St. Louis, MO – Brooke Miller and Team TIBCO have swept the four-race Women’s Tour of Missouri Series, part of the Gateway Cup in St. Louis this Labor Day weekend. The four-rider squad, which included Katharine Carroll, Alison Starnes and Rushlee Buchanan, had to contend with full rosters from teams like Colavita/Sutter Home and Team Type 1. Yet they still delivered Miller to four consecutive victories.

This morning, on a course that covered part of the circuit for today’s opening stage of the men’s Tour of Missouri, Miller once again took advantage of a stealth leadout from Carroll.

“It’s our new tactic, leadout from behind,” Miller joked.

Coming into the final lap, Miller was situated behind the Colavita train, with Carroll behind her on her wheel. With about 500 meters to go, as she had done Saturday, Carroll launched from behind Miller, who jumped on her wheel. Carroll dove the final two corners and dropped off Miller coming out of the last turn with 200 meters to go.

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Team captains Amber Rais (left) and Meredith Miller lead a deep Team TIBCO squad into the Cascade Classic, beginning Tuesday

Los Altos, California – Team TIBCO will bring one of the strongest, most balanced stage race rosters into this week’s Cascade Classic, which begins tomorrow.

“We have a lot of options with our roster,” said Meredith Miller, one of the team’s captains.

The squad includes three of last year’s top 10 finishers, including Canadian Julie Beveridge, who finished 3rd overall and won the best young rider competition. Amber Rais finished 8th overall last year, while Miller slotted in at 10th overall.

Add in Kiwi Joanne Kiesanowski, who has been one of the team’s most consistently strong riders this season, and it gives the Team TIBCO numerous options in the battle for the overall title.

“Looking at the overall, we have a lot of different cards to play this year,” Miller said. “Julie is probably our best climber, and Jo is climbing and sprinting really well. But above all, we want to make the race as hard as possible each day.”

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Montreal, Que. – Lauren Tamayo of Team TIBCO has finished 3rd Overall in the Grand Tour du Montreal, the biggest women’s UCI stage race in North America. With the help of her TIBCO teammates, Tamayo took advantage of intermediate sprint bonuses to jump ahead of Regina Bruins (Cervelo Test Team) during the final stage of the four-day, five-stage race

Tamayo was in contention for the overall podium from day one after taking 2nd in Stage 1. She followed that with 5th place in Stage 2 and 4th in the Stage 3 time trial. Tamayo also helped teammate Brooke Miller to 3rd place in the Stage 4 criterium.

“The team rode really hard all week,” said team directeur sportif Jeff Corbett. “We were in contention for stage wins pretty much every road stage but the sprints just didn’t play out well.”

Cervelo’s Kirsten Wild took overall honors in Montreal after winning three of the five stages, finishing second in another, and taking the bulk of the intermediate sprints – and bonus time – in the four road stages. Trixi Worrack (Equipe Nürnberger) finished 2nd overall.

The strong racing in Montreal provides excellent momentum for Team TIBCO going into the Liberty Classic in Philadelphia this Sunday. Tamayo and Miller will lead the team into the 91 km race that features four trips up the infamous Manayunk Wall.

They will have support from Montreal teammates Emma Rickards and Joanne Kiesanowski, and will be joined by Katharine Carroll and Meredith Miller for Sunday’s race.

“Lauren, Joe and Brooke all have good legs coming out of Montreal,” Corbett said, “and Emma was strong all week and did great work for the team. I think Lauren, Jo and Emma can ride with anyone in the breaks at Philly, and Brooke will be good if it comes down to a sprint finish.”

As far as who from the opposition to keep an eye on, Corbett tapped Columbia-Highroad’s sprinter Ina Teutenberg, as well as Worrack, who will lead a strong Equipe Nürnberber team that will also include Amber Neben.

Team TIBCO for the Liberty Classic
Katharine Carroll, USA
Joanne Kiesanowski, NZL
Brooke Miller, USA
Meredith Miller, USA
Emma Rickards, AUS
Lauren Tamayo, USA

Photo (c) Logan Pierce

Asheville, N.C. – Team TIBCO’s Lauren Tamayo recently took her new Look 596 Time Trial bike to the A2 Wind Tunnel to dial in her position ahead of the Nature Valley Grand Prix.

“Every year we try to take a step forward in Lauren’s progression, and this year it’s the one percent things,” notes Mike Tamayo, Lauren’s husband and manager. Mike is also the directeur sportif for the OUCH Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis. “That’s where A2 comes into play. You can’t just go get tested right before the season starts. You have to test and then adapt and then test again as the season progresses.”

So the Tamayos made the drive from their base in Asheville, N.C. to the Charlotte area to test Lauren’s new TT machine.

“The new Look 596 is incredibly aerodynamic and light,” Lauren Tamayo said. It’s a truly fast machine and I want to get as much out of it as possible. That’s why I wanted to take it to A2, to get my position perfect for the rest of this season, and looking ahead to 2010 and beyond.

“Mike Giraud at the A2 Wind Tunnel was a big help in the testing,” she continued. “And I’ve got a good team around me to help with my development, including Mike and our Team TIBCO director, Jeff Corbett, who’s also my nutritionist.”

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Los Altos, California – Team TIBCO brings its strongest roster ever into the first NRC stage race of the season this weekend, the Redlands Classic, beginning Thursday, March 26.

“We’re definitely focused on the overall,” said Team TIBCO directeur sportif Jeff Corbett. “It’s a wide open race. It’s not a pure GC rider’s race. Redlands isn’t for pure climbers or time trial specialists. Just about any one of our riders could be in contention for the overall. Someone like Lauren (Tamayo) or Kat (Carroll) could get in the right move on Beaumont (Friday) and get in contention.”

The team will still look to several riders in particular in pursuit of the overall title, including Carroll, who finished 3rd in the 2008 edition, and rising Canadian star Julie Beveridge, who posted a 9th overall last year.

The team also can look to Kiwi Joanne Kiesanowski, who finished 8th in the 2008 world championship road race, as well as veteran Aussie Emma Rickards, who returns to racing in the U.S. after four years with top-level teams in Europe and a 2nd place finish in the 2008 Geelong World Cup. Powerhouse Amber Rais gives the team yet another weapon for the overall and stage wins. For the downtown Redlands criterium, Tamayo is the top candidate for a sprint finish after posting strong results at the Tour of Qatar and the Amgen Tour of California Women’s Criterium.

But Corbett adds that “We’re coming out of a really good training camp and everyone is going really well. I’ve been impressed. We’ll see how things go in the opening prologue. That often decides the hierarchy.”

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