Stage 6 Report: AWBREY BUTTE CIRCUIT RACE – July 26th
A happy but tired Webcor team at the finish:
While a few short-lived breaks occurred in the first of three laps in the women’s race, it was a break of six that went off at the beginning of the second lap and wasn’t caught until just before the feed zone of the final lap that really set things in motion.
Robin Farina (ValueAct Capital) said it was Katheryn Mattis (Webcor Builders), Merdith Miller (Team Tibco), and Carmen McNellis (Colavita-Sutter Home), all women who have raced together on the U.S. National Team in Europe, who were the first to go up the road. Toni Bradshaw (Team Lip Smacker) and Amity Elliott (Wines of Washington) began to chase, and were joined by Farina; they bridged to the first three together, and stayed off the field until just before the feed zone on the final lap.
When the break was reeled in, Farina said there were immediate attacks. “There was actually a group of about 12 of us that actually had a little gap on the rest of the field (once caught),” she explained. “People were attacking out of that break, so it was pretty hard. Cath Cheatley put in a good dig, and K-Mac (McGrath) attacked out of that, too.”
McGrath concurred. “Once the break was caught, we were obviously going for the stage win, so we kept attacking, kept the pressure on,” she said. “Other teams were attacking as well. On the very last roller before the long descent, I just took advantage of a lull, and was actually trying to launch Chrissy (Ruiter), but ended up gapping everybody ... and kept going, time trialing it.”
The stage win was particularly sweet for the women of ValueAct Capital who came into the week disappointed to not have the help of teammate Leah Goldstein, two time Israeli national time trial and road champion and three time Mt. Hood Cycling Classic winner. Goldstein just won a gold and bronze medal at the Maccabiah Games in Israel, and had to stay for the closing ceremonies, causing her to miss Cascade.
“We knew we had some big shoes to fill with Leah being gone, because she’s a great climber,” Farina said. “We really could have used her on some of the stage finishes. But you know, we had some riders really step up and do the job, and we’re really excited ... this was sweet at the end.”
As for Stevens, who is an amateur and was racing as a cat. 4 just 10 months ago, she was thrilled to win the yellow jersey. “There were only six of us, but it felt like there were 25 Webcor riders out there,” she said. “I think we all gave it everything we had to keep me in the yellow jersey today. It was super hard. I couldn’t have won this without them, there’s no way. Each and every one of those riders gave everything they had ... We’re definitely a tired bunch.”
She’s looking forward to competing in her first USA Cycling Elite National Road Championship, to be held in Bend next week. Asked what she thinks her chances are of securing a stars and stripes jersey, she said, “Oh, you never know. It’s going to be hard. There’s a lot of really strong women out there ... Of course, I’m going to give it my best go.”
Here is Katheryn's Report:
After four days of defending the yellow jersey Evelyn captured on Stage 1, the green machine saddled up for the last battle - a 53 mile race that consisted of three loops of the Aubry Butte Circuit. With Amber Rais (Tibco) 1'18" back, Alison Powers (TT1) 1'36" back, and several Tibco and other strong riders still within striking distance we knew we would have our work cut out of us.
The attacks started flying fast and furious within the first 5k and it was all hands on deck to cover dangerous moves. I found myself in a break with Kristen Lasasso and Kirsty Broun (Lip Smackers), Emma Richards and Allison Starns (Tibco), Martina Patella (VAC), Carmen Small (Colavita) and Olivia Dillon (Touchstone) within the first 15k or so and although this was not a very dangerous break as the closest rider was around 3' down, I was instructed to sit on while the others stayed near the front of the peloton to insure the gap did not grow out of control. Kirsty was only 3 points behind Tina Pic (Colavita) in the sprint competition, so with a sprint coming up, Kristin went to the front and drove the break hard. The high pace could not be held by Martina or Emma and they soon fell off the pace and were reintegrated back into the field.
Colavita brought the break back just after the first time up the 1.5k climb and again Tibco and Lip Smackers were the aggressors and a dangerous break of about 12 riders got off that included some GC threats. Although Erinne and Rebecca were in the break, it was better to kill it and Gina, Amy and I went to the front and brought it back.
Another flurry of attacks insued and a strong attack by Meredith Miller (Tibco) drew out Carmen Small and I. As Colavita did not want Kirsty to get any sprint points, Carmen drove it hard as we were only a km from the sprint line. Amity Elliot (Wines of Washington), Toni Bradshaw (Lip Smackers) and Robin Farina (VAC) soon bridged up to us and immediately Meredith, Robin and Toni rolled through. Again, even though there was no major GC threat, I sat on (ah, the joy of having a teammate in the yellow). The gap grew to a maximum of over 2 min. and Amy and Gina went to the front just to keep the gap in check. In the break, the momentum definitely started to wane about 3/4 of the way through the last lap and the time came down quickly. We got caught just coming through the feedzone (about 10k to the finish) and Cath Cheatly (Colavita) attacked hard and as Carmen was up at the front, drove it to try and break things up again. VAC, Tibco and the ever present Webcor riders were there to cover it and although there were a few more attacks by VAC and Tibco riders, a fairly large group hit the base of the 1.5k climb together.
Cath put in a strong attack up over the first kicker and I immediately covered her while the rest of the group splintered and struggled to maintain contact. Evelyn, Erinne and Rebecca were right there and able to help keep the group together up over the top. A few attacks went in the last 4k to the finish, the most dangerous one being a strong attempt by Alison Powers to dislodge herself from the group. I put in a huge effort to chase her down and insure that she did not go anywhere. A storming group containing VAC, Tibco, Colavita, Webcor and others, swallowed us up and Evenlyn did a great job of keeping herself safe and good position.
Kristin McGrath (VAC) took a heroic flier at about a km to go and managed to hold off for the win with Joanne Kiesanowski (Tibco) 2nd and Cath 3rd.
After six days of hard racing, the 6 strong Webcor women defended the yellow jersey from a peloton of strong aggressive women, trying hard to take it from us. I feel so proud to be part of an amazing group of riders and staff. Everyone put in 100% and it was an awesome team effort and win.
Stage 5 Report: DOWNTOWN BEND CRITERIUM - July 25th
Stage 5 of the Cascade Classic was a 50 min criterium in downtown Bend. This stage always draws a huge crowd and this year was no exception. This town really loves bike racing!!
Here is Gina's report:
Cascade Criterium. Day 5 of holding the yellow jersey...
Well, well, well. The day of the crit with the yellow jersey: Goal #1: KEEP THE YELLOW! Goal #2: win the stage. I tell you, when the yellow jersey is on the back of a Webcor rider the WEBCOR criterium riders come out in all of us. It was the most unusual criterium I have ever raced. It was based on time and laps counted upwards. So 50 min was the race, but sprints were on lap 10, 20 and 25...if we got to 25. We did get to 25 laps but they didn't’ have the sprint. And, with in the last 10 min they randomly rang the bell short of 10 min to go. So you kind of had to guess where the finishing lap was going to be.
WEBCOR rode a phenominal criterium. With team TIBCO having 8 riders to launch, about 6 of them who were all within 2 min of the overall GC, i.e. Taking away OUR yellow jersey ...that pretty much kept us busy for the entire race. Rebecca, Katheryn, Erinne and Amy all manned the front like no other during this fast 4 corner circuit.
We averaged 42km/hr and max speeds...not sprinting...were 55km/hr on the back side. WEBCOR was represented in anything that mattered and anything we were not in, we simply rallied together to bring back. Evie who quote “can’t ride criteriums in the front” rode better than anyone who claims they prefer not to ride criteriums. She was comfortable seated about mid pack the entire race and rode a great leader's race. I had the pleasure of marking one person only during the race- Katherine Carroll - who managed to rip out 4 massive attacks within the last 10 min of the race. Our goal was met: yellow jersey remained on WEBCOR'S back and the final stage was the circuit race the next day to remain in yellow.
Stage 4 Report: CASCADE LAKES ROAD RACE - July 24th
Stage 4 of the Cascade Classic was really the day of the Webcor team. We had the yellow jersey and every pedal stroke in the team was made to defend it. Everyone gave 110% and nothing was wasted. It was honestly probably the best team defense I have ever seen in a US women's race. The green train was on the front for the majority of the race with the yellow jersey ticked safely behind it. We knew just how much time to give each break depending on who was in it and where in the race it got off. Tibco, ValuAct and Colavita also honestly rode a good race and threw everything they had at us, but in the end, we finished the day with more time on 2nd place.
Here is Eveyn's Report:
The theme of Friday's race was TNT Dynamite! Friday's race was the fourth stage of the Cascade Cycling Classic and it was a 71 mile point to point race with a finishing climb. We knew going into the race that it was going to be a tough day in the saddle, with 4 Tibco riders all within almost of minute of me, but we were all up for the challenge. The race started hard from the gun and immediately Katheryn, Rebecca, Amy, Erinne and Gina took to controlling the race. The goal was to keep the race in control and deliver me to the base of the climb as fresh as possible. I would have to say the plan was executed flawlessly. From the gun a break of about 7 or so riders got away, but no one that was a huge GC threat. The Webcor women got to the front of the pack to set a nice tempo, rotating amongst each other and letting me sit on. Webcor rode this super PRO style for about 40 mile until we caught the break. Quickly after we caught the break, there was another flurry of attacks and with every move there was a Webcor rider quickly covering it. These attacks continued for about another 10 miles. At about mile 50 another break formed, this time it included Rebecca who sat on and patrolled the break.
Once again Webcor got to the front of the peloton and began to team time trial it (with me sitting comfortably on) in order to bring back the break. At the base of the climb Webcor was able to bring the break back in and fortunately due to all the amazing hard work of my teammates I was feeling super fresh. I was just waiting for a Tibco rider to attack in order to counter the move. There were a few attacks at the base of the climb and then Amber Rais from Tibco attacked. I quickly countered her attack and was able to get a gap on the group. At this point the only thing going through my head was that I had to deliver a win for the team! Everyone on the team had put so much work in covering all the moves and controlling the race (while allowing me to just sit in) and with AC / DC's TNT song playing in my head I was able to stay away and cross the line first. It was an amazing experience to be part of such a team effort today!
Stage 4 Webcor coverage in the local paper: www.bendbulletin.com
Stage 3 Report: SKYLINERS INDIVIDUAL TIME TRIAL July 23rd
Stage 3 of the Cascade Classic was a 16 mile Time Trial. It was pretty much a pure TT course with only 1 turn at the start and then a straight, gradual uphill out and back course. The goal for Webcor was for Evelyn to take some time out of the climbers close to her in GC and defend her position against the top time trialists, which she did successfully.
Here is Rebecca's Report:
After a really hard day in the books defending the yellow jersey in stage 2 of the Cascade Cycling Classic, it was almost a relief to have a TT for stage 3. The course was 8 miles out and then 8 miles back going steadily uphill the entire way out, and bombing down hill the entire way back. With lots of work on the horizon for the remainder of the race in stages 4,5, and 6, Evie was the only one gunning super hard for a good ride. The rest of us went hard at various levels of either just riding steady or trying to will ourselves to go hard and simply not being able to.
Since this TT course is a big chunk of the TT course that the US riders will face next week for nationals, it was good to test it out and notice the changes that could be made to have a better time the 2nd go.
Evie proved in the TT to be the right girl to be working for, and rode home to a solid 4th, putting time into many GC threats. Jessica Phillips (Lip Smacker) won the stage, Alison Starnes (Tibco) was 2nd, and Alison Powers (Team Type 1) was 3rd to round out the podium. Lots of the Tibco girs put in good rides, so the going will be tough for the final stages of Cascade but we are ready holding TNT and dynamite and ready to explode to win the race!
Stage 3 Webcor coverage in the local paper: www.bendbulletin.com
Stage 2 Report: THREE CREEKS ROAD RACE – July 22nd
Today was another hot, hard day in Oregon, but Webcor came through with another stage win and held onto both the Leader and the Mountains jersey! The whole team rode like champions to defend the lead and Evelyn delivered another stage win for the team.
The Podium:
Here is Evelyn's report:
Stage 2 of the Cascade Cycling Classic was a 80 mile point to point race with about a 10 mile finishing climb. The race started out fast and hard! About 10 miles into the race and the flurry of attacks began. A race like today really makes you appreciate having such a strong team. Katheryn, Erinne, Gina, Amy and Rebecca did an amazing job of covering all of the attacks. The attacking continued for about a steady 45 minutes and Webcor was covering every move.
Unfortunately, my race radio was not working initially. When there was finally a lull in the field, Rebecca put her problem solving skills to work. The problem - it was unplugged! We pulled to the side and got it all squared away. Unfortunately, there was a break in the field so Erinne, Rebecca and I had a nice team trial practice to get back to the peloton.
The race continued on with another flurry of attacks and then the second sprint competition took place. Gina was able to get third again, which puts her in third place overall for the Green Jersey. Pretty soon after the sprint at mile 54, the KOM took place. Katheryn and Rebecca did a great job of setting a super fast pace in order to lead Amy out for the KOM and she was able to take second. After the KOM there was another flurry of attacks and one finally stuck. Erinne was in the break, as was representation from all the major teams. The pace of the field mellowed for a while and the gap gained around 3 minutes on the peloton. At the base of the climb Wines of Washington lead the chase to the break and eventually Colavita joined in on the chase.
Webcor was told to counter if the break was caught and at about 6K to go the break was caught. Once we made contact with the break, I countered and got a gap on the field. I saw the 5K sign and thought "I can hold this". Once I saw the 3K sign, I was just hoping that my legs would keep on pedaling to the finish, I was in the hurt locker!
With 1K to go Cath Cheatley from Colavita bridged up to me and I was able to sit on her wheel and recover. Once I saw the 200 meter to go sign, I just jumped and was able to snag the win. Since there were points at the finish, Amy and I are tied for QOM points, so she will be in the polka dot jersey tomorrow (actually a polka dot skinsuit and I will be in a yellow skinsuit!). Overall it was a hard day and Webcor worked super hard to keep the leader's jersey, the next few days should be fun! Tomorrow will be the 14 mile time trial out and back time trial, stay tuned!
Stage 2 Webcor coverage in the local paper: www.bendbulletin.com
Stage 1 Report: SMITH ROCK ROAD RACE – July 21st
Today was the first stage of the 6 day Cascade Cycling Classic in Bend, OR. This is a great race that is in it's 30th edition and always a highlight in the Webcor team schedule. Bend is a beautiful town with a full view of the Cascade mountains and we always get to stay with wonderful host families there!
This is the final race of the Women's Prestige Series and Rebecca is leading the Best Young Rider competition and thus wears that jersey for this race.
The first stage was a relatively flat 70 miler with probably the biggest difficulty being the 98 degree heat. Webcor has several injured riders at the moment (Alex, Nikki and Janel) and so we added up and coming talent, Evelyn Stevens to our roster for the race. Evelyn has only been racing a year but is already showing great results. Today was billed as the stage for the sprinters, and it almost was, but in the end, Evelyn foiled their plans.
Evelyn in yellow:
Amy in Polka Dots:
Here is Evelyn's Report:
It was a great first day of the Cascade Cycling Classic. Webcor rode aggressively and managed to get the climber, sprinter and leader jersey by the end of the race!
Stage 1 was a 71 mile point to point course out in beautiful Bend, Oregon. The race started off at a nice tempo, with everyone settling into the hot weather. At about mile 20 the first sprint competition took place and Amy and myself got up to the front to lead Gina out and she was able to get 2nd in the sprint, giving her 2 points. The next few miles continued at a good tempo, and at about mile 30 the climb took place. A quarter into the climb, I look to my right and see Rebecca giving Amy a killer lead out up the hill! It was perfect and Amy was able to hold everyone off and win the KOM!
The next few miles continued at a nice tempo and at about mile 43 was the next sprint competition. Amy did a great job of getting Gina up to the front to contend with the Lipsmackers lead out train, and after a super fast and long sprint, Gina was able to snag another second place and 2 more points!
After the sprint competition, there were a flurry of attacks up until about 10K to go. The whole Webcor squad did a great job of covering all the moves. With 10K to go the peloton was together and we were thinking about getting in position to set Gina up for the sprint. With about 2K to go, I saw Erinne doing a great job of setting the pace at the front of the pack. I decided to get to the front to help the lead out train, I was a bit back in the pack so I made a big acceleration. It turned out to be a bigger acceleration than I had meant - I looked back expecting to see Erinne on my wheel but realized I had gotten a decent gap. At this point I see the 1K sign and decided to just keep going. I looked back and Chrissy Ruiter from ValueAct was on my wheel. Once I see the 200 meters to go sign I decided to jump and just see if I could hold it to the line. I was just able to catch the win, with Tina Pic coming in second, Chrissy Ruiter in 3rd and Gina in 4th. With Gina's 4th place finish, she gained 2 more sprint points, putting her in the sprinters jersey!
Overall it was a great day of racing and the three jerseys were a fantastic reward for all the effort and teamwork that went into today's stage. Tomorrow will be an 80 mile race with a hilltop finish, should be a great stage for the Webcor squad.
Stage 1 Webcor coverage in the local paper: www.bendbulletin.com
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