In a brand stinking new Stars & Stripes jersey, US Crit (and Road) Champion Brooke Miller (Tibco) won the bunch sprint at the inaugural Women’s Criterium at the Tour of Missouri. Erica Allar (Aaron’s) was second and Jen McRae (Advil/Chapstick) was third.

The field might have been small with only thirty-something riders at the start line, but the racing was big. In front of an enthusiastic crowds, the women put on a show for 55 minutes (+ 5 laps) in the Country Club Plaza, Kansas City’s premiere entertainment, shopping and dining destination.

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US Crit Champion Tina Pic (Colavita/Sutter Home) made her Stars & Stripes proud on Sunday, winning her second stage, the final criterium at the Mt Hood Cycling Classic. Pic outsprinted Joanne Kiesanowski (Tibco) and Jeannie Longo, riding for the composite team River City Racing to cross the line first after a week of racing in Oregon.

Tina Pic (Colavita/Sutter Home) outsprints Joanne Kiesanowski (tibco) and Jeannie Longo to win final stage at Mt Hood

“I have to say that was a bit painful, fifth stage in the race. I was hot and I was struggling to get to the finish because I got a bad start. Jeannie [Longo] was going for the finish, it was pretty impressive, wow, but I got her.” said Pic.

Canadian Julie Beveridge (Aaron’s) kept the leader’s jersey even though she crashed in the last 100 meters, as she was given the same time as the field.

“A little bit, after the time trial it definitely was, it’s still sinking in.” said Beveridge when asked if she understood the importance of this win.

By finished second and grabbing important time bonus seconds, Longo jumped to second place on GC ahead of three-times Mt Hood winner Leah Goldstein (ValueAct). To keep things in perspective, the 49-year old Longo had already won three World Road Championship before Beveridge was born in 1988.

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Mara Abbott, riding for the composite team Discover Bicycles/Athletes for a Cure, jumped from the field led by Jeannie Longo to catch the remnants of the break of the final climb to Mt Hood Meadows ski resort to win stage 4, the Wy’East Road Race at Mt Hood Cycling Classic.

“I knew that coming up here was my best chance, the pace slowed down a bit, Jeannie Longo was leading but she was switching side to side a lot, and she switched to the side and we bunched up a little bit and I decided to go. I caught the break about half way between when I attacked and the finish, it was awesome.” said a smiling Abbott.

As expected, the race came down to the last 2 miles. An early break with Martina Patella (ValueAct) and Kelly Benjamin (Cheerwine) was off the front, and the Aaron’s team, driven by Meredith Miller, led the chase. Longo added her power to the chase in the final miles.

“The break stayed away with 2 k to go. I caught Meredith with about 800 k to go.” said Beveridge.

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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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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.

After battling it out with her breakaway companions, Katherine Carroll, from Aaron’s sprinted to a big win in Stage One. Former Canadian national champion, Alex Wrubleski, from Webcor Builders followed with second; and Leigh Hobson, from Cheerwine grabbed third. Mara Abbott, from High Road, just a few seconds behind in a group that bridged to the breakaway kept the yellow jersey, coming off of her win at Thursday’s Prologue race.

The pro women cyclists lined up to complete 4 laps of 17.5 miles in the 2008 Redlands Bicycle Classic Stage One Circuit race in Beaumont, Calif.
This year’s course required a different strategy from the former Oak Glen Stage One race. The 17.5 mile course took the riders through Beaumont’s rolling hills, bordered by open fields. Bogart Park provided a grueling hill that threw some of the hardest obstacles. After the steep climb, the wind to be difficult for the riders.

Some found the challenging course inviting. “I thought the course was fantastic,” said Hobson. “It was definitely a challenge with the climb, but it wasn’t as selective as a mountain top finish. Teams could race more aggressively.”

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We first saw Anna Lang race in the Manhattan Beach Grand Prix last summer. She placed fifth behind a talented sprinting field. A few days later we caught up with Lang at the Women’s Road Criterium race during the Infineon Cougar Mountain Classic where she crushed the field in a hard sprint finish. Lang was a solo rider battling multi-rider teams from Webcor Builders, PROMAN/Paradigm and Cheerwine, which made her victory even more impressive. Although fairly new to the professional women’s road schedule, Anna Lang has impressed many.

Lang began her cycling career as an undergrad at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. “I was always athletic. It took collegiate racing to get into riding,” Lang stated. “My sophomore year, I wanted the discipline and the team atmosphere, I heard about the triathlon club. They had a coach and regular practice times. I did triathlons and it was just okay. It was pretty straight forward and actually kind of boring. Through the triathlon club I heard about the cycling club. They were just bad asses…very good. As a club team I was simply able to join. I did a mountain bike championship in San Diego. I did the B category downhill and won. I got down and thought, ‘This is so cool!’ I fell in love with it. A couple of months later the road season started. I got a road bike. I remember telling my friend that for the first time I can see doing this until the day I die.There was a love there immediately.”

After graduation, Anna began a new job and didn’t train or race very much. “I hadn’t really jumped the ranks from collegiate and was planning on driving around to race and then September 11th happened and I ended up staying home and got a great engineering job.”

She worked for two years as a structural design consultant at a leading engineering firm designing multi-million-dollar homes in the San Francisco Bay area. However, a trip to Mexico motivated her to go back to school to get an advanced degree. “On the engineering side…it wasn’t really fulfilling,” Lang commented. “I wanted to make a bigger contribution.”

“When I made the decision to go to grad school I found out that they had a track. People had always told me that I would be good at track. I tried it. First year of grad school was ridiculous so I rode twice a month on my road bike and did a handful of collegiate races. The track team was pretty solid. I finished school on June 16^th and I was at the track the next day. I trained and I loved it. At first I was training for pursuit. I was really good at time trialing at Cal Poly. Though I liked training for the pursuit my 500m time was dropping. I switched coach and have been training for sprints for three years now. He put me in the crit scene last year. He told me that he wanted to make me a better athlete first and then to make me a better racer. He wanted me to enter every and all races to get the experience. That’s why we did crits last year. It was a secondary thing to my track. It was done only to supplement my track racing. At my first crit….I got out there and thought I am either not going to finish the race or I am going to win….there really was no in between. If I am able to get to the line I will out sprint everyone in the field. Sure enough I jumped and sprinted.”

Lang further commented about her coach. “I’m well aware of Mark’s (Whitehead) controversial reputation, but that is simply not the person I know and worked closely with for two years. He is a deeply dedicated, talented, and passionate coach and individual. I have the utmost respect for his coaching ability and for what he accomplished as a racer in the 70’s and 80’s. Frankly, I wouldn’t be where I am without him. Mark saw my ability to sprint and to ride crits, and he fostered those talents. I believe it takes a unique personality to coach female athletes, particularly at the elite level, and he possesses that. Mark simply knows what it takes to make someone the best possible racer. An athlete sacrifices so much to achieve results; they put their heart and soul into it. You must trust your coach in order to reach your god-determined potential; that’s a heavy burden! But I wouldn’t invest that trust with anyone else in the U.S.; he is the best.”

Lang has continued to combine her track racing passion with her new road career. “I have seen a huge improvement by combining the two. A lot of track sprinters do not like the speed of the peloton. I think because I started road racing in college, I knew how to ride crits plus I am getting the speed training from track. Combining the two has been awesome. My coach has even been considering the points race now too. The level of fitness that I had last year was the best I ever had. I was still able to maintain my sprint and my 200m time was dropping. It was not taking away from sprints. There is often a black and white training mentality. I am somewhere in the middle and my coach has done a fantastic job of identifying the talent I have and nourishing it. I am somewhere in the middle and really do not want to be pigeon holed. Road has taken more of a forefront now. I’ll race a handful of track races in the summer but I will be getting into my road schedule. I am still training on the track. Track remains an integral part of my road racing and my sprint.”

With her road and track successes in 2007, Lang decided to test the waters of possibly joining a professional women’s road team. “I did send my resume to a lot of teams. I knew what I wanted and I knew I did not want to be pigeon holed. I know I have to pay my dues and I know I have a lot to earn but I also know that I can win races. I wanted to be at a place where I could be myself and where I was wanted I was so enchanted with the idea of going pro. I just knew what I wanted…I knew what I could do…I knew what I could do alone out on the peloton and I knew I could do it again and better. So it was not like I had to be on a team in order to make it. I wasn’t sold on that idea. I also wanted to maintain school and my schedule. I wanted to be with a team that work with me and my schedule.”

With a suggestion by a colleague, Lang decided to contact Aaron’s Professional Women’s Cycling Team. “Carmen (D’Aluisio) called me back. She said she had been looking for ways to contact me. She had her eye on me. We had a long talk and what convinced me was that she would allow me to be who I am. She was looking for a true sprinter. When Laura Van Gilder or Tina Pic is in the race, the peloton immediately starts racing for second place. I don’t have that problem. I am going to jump in and attack. I just see them as another competitor that I want to beat. I am ready now. The engineering side of me looks at it and I have seen these girls, I’ve seen their 500 and 200 times and I am a lot faster. If I can get to the line, deductively I should be able to beat them….that’s what I saw in my head. Maybe that’s been my source of confidence.”

As for her goals for 2008, Lang stated, “Number one….I am new to the team dynamic. There is lot I have to learn. I want a better understanding of how I am going to fit in but I really want to win races. I don’t want to step on toes but I do want to win races. There is so much firepower on this team. I think there are a lot of different ways we’ll be able to win races. What ever group I am in…I want to win.”

However, Lang’s passion for track is never far behind. “I had some good success on the track last summer. I beat Jenny Reed a couple of times and showing some good strength and speed. I had bad luck at the Track Nationals. I crashed pretty bad on the keirin. It shook me up. I went down hard and hit my head. I got back up and did the scratch race…which is the best thing I could have done. 2012 track in the Olympics is definitely something I am targeting.”

All photos copyright Stephanie Gutowski

by Stephanie Gutowski & Lyne Lamoureux

Team Director Carmen D’Aluisio has brought back five key riders from the 2007 squad and added some strong young riders to bolster the 2008 team. The 2007 team was ranked third overall in the NRC for the year with two riders in the individual top five standings.

Returning to the team is Katharine Carroll—winner of the Athens Twilight Criterium, the Joe Martin Stage Race and the Sprint Jersey and final stage of the Tour Cycliste Feminin International de l’Ardeche. Also returning is Felicia Gomez, winner of the Queen of the Mountains Jersey and a Stage at the Mount Hood Stage Race and ranked fourth overall on the NRC standings. Division I Collegiate National Champion Rebecca Larson and winner of the Sprint Jersey at the Nature Valley Grand Prix, U.S. Masters National Time Trial Champion Kristin Sanders and Carmen McNellis round out the returning riders. Catherine Powers will also return to the team on a part-time basis while balancing her new teaching career.

New riders for 2008 include U23 U.S. Criterium National Champ Erica Allar, U23 Canadian Time Trial National Champion Julie Beveridge, Canadian standout Allison Testroete, cycling track star Anna Lang and former TEAm Lipton powerhouse Meredith Miller.

RoadBikeReview spent a windy and cold morning in Santa Cruz, California meeting this exciting 2008 Aaron’s Women Pro Cycling team.

Team Director, Carmen D’Aluisio -We have a very strong team this year. We are racing for the NRC. The goal of the team is to be on top this season. I think that the competition is going to be very tough . I am really looking forward to how this group will ride.

Erica Allar - A senior at Penn State University, Erica looks forward to graduation so she can put all of her energy into being a professional bike racer.

Julie Beveridge - I’m second year in university. We have such a strong team, we can win a lot of races, we can win crits, we can win hilly races. I just want to help out whoever is riding well that day. If Felicia and Allison are climbing well, Kristin or anyone, I want to get them where they need to be.

Katharine Carroll - When I came in last year, it was a new group, a lot of riders that had shown some potential that had never really proven themselves either in a leadership role, and I think we answered a lot of question about ability and strength last year. I think the goal for the team this year is to take it to the next level where… when you’re called on to do something, to do your job as a team member whether to be the sprinter at the end or the GC leader, that you just get it done and everybody else is in full support of that team goal.

Felicia Gomez - I’m super excited to be on the team again, I think we have a super strong team, we have young talent which I’m really excited about and the addition of Meredith Miller who has a lot of international experience. I think she can really lend a lot to our team as well. For me, in terms of team goals, I think we can contest the NRC , I think we can be…we finished third last year in our first real pro year and I think with the team we have that we can do better than that this year.

Anna Lang - I will continue to do both track and road…but road is very much in the forefront. I want to get into my road schedule. Track is still an integral part of my road racing and training. I wanted to be in a place where the team would work with my schedule. What convinced me was that I could be who I wanted to be here. Carmen said that she was looking for a true sprinter….someone who is not going to be afraid to go for the win. I am racing to win.

Rebecca Larson - For the team, it is to win the NRC which I think we have a good shot at. There are six of us that came back from last year so we had a year of racing together so that’s going to make a big difference. And the new girls are great I think we have a strong team and the fact that we’ve been having so much fun at camp I think it’s just going to keep building.

Carmen McNellis - I am on the National Team and plan on doing a full National schedule. I am not going to do that many races with Aaron’s…I’ll do Montreal Word Cup, which is an important race, Nationals, and Nature Valley. I’ll be spending most of time in Europe. My personal goal on the national team is to learn at every race. I am very new. My goal is to learn and get better at every race.

Meredith Miller -I have always been involved in team sports all my life. So for me, team will always come before my individual goal. Yes individually, I would like to go to the World Championships at the end of the year. If I win a couple of races along the way that’s great. But I am more concerned about the success of the team and whatever success we have making sure it has been a team effort. I guess my goal with this team is to make sure that we do come together as a team, I think there are so many opportunity, we have so much potential on this team that everybody is going to have an opportunity to do well. Whether it’s myself or someone else I just want to encourage every body to take that opportunity and go for it, and just make sure it’s been a team effort along the way.

Catherine Powers - I just want to support the team, I’m a domestique, I pretty much retired. I’m teaching in a bilinguial program in middle school in Boulder, so I’m just racing part time. I love my team and I couldn’t give it all the way up. I just want to support people, be a good domestique. If I end up in a break and get a good result that would be awesome but it’s all good.

Kristin Sanders - My main focus this year is the team. I really only have one personal goal and that’s to go to Nationals. I just want to race my bike for the best results for the best of my team. Whatever that is defined by the team…that will be my goal.

Alison Testroete - What I was really looking for is someone like Carmen who is really well organized, with direction and then a good team, somewhere I just fit in. I feel that if you’re really comfortable in your environment you’ll maximize your performance. And also to have role model in the team, someone I could really look up to that would really help me out.

Aaron’s Women’s Pro Cycling’s first race will be the Santa Rosa Women’s Grand Prix on February 18, 2008

Aaron’s Women’s Pro Cycling