The Lolllipop course was about 110 km. We rode out and back on the same road but did 2 24 mile or so laps before coming back. The course was rolling with a bit of a nail biter hill in it. More nail biting for some. NOT for WEBCOR. Our plan was to make it tough on the first time up the hill. Amy and Erinne launched off the attacks that put everybody in the locker of pain.
The course was rolling after that and Alexis, Rebecca and Nikki covered and launched. The only somewhat significant thing that happened which neutralized the pack, was a Value Act rider got off the front. She was reeled back. Setting up for the sprint finish was a super fast downhill to an uphill sprint. The team brought back all the attacks that were attempted by the non sprinters and the sprint was on. Slightly up hill finish, and my legs didn't pack the punch needed to win it. Combined with a late jump behind Laura Van Gilder and 3rd place was as good as it got. We lost a place from 3rd to 4th with Erinne, since Kat Carroll took 2nd on the stage, but we maintained Katheryn's 2nd place.
Stage 4:
Fayetteville, AR - May 10, 2009 - The final stage of Joe Martin is a criterium in downtown Fayetteville. It is not an easy crit with an uphill finish to separate the field. Webcor started the day with 2nd and 4th on GC. We maintained our 2nd and won the team competition as well as the Young Rider competition.
Here is Katheryn's Report:
Stage 4 was definitely no walk in the park for the 7 Webcor women as it was an hour long, 8 corner, downtown crit. With Katheryn only 4" behind Alison Powers and closely trailed by Kat Carroll (only 5" back) we knew it would be a hard race - there were 10", 7", 5" for the top three stage finishers. We rode to the race with plenty of time to preview it. Despite the fact that it started to rain about 15' before hand, the brief shower passed by the time we lined up.
From the gun the pace was fast and Tibco went to the front to try and control things since they wanted it to come down to a bunch kick so Kat would have a shot at the time bonuses. We wanted to be aggressive and force a break to make the race fast (and keep it safe). Alex was the first to attack a few laps in, yet no one went with her and she was quickly brought back. A few more attacks were launched and eventually Gina got off with Ruth Corset (Jazz Apple) and Brooke Miller (Tibco). As Ruth was less than 30" behind Katheryn, Gina sat on and launched her awesome sprint to win a $50 prime.
The trio was brought back fairly quickly and we again tried to force a break but Tibco was covering and killing most things. Erinne launched a great attack on the finish hill with about 5 laps to go and was quicky marked by Alison, Chrissy Ruitter (VAC) and Kat. As this was not an ideal situation for Katheryn, who was gapped a bit, Erinne was instructed to stop but Alison countered and got away solo, with little energy left in the group (which had been greatly reduced in size due to the aggressiveness and fast pace). Tibco did manage to organize with their remaining riders to give chase but Alison's strong TT and technical skills on the corners gave her an advantage.
Unfortunately, with about 3 laps to go, Katheryn was coming down the fast decent and took the left hand corner in such a way that her rear wheel skipped up and slammed down hard on the pavement, causing her to unclip and drop her chain. She managed to keep from crashing and thought all was good until she got half way around the lap and realized her rear tire was quickly loosing air. As she was negotiating around another fast left corner, she lost control of the rear and went sliding, almost taking Erinne out (fortunately Erinne also displayed fabulous bike handling skills and did not go down!). Katheryn was in a bit of a panic as she watched the group ride away and frantically asked the moto official if she could get a free lap but was informed that it was less than 5 to go and no more free laps. She managed to get herself to the pit on the backside and receive a tire from neutral support and there was informed that she would get the same finish time as the group she was with. The challenge now would be for the remaining Webcor riders to insure that Kat did not get any time bonuses.
Alison ended up staying off to win solo and Jen McRae finished 2nd, Ruth 3rd and Gina 4th.
As Kat did not get any time bonuses, Katheryn secured her 2nd place in GC. Erinne ended up getting bumped down to 5th in GC by Ruth. We did end up winning the Team Competition and Rebecca was the Best Young Rider.
It was a great four days of racing by the Webcor women and we are all looking forward to a much needed rest before the Montreal, Philly, Nature Valley set of racing.