a great team day!

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June 18 Nature Valley Grand Prix Stage 4

The Webcor team was disappointed to miss yesterday's road stage due to the bad weather, but given the conditions, everyone agreed that the organizers and officials made the right call cancelling the stage. This meant that next up on the agenda was another criterium in Minneapolis. Joelle finished a strong 5th place in a rather chaotic field sprint.

See this CyclingNews photo of Joelle near the front.

Here is Lindsay's report:

Lindsay is active in the crit. Photo by Sean Huntley

After an unexpected rest day due to several tornado touchdowns in the area, we were back to racing last night for the Uptown Minneapolis criterium. The course was a 1.4-mile pancake flat "L" shape. The racing starts thirty minutes before the gun actually goes off as people start fighting for position on the start line. Just like the Stage 2 criterium, there were time bonuses every seven of the 28 laps. There were no tornadoes in sight for this race; it was a beautiful evening in Minnesota. This was another evening race, not starting until 6:15. Shelley Evans (Peanut Butter & Co) was only two seconds out of the yellow jersey, so if she picked up the time bonuses, she could move into the leader's jersey.

Peanut Butter kept the pace high for the first seven laps and Shelley snagged the first time bonus and became the "virtual leader." She went ahead and got the other time bonuses just for good measure as well. Webcor did a good job of being present in the front of the race and covering attacks. Erinne put in a solid attack and rolled through with a small breakaway but nothing lasted more than about half a lap. While the race was very aggressive and speedy, there were no breakaways and we came to a field sprint with Chloe Hosking (Columbia-HTC) crossing the line first. We are driving now to the long road race and we are ready for a hard, aggressive day.

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June 16 Nature Valley Grand Prix Stage 2

The Nature Valley Grand Prix starts full on with a double day the first day. The evening stage is another criterium. There was a lot of fighting for position in the last lap and Joelle missed the podium by a few inches, finishing in 5th place.

Here is Erinne's report:

Last night was the second stage of the Nature Valley Stage Race. We had a crit in downtown St. Paul. It was completely flat with 5 turns and some cobble sections. The finish stretch had a left hand corner and then about 400m to the finish. Unfortunately the winter in St. Paul was really bad, and the roads were in very poor condition around many of the corners which caused a higher than normal amount of crashes.

Anyhow, we had 28 laps to do of a 1.4-mile course and there were 3 sprints (every 7 laps) each with time bonuses and sprint points. The finish also had time bonuses of 15, 10, and 6 seconds. Therefore, the race was fast and the sprints were important.

Our goal for the day was to be represented in all breaks and have Joelle either in a break or sprinting at the finish. The race was fast with Colavita and HTC-Columbia being the most aggressive and Peanut Butter and Tibco either chasing or sitting on. Webcor was being represented and attacking when opportunities were good. Shelley Evans won all three intermediate sprints and was third in the finish, which moved her into second in GC. Joelle did a great job of being on the trains at the finish and considering the fact that she didn’t feel very good, she still finished 5th in the sprint.

Katheryn got tangled in a crash with Jessica Phillips at 5 laps to go and wasn’t allowed back in the race but was given pack time. Everybody else stayed upright and finished in the field. Cloe Hoskins from HTC-Columbia won the sprint and Theresa Cliff-Ryan from Colavita was second. There was not much change in the GC besides Shelly moving into second.

As I’m writing this a day late, we’ve already been and come back from our Cannon Falls Start line for Stage 3. And yes it was only a start line as the race just got cancelled because of extreme weather warnings of tornadoes, thunder storms, lightning and major wind!

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June 16 Nature Valley Grand Prix Stage 1

The whirlwind month of June racing continues with the 5-day, 6-stage Nature Valley Grand Prix in Minneapolis, MN. This is also the 3rd race in the women's prestige series. The races opened with a Time Trial "Merkx style" - ie. with no TT equipment allowed. The stage was won by Tibco's Alison Starnes, followed by HTC-Columbia teammates Linda Villumsen and Evelyn Stevens. Some riders time trial relatively better on road bikes and some better on TT bikes, so the results were slightly shuffled from what one might normally expect, but it was still a time trial and the strongest riders still finished near the top. Katheryn and Amber finished 13th and 16th respectively around 30 sec. down on the winner.

See these CyclingNews photos of:
Erinne in action
Amber

Here is Katheryn's report:

After a successful race up in Ottawa, riders and staff made the trip to Minnesota for the Nature Valley Grand Prix. Dave and Jeremy had the 'fun' task of doing the 20+ hour drive and did a great job of packing things up and hitting the road soon after the race finished on Sunday; they arrived at their host house well before 12 on Tuesday, plenty of time for us to pre-ride the TT course.

The five Webcor riders (Joelle, Erinne, Andrea, Amber, and Katheryn) who raced in Canada were joined by Ally and Lindsay and it was nice to have the team together again (minus Gina, who we miss and are happy that she is getting her health taken care of).

The TT course was a 6.0-mile course that took the riders out a flat and fast section before making a turn through a parking lot and returned on the same road, going past the start line and making our way up about a 200ft .5-mile climb.

This would be the third year using this exact course although the biggest change from years past would be the restriction to using only road bikes, no tt helmets or disc wheels (although many teams with wheel sponsors that had deep deep dish wheels could use them). It was definitely a bummer not to use our wicked fast tt bikes, especially before nationals but the race promoter wanted to level the playing field with smaller teams not having access to tt equiptment.

Full official results are not posted, only top 3, but the Webcor riders left nothing behind when tackling this first stage. I can say for myself that I am still getting my legs back after L'Aude (I joke with people that they got delayed in France and were seen by others going around and around on the baggage belt!). Hopefully now that they are somewhat back they can get over being left and the jetlag, ha!

We are now resting up for a fast and furious crit in downtown St. Paul this evening.

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June 13 Grand Prix Gatineau

The CyclingNews photo says it all.

The Webcor team scored a major victory against an international field in La Grande Visite de Gatineau. The race was very aggressive – especially for a course that was quite flat. The Webcor team never missed a critical move and the whole team was at the front covering and initiating attacks the whole race. In the end, Joelle proved to herself what the rest of the team has known for a while: she was the fastest sprinter in the field!

Here is Joelle's report:

Joelle has the winner's trophy. Photo by Karen Brems

After the cancelllation of Montreal`s World Cup, Canada managed to organize another UCI 1.1 race within a few months. Gatineau was hosting this first edition of a 100-kilometer race on eight loops around the city.

We had a strong team at the start with Amber, Katheryn, Erinne, Andrea and me and had all possibilities in this race – either getting in a break or preparing a bunch sprint with Joelle – both possibilities we felt confident in.

The start was real fast even if the course wasn’t selective. Columbia and Tibco were very aggressive. My Webcor teammates were covering all the attacks and only working if the breakaway was the right mix and we were happy with it. That allowed me, as a sprinter, to take it easy until the end of the race.

In the last 3 km, Columbia started a lead-out. We had 180 degree roundabout with 300m to go. The plan was to be first or second wheel out of the roundabout. I got on the Columbia train and it was perfect. I had a free ride to the roundabout, the crash was behind me and I was able to sprint to the finish without interference from the crash.

This was a very exciting day for me and the team. I was especially happy to win in my home province and I hope the race happens again next year!

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June 12 Gatineau Time Trial

North America gained two new UCI races this year with La Grande Visite de Gatineau. When the Montreal World Cup was cancelled earlier this year, the Gatineau organizers went straight to work and miraculously pulled off a UCI 1.2 TT and a UCI 1.1 Road Race for the women in about two months time! The event was well run and the race organization extremely helpful to all the teams. We all hope this event will stay on the calendar for many years to come and hopefully achieve World Cup status eventually.

Webcor had three riders for the TT. It was a straight, flat course that rewarded raw power! Evelyn Stevens from HTC-Columbia smoked the field, beating her teammate Linda Villumsen by 11 sec. and 3rd place Alison Starnes (Tibco) by 44 sec. After that, the times were all pretty close for the next 15 places or so. Amber, coming back after injury, was 7th; Erinne 11th; and Katheryn 13th

See these CyclingNews photos of:
Amber
Erinne

Here is Amber's report:

Erinne in the TT. Photo by Rob Jones, canadiancyclist.com

Erinne, Katheryn, and I raced the first ever Gatineau TT on Saturday. It was 17.8km. Essentially, we went straight out on a closed 4-lane highway, made a 180 degree turn, and then came straight back on the other half of the highway...w/ a round-a-bout 180 turn 300m from the finish. There is not a lot to say about the race. Go fast. Go hard :)

I don't know what was in the other girls' heads, but probably something similar. I can say that I am rebuilding from my injury and layoff, so I am trying to stay patient and positive. Right now, my brain remembers what I should feel like at this time of the year, while my legs and body feel a little bit like January. Things are coming along, though, and I am really happy and excited to be racing again! And, I actually had a good ride for where I am right now. My head was focused, and my rhythm was good for the limited amount of recent time that I've spent at my limit.

The road race was even more fun, and our teamwork was excellent, but I will let Joelle tell you about the victory. The first of many for her.

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June 6 TD Bank Liberty Classic

The TD Bank Liberty Classic in Philadelphia is always affectionately known as "Philly." This is the biggest 1-day race for women in the US and has been going on since 1994. In 17 years (I have been there for 14 of them!), it has seen many title sponsors come and go, but the course always remains the same. This is also the only UCI-sanctioned race in the US. Typically it is a race for the sprinters and most of the winners have been German (7 wins for Petra Rossner and 4 for Ina Teutenburg). The strongest sprinters always seem to be able to make it over the infamous Manayunk wall, which is a steep climb of about 1 km – sometimes even faster than the climbers on the last lap!

With Gina unfortunately unable to race due to the irregular heart rate issues she has been struggling with this spring, Webcor had a smaller, but nonetheless strong team of 5 riders. Joelle finished a strong 6th place out of a select group of 22 riders at the finish containing some of the world's best sprinters. This was only her 2nd time racing here and the first time she was contesting the final sprint. The rest of the ream rode aggressively and Erinne made the only real break of the day, being off the front by up to about 1 minute for most of the 3rd lap. Ina Teutenburg (Columbia HTC) won the race for the 2nd year in a row, followed by Americans Shelly Evans (Peanut Butter) and Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Colavita).

Here's a CyclingNews photo of Erinne off the front, and
Katheryn on the attack.

Here is Amber Neben's report:

Erinne, Katheryn, Joelle, Andrea, and I raced the Liberty Classic earlier today. And... I could just say...yada yada yada, then a sprint finish from a group of about 20, but that probably wouldn't inspire the masses... So...

We started early – 9am (6am west coast time). It was already African hot. In fact, I have not stopped sweating. Thankfully, (b/c of the danger,) the rain stayed away, and the wind wasn't too bad.

The race was typical Philly from the gun: a big mass of riders with a wide range of ability and experience on a mission to be the first one onto the wall. I was not. However, I was close enough to be with the main front group. I think Katheryn went for the sprint. It didn't really matter, though, b/c everything was back together on the main road.

Lap 2 was more of the same.

Lap 3 was a bit more entertaining. Katheryn launched on the long, flat road going out to the wall. She got a little group away, but the bunch was too fast in pursuit behind. I tried to help Joelle be in good position before the right turn onto the wall, while Erinne and Andrea were nearby. After the climb Katheryn and Andrea put in good attacks on the flat road headed back to the S/F. Again, nothing was going to stay away. We hit the Strawberry climb, and both Erinne and I had the same idea. I was attacking on the right, while she was going on the left. She pulled back. I kept going... then surged again a little over the top into the flattish, cross wind section...sat up and THEN BAM Erinne went flying out of the bunch. HUGE attack and a big gap immediately. A couple riders tried to get across initially, but they did not. Once Erinne was gone, the bunch was content to look at the teams w/ the sprinters.

Peanut Butter & Co 2012 did most of the work chasing. Tibco and Emilia (from HTC) also chimed in a little. And unfortunately, we caught Erinne just before the wall. Her valiant effort would only take her so far...ahhh ... Great effort and risk. If she had one or two other riders with her, she may have stayed away.

After the last time up the wall, I think Joelle and I had about 22 riders in our group. I reminded Joelle to stay alert while I covered the attacks. Then, going into the final km, I dropped Joelle onto the HTC - Peanut Butter 2012 combo train. She knew what to do, and I was too cooked to do anything more for her.

The sprint was quite technical with the wind, and I think Ina's experience won the race for her. Joelle was in the mix though. She'll get it. She rode very well all day...good position on the climbs...and great effort at the finish.

The team plan for the day involved staying out of trouble, keeping Joelle in good position for the wall, animating things on the third lap, and then guns blazing for the final 500m showdown.

I think we did a pretty good job. Everyone played a part.

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June 5-6 Mt. Hood Cycling Classic Stages 3 & 4

Lindsay and Ally had a few mishaps at the Mt. Hood Stage Race, but overall, it was a good, hard race and good training! They will be ready to join the rest of the team at Nature Valley next week!

Here is Lindsay's report:

The profile for Stage 3 looked daunting to say the least. After descending for 20 miles, we had a short bit of flat then we started going up and never really finished. The stage finished at the Mt. Hood ski area.

Because the stage did not start and finish in the same location, we were to load up in a bus with our bikes in a trailer to drive to the start. We had about a half hour drive to the start and it was just enough time to get in a pre race nap. As we were unloading the bikes, Ally noticed a crack in the seat stay on her frame...about one minute before we were supposed to roll out and start racing. There was nothing to do and the official would not allow her to race because of liability...it was a pretty nasty crack. Ally was able to get a ride back to the cars where we would eventually be finishing.

The race went by pretty uneventfully. Attacking was futile as everything was being chased down and we all knew it would just be attrition up the 35 mile climb to the finish. And attrition it was. Going into the last 5k there was a group of about 15 and from there it was just a drag to the finish line. We had pre driven the last 5k and from the car, I thought “oh hey, this isn't too bad, not steep at all.” ...well, it was a little more tough on two wheels than four. The finish line finally came and I ended up 9th.

The Hood River criterium was deemed to not be part of GC because the weather was so nasty. So the crit was optional, and most of the girls chose the option that was a little less wet. Unfortunately Ally was bikeless so she was not able to race. The course was very technical...especially when it's pouring. Things were fast and strung out right from the beginning, everybody had the same thought that on the front was the safest place. Everything was going great until about 30 minutes in when a girl slid out in front of me. I really had nowhere to go but into her or into the tree and sidewalk. I opted for the sidewalk. It took me too long to get up in order to use the free lap, so I just sat on the sidewalk and watched the rest of the pandemonium and the race dwindle down to less than ten finishers.

All mishaps and mechanicals aside, Ally and I had a blast at the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic. I hope this is a race we can do as a team in the future! Thanks for reading.

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June 3-4 Mt. Hood Cycling Classic Stages 1 & 2

Webcor team members, Lindsay and Ally are in Hood River, OR for the 4-day Mt. Hood Classic stage race.This is an epic race known for its climbing, beautiful scenery and inclement weather! Stage 1 ended in a field sprint with Lindsay finishing safely in the main group and Ally unfortunately losing time due to a mechanical.

Here is their report:

While some of our other teammates were going to battle at the Liberty Classic in Philadelphia, Ally Stacher and I (Linsay Myers) made the trek North to go to the Mt. Hood classic. With rain on the horizons, we knew the race wasn't going to be anything but epic. The first stage entails two big climbs, one of which is 14 miles. The time trial is 18 miles with a brutal climb. The second road race is 70 miles of uphill pain. The last stage is a hilly technical criterium with a corkscrew descent.

Road race yesterday, 54 miles. Yes 54 miles of climbing and descending. Up and down that is basically it. Ally decided to be over zealous and be the first to initiate. Lindsay (myself) rode up to Ally and reminded her that this is a 14-mile climb and to calm down. She took my very brilliant race tactic advice. The field started to shred and it went from 50ish riders to 30ish riders. Just what we wanted. Especially since it was a down hill finish we wanted to shed the sprinters right away.

Ally: Stage 1 RR

This race was freezing, I wanted to go hard to warm up only dreading the cold snowy descent. They had to plow the road for the race, just letting you know how cold this race was. The race was good, with a good number of strong riders. I followed wheels, never letting anything get away unless Webcor was representing it. We went hard on the climbs and everything gathered back together on the descents.

There were a few gravel sections that made things tricky – it was deep gravel and you had to hit it at speed. Attacks went there, so did the flats. It was epic. As we got to the top of the second climb my shifter had been acting up going into the first climb and progressively got worse. The last climb was just finishing up and so did my shifter. It broke straight off in my hand. Bummer. I was stuck in my 25 with my shifter in my right hand. I did what I could, but all I could really do when it was all said and done was put the broken shifter in my back pocket and call it a day.

With no time cut at this beautiful race all I needed to do was finish. After the race, I called Dave our trusty awesome mechanic for help on fixing my bike and focus on stage wins. Being over 11 minutes down all I can do is help Lindsay and race smart to win a stage. Mechanicals happen, but at the end of the day I am still safe, I am still able to race my bike and the race goes on.

Lindsay: Stage 2 ITT

I have heard rumors of how epic the time trial at Mt. Hood is. The epicness was not overstated! We were so happy to see some blue sky as the weather forecast hadn't looked too promising. But with the clearing skies came some pretty nasty winds. The race is point to point, and we were riding into the wind the whole race. I can't say how much I loved this time trial. It was along the historic Columbia highway along the Columbia river. The race started out rolling and after six miles we hit a gradual twisty ascent that topped out to some pretty gorgeous views (which of course I was not able to enjoy too much :). The descent was a blast, and thanks to our Ritchey TT bars we were able to stay in the bars through the whole descent and the wind. After the descent we proceeded through a pitch black tunnel and onto a bike path. After an 18-mile time trial, I was pretty happy to see a 1k to go sign.
Tomorrow Ally and I are going to give everything we've got on the hill top finish!

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