2009 Blogs
Stage 5 was a 71.8 mile point-to-point road race with 5,610' of climbing, leading the riders from Silver City to Pinos Altos.
Here is Katheryn's report from the field:
"After 4 days of hard racing, the green machine was feeling a bit fatigued but knew everyone else was as well. Our goal was to move Katheryn back up into 2nd place in GC as all she needed to gain on Alison Powers was 11". With a time bonus sprint coming just 10 miles into the race, we wanted to ensure Alison not gain any more time and use Gina or Nikki to scoop up the time. Fortunately, Lip Smackers was interested in the $100 prime that came with the sprint and took the money and the time. They continued to be aggressive and finally an ideal break got off a few miles later. Rebecca was the Webcor representative in the break and was given the green light to go. In the break with her was Amanda Miller (Lip Smacker), Nichole Evans (VAC), Rachel Heal (Colavita). A few smaller teams missed the break and tried to bridge but were unsuccessful. With all the major teams represented in the break, the main peloton relaxed and were spread out across the road.
As we wound our way along the valley floor, we were informed that the time gap was close to 4' and Alison Powers got nervous since Rebecca was less than 2' behind her on GC. As she had no teammates, she did her best to get other riders help her manage the growing time gap. Kristin did not feel threatened by Rebecca as long as the time did not get too much above 4:30'. With the assistance of some riders and rolling through herself, by the base of the final climb she got the time gap down to under 3'.
Kristin immediately went to the front when the climb started and set a hard tempo. Katheryn did her best to stay with her but soon fell off the pace. She found the wheel of Sharon Allpress (VAC) and as Rebecca was still up the road, allowed Sharon to set pace at the front. The pace was too hard for Alison to hang with Katheryn and Sharon and she fell off, unfortunately, the climb mellowed out and she was able to catch back on.
For the next several miles, the course rolled along and other riders caught back on as the pace slowed. Chrissy Ruiter (VAC) made a couple attacks but was covered by Katheryn and Alison. Alison was very aggressive on the decents as her ski racing background provides her with very good descending skills. Amy, who had been one of the riders who caught the group, did a great job of covering her and making sure Katheryn did not get gapped. The chasing group eventually started to pick up remnants of the break and over the radio Karen instructed Rebecca and Amy to help lead out Katheryn in the final mile to try and put time on Alison.
Unfortunately in the end, Alison hung tough and managed to outsprint Katheryn, securing her 2nd in GC.
Amy finished like the superstar she is for a 6th place in the stage and Rebecca was not too far behind. Alex, Gina and Nikki, who had done a great job all week, did a great job on a tough finishing climb."
GC results:
Katheryn - 3rd
Rebecca - 10th
Alex - 16th
Team - 2nd
Stage results:
1st place x 1
2nd place x 2
3rd place x 1
4th place x 2
6th place x 1
7th place x 1
Here is Katheryn's report from the field:
"After 4 days of hard racing, the green machine was feeling a bit fatigued but knew everyone else was as well. Our goal was to move Katheryn back up into 2nd place in GC as all she needed to gain on Alison Powers was 11". With a time bonus sprint coming just 10 miles into the race, we wanted to ensure Alison not gain any more time and use Gina or Nikki to scoop up the time. Fortunately, Lip Smackers was interested in the $100 prime that came with the sprint and took the money and the time. They continued to be aggressive and finally an ideal break got off a few miles later. Rebecca was the Webcor representative in the break and was given the green light to go. In the break with her was Amanda Miller (Lip Smacker), Nichole Evans (VAC), Rachel Heal (Colavita). A few smaller teams missed the break and tried to bridge but were unsuccessful. With all the major teams represented in the break, the main peloton relaxed and were spread out across the road.
As we wound our way along the valley floor, we were informed that the time gap was close to 4' and Alison Powers got nervous since Rebecca was less than 2' behind her on GC. As she had no teammates, she did her best to get other riders help her manage the growing time gap. Kristin did not feel threatened by Rebecca as long as the time did not get too much above 4:30'. With the assistance of some riders and rolling through herself, by the base of the final climb she got the time gap down to under 3'.
Kristin immediately went to the front when the climb started and set a hard tempo. Katheryn did her best to stay with her but soon fell off the pace. She found the wheel of Sharon Allpress (VAC) and as Rebecca was still up the road, allowed Sharon to set pace at the front. The pace was too hard for Alison to hang with Katheryn and Sharon and she fell off, unfortunately, the climb mellowed out and she was able to catch back on.
For the next several miles, the course rolled along and other riders caught back on as the pace slowed. Chrissy Ruiter (VAC) made a couple attacks but was covered by Katheryn and Alison. Alison was very aggressive on the decents as her ski racing background provides her with very good descending skills. Amy, who had been one of the riders who caught the group, did a great job of covering her and making sure Katheryn did not get gapped. The chasing group eventually started to pick up remnants of the break and over the radio Karen instructed Rebecca and Amy to help lead out Katheryn in the final mile to try and put time on Alison.
Unfortunately in the end, Alison hung tough and managed to outsprint Katheryn, securing her 2nd in GC.
Amy finished like the superstar she is for a 6th place in the stage and Rebecca was not too far behind. Alex, Gina and Nikki, who had done a great job all week, did a great job on a tough finishing climb."
GC results:
Katheryn - 3rd
Rebecca - 10th
Alex - 16th
Team - 2nd
Stage results:
1st place x 1
2nd place x 2
3rd place x 1
4th place x 2
6th place x 1
7th place x 1