JULY 20, 2010
Bend, OR – Team TIBCO/To the Top opened the Cascade Classic with a strong demonstration of the team’s depth. Alison Starnes was the highest placed of four team riders in the top 10 of the opening prologue, taking 3rd place, while Joanne Kiesanowski and Meredith Miller occupied the 5th and 6th positions. Megan Guarnier rounded out the Team TIBCO charge with 9th. Amanda Miller and Brooke Miller both narrowly missed the top 10, with 12th and 14th respectively.
Starnes showed that she still has the form she gained from racing the women’s Giro d’Italia earlier this month, covering the two-mile course in (x:xx.xx). “It was a relatively flat course with a lot of fast corners,” she said, “and the wind made the flats a bit harder. But we showed we have a strong team here.”
Alison Powers (Vera Bradley) won the prologue, with Tara Whitten (Keller Rorhback) taking 2nd. But because of the shortness of the course, the time gaps for the top finishers were relatively small, meaning this is still very much a wide-open race.
“We have a lot of cards to play,” Meredith Miller said. “Tomorrow should show who’s going well.”
The first road stage of the race, the 74-mile Mackenzie Pass Road Race, serves up over 7,000 feet of climbing, including a 10-mile climb to the finish at the Three Creeks Snow Park.
“Mara (Abbott, Peanut Butter & Company) is still the biggest threat,” Miller said of the rider who won the Giro as Starnes’ U.S. national team teammate. “She’s probably the best climber here. We’ll definitely keep an eye on her. This is a very hilly stage race. Almost every day is a good day for her. We’ll have our hands full. We’ll have to race smart and aggressively, get in breaks and keep the pressure on her.”
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