After losing the leader’s jersey in yesterday’s crit to sprinter ace Tina Pic (Colavita/Sutter Home), Joanne Kiesanowski (Tibco) won the sprint to the top of the final climb and retook the lead at the Mt Hood Cycling Classic. On her heels at the finish line were Jeannie Longo , riding for the composite team River City Racing and Felicia Gomez (Aaron’s).

“Just coming up the last time up the climb, there were lots of attacks, I was pretty much following making sure that I was always in the front selection, just riding top 5 all the way up the climb, just making sure that I was always make the front selection. Longo did an amazingly long leadout, she was extremely strong, I just managed to come around her.” said Kiesanowski.

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The party was ever louder when it was time for the men who started after the women’s race. The crowd got bigger, beverages of choice were consumed, and the party continued.

Toyota-United came to the front in the final lap and pulled out a one-two punch with Hilton Clarke and Ivan Stevic taking the first two spots outsprinting Rory Sutherland (Heath Net-Maxxis).

“We definitely had a plan last night that we were going to hit the front with five laps to go, but after seeing the course, we said we better hit out with about one and half to go and control the hill. We’ve got a couple of big strong guys on the team and they just controlled the big downhill perfectly and then we ran short a little bit at the end but then a Successful Living rider jumped us which actually worked a little bit in our advantage, Stevic followed him and passed him at the finish and I just come pass Stevic at the finish.” said Clarke about the final lap.

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It was a party in Portland and the sprinters came to play at the Mt Tabor Criterium – a crit in name only – stage 1 at the Mt Hood Cycling Classic.

Under beautiful skies, warm temperatures, beautiful setting and an appreciative crowd, Tina Pic (Colavita/Sutter-Home) showed why she can wear the Stars & Stripes as the US Criterium Champion outsprinting GC leader Joanne Kiesanowski (Tibco) at the line. With the time bonuses on the line, Pic picked up the leaders jersey, the points jersey and the QOM jersey to add to her collection. Julie Beverige (Aaron’s) came in third and kept her Best Young Rider jersey for another day.

Tina Pic (Colavita/Sutter Home) wins sprint at Mt Tabor; photo c. Lyne Lamoureux

“Jeannie [Longo] was driving it up there, and then we came down, it was kind of a fight down there, a lot of Cheerwine, they were definitely trying to do a leadout. And I was dodging in and my teammate Tiffany was in there, and Jo [Kiesanowski] went at 150 but she stayed to the right which is smart and I had to back up and come around the long way. It was a really good move on her part, she’s a smart racer. I went with 100 or 50 to go.” said Pic about the final lap.

“I had to try to something, I thought I could see if I could get someone to come with me.” said a Kiesanowski.

Pic was concerned about the course when she saw for the first time during warm up, extremely winding course with nearly 135 feet of elevation for every 1.3 mile lap, and 90 degrees turn at the top of the climb. But she loved it.

“I was scared of that course when I saw it. First I thought this climb is pretty brutal, it’s funny when we got in there, it wasn’t so bad because this part you could actually… you had a fair draft coming up, it leveled a bit, really it was just this little bit and in the pack it wasn’t as bad as alone. It was actually quite fun, it was a really cool course. It was a surprise.”

Today’s course was all about positioning, being at the front at the top of the hill. And of course teammates.

“It was good, I don’t like crits, but it lots of fun, it had a good hill on it, that was great. The end was all Meredith [Miller] and Alison[Testroete] because I’m not such a great sprinter but Meredith drilled up the hill and she lead me to move up into position, it was kind of mess because Felicia [Gomez] went down, Alison came around me at the bottom and was like ‘get on my wheel’, and I was like ‘okay’.” said Beveridge about the finish.

“My team did so much work today, as usual, we’re really cohesive this year, I sat, I didn’t do much today.” said Pic.

“We were trying to make the field a little smaller, we weren’t quite sure what to expect on this course and we just thought… at the beginning try to keep it fast, whittle the field down a bit, just for safety purposes but it turned out that Jeannie [Longo] was at the front quite a bit so we thought okay we’ll let her do it. And after that, just trying to keep the race hard, keep it fast. We had a bigger group come to the finish line than we were expecting so might not have been as hard.” said Meredith Miller (Aaron’s) about her effort at setting a high pace during the race.

The time bonuses on the line brought a small change to GC with Pic at the leader, followed by Kiesanowski and Beveridge. And then the whole circus moved down to Hood River for the Cooper Spur Circuit race, the next stage where the climbers will come out and play. It’s only fair that they get their turn.

The ValueAct Capital Professional Women’s Cycling Team came to Mt Hood Cycling Classic with the aim of getting rider Leah Goldstein on the top step of the podium for the fourth-time. In a row.

Last year, while riding for the Symmetrics team, Goldstein along with one and only one teammate Marni Hambleton, took the yellow jersey on the fourth stage, the time trial and successfully defended against onslaught of attacks, especially from the Aaron’s Women Pro Cycling Team. Ironically, Goldstein took the yellow jersey from the ValueAct team.

Leah Goldstein (ValueAct) powering through the Mt Hood prologue, photo c. Lyne Lamoureux

Goldstein and Hambleton joined ValueAct in 2008, and with a full squad of 6 riders, the team is ready to go to work a Hood. Joining Goldstein and Hambleton are Lara Kroepsch, Emily Zell, Martina Patella and Sharon Allpress.

I caught up with the team prior to the start of the prologue to get their thoughts on the upcoming race.

“Last year we were really in the yellow jersey for 3 of the 5 stages with Katie [Mactier]. Last year, we were a first year team, a young team and we learned a lot, we made mistakes, I think this race is going to be an opportunity for us to show that we’ve learned from those mistakes and that we’ve learned to control a race more effectively.” said Patella about the lessons learned from last year.

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The scenic 6th annual Mt Hood Cycling Classic returned bigger than ever as one of only three UCI women’s point races in the United States making it a very important stopping point for the women hoping to earn a selection for the Olympics.

A pair of Kiwi track riders, from two different teams, took over the podium at the Mt Hood Cylcing Classic. Points race specialist, Joanne Kiesanowski, on her second race with her new team Tibco, won the prologue in downtown Portland with a time of 3:08 average a speed of 32. m/hr (52. k/hr) over 1.7 mile out and back course. Pursuit specialist Alison Shanks (Jazz Apple) came in second with less than a second behind the winner.

Rounding off the podium is Dotsie Bausch (Colavita/Sutter Home), also not a stranger to the track, as she has just returned from the Pan American Championships with a gold medal in the Women’s 3000 meter Individual Pursuit.

Joanne Kiesanowski (Tibco), prologue winner, photo c. Lyne Lamoureux

“I rode the course a lot of times before, I just went around and around it. I just knew that I had to have a good turn around, it was important not to lose too much time around there, just went hard.” said Kiesanowsk.

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With the roads still wet for the 1.7 mile course through the downtown streets of Portland, Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissell) blitzed the 2008 Mt Hood prologue producing an average speed of 37 mi/h (59 km/h). Third from last rider to leave the start gate for the in an out and back course, Jacques-Maynes crossed the line with a time of 2:45, 3 seconds faster than second place finisher Jonathan Garcia (BMC), and third place World B Champion Ivan Stevic (Toyota-United).

“I found the biggest gear I could and muscled it all the way into the line. I think these shorter things just suit me, three minutes of racing does not a week long stage race make, it’s a good way to start it and I’ve got good form, hopefully the week is going to go well. Looking forwards to the Friday time trial.” said Jacques-Maynes.

Ben Jacques-Maynes speeds down the course, photo c. Lyne Lamoureux

The Bissell team is ready to defend the jersey. Last year, Jacques-Maynes grabbed the leaders’ jersey on the second stage, and held on to it until the time trial. He ultimately finished third on the overall classification.

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Phil Zajicek of Health Net presented by Maxxis team is starting the Mt Hood Cycling Classic with winning on his mind. Finally, Zajicek can re-focus completely on racing and training, now that he has a name and more importantly a treatment on the illness he’s been fighting for almost all his career – Crohn’s disease, a chronic Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).

Photo by Ken Conley

With his previous team Navigators, Zajicek twice finished second overall in 2007 and 2006 at the Mt Hood Cycling Classic, and now wants to move up to the top step of the podium. Health Net-Maxxis is sending a strong squad to support him including Rory Sutherland, winner of the Joe Martin Stage Race.

“I’ve got Rory working for me, got the best rider in America working for me so how can I lose.” replied Zajicek when asked if he was the leader for Hood.

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Fayetteville, AR – A three-day, full-gas effort by the Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis delivered Rory Sutherland to his second consecutive – and the team’s fourth consecutive – overall title at the Joe Martin Stage Race, after the Australian took the race lead in the opening prologue.

In the final-stage criterium Sunday, Sutherland took advantage of teammate John Murphy’s lead-out for Karl Menzies, who finished second in a photo finish, to finish 4th on the final stage to seal the win.

“The guys are well-drilled in defending leads,” noted directuer sportif Jeff Corbett, who has guided the team to all four of those wins. “Everyone on the team was there to defend Rory’s lead last year, and Kyle (Gritters) and Tim (Johnson) were here in ’06 as well. There was never any concern that our guys wouldn’t be able to defend the lead.”

In fact, during Friday’s second stage, they were able to extend the 0:11 lead Sutherland had established in the opening prologue the day before. After spending much of the 110-mile stage patrolling the front and controlling the race, the team was able to line up a strong lead-out, with Karl Menzies dropping off Sutherland inside 200 meters to the line for the sprint. Sutherland earned second place on the stage, and a 10-second bonus to go with it. Teammate John Murphy finished right behind him in third.

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May 10 marks opening for shop that offers sales, service, and a mission to promote cycling for transportation, fitness, and a way of life.

Seven-time Tour de France winner and Austin hero Lance Armstrong is adding another project to his busy schedule—a bike shop in the heart of downtown Austin. The historic brick warehouse at 400 Nueces (adjacent to the soon-to-be-opened cross town bike path) is intended to catalyze Austin’s urban revival and encourage people to look at cycling as a means of both transportation and fitness.

The shop is envisioned as a one-of-a-kind concept facility, featuring a complete retail offering with bikes, equipment, apparel, and a professional service center. In addition, visitors will find Juan Pelota’s, an indoor/outdoor coffee house with healthy grab-&-go food, and a soon to be introduced power-based indoor training facility. With hours of operation from 8am to 7pm, the shop is awake and ready for those riding into downtown early, or dropping off bikes for same day service. The shop is equipped with shower and changing facilities and free bike storage for commuters.

”It’s more than a place to buy a bike. I want it to be a place where cyclists of all levels come in and are encouraged, inspired, and motivated to make cycling a daily part of life”, said Lance Armstrong. ”And of course—a place where racers and enthusiasts can get the best equipment, service, and know-how to go faster—or farther—on their bikes”

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Indianapolis, IN – IndyCar driver Tomas Scheckter, supported by Rock Racing, locked in the 11th position on Pole Day, capturing the final qualifying spot for the 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500. Scheckter, sporting a helmet and driving gear bearing the Rock Racing insignia, was only one of the Rock Racing winners to cross the finish line in a top position today. At the 58th Vuelta a Colombia, the Rock Racing Pro Cycling team had a clean sweep of the podium, with Santiago Botero, Victor Hugo Peña and Oscar Sevilla capturing first, second and third, respectively, in Saturday’s prologue. Teammate Tyler Hamilton finished fourth.