Posted by Editoress on 05/1/19
n one of Tour of the Gila’s most competitive women’s fields to date, which includes Olympians and national and world champions, it was anyone’s game approaching the Mogollon climb as firepower crisscrossed the peloton.
But after a select few got away in the final kilometres, Australian Brodie Chapman (Team TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank) closed in on former U.S. Hill Climb National Champion Krista Doebel-Hickok (Rally UHC Cycling) and pushed toward the line in the final 200 metres to emerge victorious.
"I just said ‘rhythm, rhythm, rhythm’,"Chapman said. "I know I can do a good rhythm, and I can finish strong, and that white line fever usually gets me. I just tried to get a bit of time near the end, but it was definitely a close race. [Doebel-Hickok] looked very strong.”
Edwige Pitel (Femme Équipe p/b Swisse Wellness), of France, sailed up to meet them, also capitalizing on Doebel-Hickok’s expended tank to steal second place. Pitel’s huge effort came from back in the peloton, and in the process, she also nabbed Emma Grant (Sho-Air TWENTY20), who had been making her way to a podium slot.
"The last 2k I just paced myself more and more, and then I could see them dying, so it gave me more strength,"Pitel said. "I did [the Mogollon climb] in training four days ago and I did it the wrong way … so I said, ‘Don’t do it again, do it the other way around, it will be better’.”
From the beginning, the race was tame as riders sized each other up, waiting for the intermediate sprints.
Both of those competitions opened up as bunch sprints, and Olympic silver medalist, multi-time world champion and recent Joe Martin Stage Race winner Chloé Dygert Owen (Sho-Air TWENTY20) quickly claimed first-place points in the first drag race and second-place points in the next one. Her efforts landed her in the sprinter’s jersey for Thursday.
New Zealand’s Sharlotte Lucas (Team TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank) nabbed second-place points in the first intermediate sprint, followed by Starla Teddergreen (Hagens Berman | Supermint). In the second intermediate sprint, Ana Maria Hernandez Delgado (Durango-Specialized) crossed the line first with Lucas in third.
With 25k to go, the peloton began to ramp up the pace and string out during a descent, with Hagens Berman | Supermint setting the pace on the front. But by 20k to go, the group came back together again with Donne Aevolo on the front.
At 4k to go teams finally began to play their cards — Rally UHC Cycling and Sho-Air TWENTY20 ramped up the pace, and within minutes, Doebel-Hickok, Grant and Chapman were riding away from the field and up the Mogollon climb.
Equal gaps began to grow between them at 2k to go, and Doebel-Hickok was pushing a 15-second lead on Chapman. At the 1k mark, Chapman began to gain ground with a 12-second gap at 500 metres. At 200 metres, Chapman cut the gap in half to six seconds. Closing in on the last 100 metres, Chapman passed Doebel-Hickok, when Pitel seemed to appear out of nowhere to nab second. Chapman will wear the leader’s jersey and the Queen of the Mountain jersey going into the Inner Loop Road Race – Presented by Brian & Lynn Robinson | Southwest Bone & Joint Institute Thursday.
She said her team is prepared to defend its 11-second lead.
"For sure, we come here to win bike races,"Chapman said. "We’ll give it our best crack for sure.”
Story by Sarah Muench and Cherry Niel, Clipped In
Results from the first stage in Silver City, New Mexico
Stage 1: Mogollon Road Race, 114.3 km | |
1 Brodie Chapman (Aus) Team TIBCO - Silicon Valley Bank | 3:33:09 |
2 Edwige Pitel (Fra) Femme Equipe p/b Swisse Wellness | at 0:11 |
3 Krista Doebel-Hickok (USA) Rally Cycling | 0:22 |
4 Chloe Dygert (USA) TWENTY20 Pro Cycling | 0:48 |
5 Emma Grant (GBr) TWENTY20 Pro Cycling | 1:05 |
6 Jessica Cerra (USA) Hagens Berman / Supermint | 1:25 |
7 Justine Barrow (Aus) HMS | 1:31 |
8 Jasmin Duehring (Can) TWENTY20 Pro Cycling | 1:36 |
9 Sara Bergen (Can) Rally Cycling | 1:44 |
10 Emily Marcolini (Can) Team TIBCO - Silicon Valley Bank | 1:52 |
11 Emily Newsom (USA) Team TIBCO - Silicon Valley Bank | 2:05 |
12 Sara Poidevin (Can) Rally Cycling | 2:09 |
13 Emma Langley (USA) Orion Racing p/b Borah Teamwear | 2:35 |
14 Anna Dorovskikh (USA) Orion Racing p/b Borah Teamwear | s.t. |
15 Aimee Vasse (USA) Hagens Berman / Supermint | 2:40 |
16 Ana Maria Hernandez Delgado (Mex) DURANGO-Specialized-IED | 2:44 |
17 Sarah Gigante (Aus) HMS | 2:46 |
18 Abigail Mickey (USA) Rally Cycling | 2:57 |
19 Elizabeth Scotti Lechuga (USA) Donne Aevolo | 3:04 |
20 Heidi Franz (USA) Rally Cycling | 3:08 |
21 Erica Clevenger (USA) TWENTY20 Pro Cycling | 3:14 |
22 Lori Nedescu (USA) Femme Equipe p/b Swisse Wellness | s.t. |
23 Jennifer Luebke (USA) TWENTY20 Pro Cycling | 3:18 |
24 Alice Cobb (GBr) Team TIBCO - Silicon Valley Bank | 3:19 |
25 Stefanie Sydlik (USA) Femme Equipe p/b Swisse Wellness | 3:41 |
26 Deborah Paine (NZl) Donne Aevolo | s.t. |
27 Catherine Colyn (USA) Donne Aevolo | 4:06 |
28 Claudia Veronica Leal Balderas (Mex) DURANGO-Specialized-IED | 4:11 |
29 Allie Dragoo (USA) TWENTY20 Pro Cycling | 4:20 |
30 Charlotte Backus (USA) Orion Racing p/b Borah Teamwear | 4:43 |
31 Annie Foreman-Mackey (Can) Canadian National Team | 5:02 |
32 Rachel Langdon (Gbr) Donne Aevolo | 5:21 |
33 Miriam Brouwer (Can) Canadian National Team | 5:29 |
34 Katie Clouse (USA) HMS | 5:40 |
35 Lex Albrecht (Can) Team TIBCO - Silicon Valley Bank | 5:42 |
36 Sharlotte Lucas (NZl) Team TIBCO - Silicon Valley Bank | 5:48 |
37 Maddy Ward (USA) Donne Aevolo | 6:16 |
38 Katherine Maine (Can) Rally Cycling | 6:23 |
39 Liza Rachetto (USA) Hagens Berman / Supermint | s.t. |
40 Janelle Cole (USA) HMS | 6:36 |
41 Kinley Gibson (Can) Canadian National Team | 6:39 |
42 Leigh Ann Ganzar (USA) Hagens Berman / Supermint | 6:54 |
43 Lindsay Goldman (USA) Hagens Berman / Supermint | s.t. |
44 Maggie Coles-Lyster (Can) Canadian National Team | 7:04 |
45 Ariane Bonhomme (Can) Canadian National Team | 7:16 |
46 Starla Teddergreen (USA) Hagens Berman / Supermint | 7:37 |
47 Mariana Urrea Gladin (Mex) DURANGO-Specialized-IED | 7:45 |
48 Emily Houtchens (USA) Orion Racing p/b Borah Teamwear | 7:52 |
49 Kara Lilly (USA) Orion Racing p/b Borah Teamwear | 8:15 |
50 Kira Payer (USA) Femme Equipe p/b Swisse Wellness | 10:09 |
51 Cedella Janczak (USA) Orion Racing p/b Borah Teamwear | 10:59 |
52 Jane Tullis (USA) HMS | 14:21 |
53 Erika Haydee Varela Huerta (Mex) DURANGO-Specialized-IED | 15:08 |
54 Silvia Fernanda Polanco Dominguez (Mex) DURANGO-Specialized-IED | s.t. |
55 Heather Fischer (USA) HMS | 16:13 |
56 Caitlin Laroche (USA) Donne Aevolo | 16:30 |
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