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.
