Amgen Women's Race: Hall wins stage 2 and claims race lead

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Katie Hall (UnitedHealthcare) caught and passed Anna van der Breggen (Boels Dolmans) on the final climb to win the stage and take the overall lead at the Amgen Breakaway from Heart Disease Women's Race empowered with SRAM. Hall attacked the lead group on the final climb dropping everybody except van der Breggen.

"Boels Dolmans did a great job setting the pace on the climb [Kingsbury Grade], and then we were trading attacks where it got down to Coryn [Rivera], Anna and I," Hall said. "Eventually it was Anna and I, and we went over the top together. I got attacked at the bottom of the descent and was able to pull it back in the final kilometre."

It was a disappointing finish for Boels Dolmans who had firm control of the peloton for most of the race. Boels Dolmans lost both the stage, and the overall lead with van der Breggen 3 seconds behind Hall, and Megan Guarnier 29 seconds down in third place.

"Of course you know if somebody attacks you have to follow," Van der Breggen said. "So Megan tried also, and it's different on a long climb like this. Of course, Megan is coming in shape again, and something like this is really tough. You have to see how she's going, she tried her best, and she did really good coming in the group behind us."

Riders woke up to wet roads and cold temperatures Friday, requiring them to bundle up as they headed off for their second day of racing. The 108 km circuit contained two major climbs the first a 6.6 km over Luther Pass, and the second a gruelling 12.6 km climb up Kingsbury Grade which riders expected to split the field.

Boels-Dolmans kept tight control over early moves as the race headed into the first mountain pass. Juliette Labous (Team Sunweb) attacked as the field headed up Luther Pass and drove her lead to almost a minute. Labous, a five-time French national champion, was caught on the descent as the peloton all came together. Labous' efforts earned the young French woman the Most Courageous Rider jersey, and Team Sunweb's first appearance on the podium at this year's race.

As the pack drove towards the Kingsbury Grade climb, Sunweb began to make their presence felt at the front of the pack. Karol-Ann Canuel (Boels Dolmans) set tempo at the base of the long climb, whittling the pack down to 25 riders. Katie Hall attacked with 5 km to go, and only Coryn Rivera [Team Sunweb] and van der Breggen were able to respond.

"It [Kingsbury Grade] was a great climb for Katie," said UHC director Rachel Heal. "It is kind of soul-sapping for anyone that is not a pure climber. We knew we wanted to keep Katie safe to the base of it, let the climb do the damage, and let Katie do the rest."

Hall's constant surges dropped Rivera leaving only van der Breggen to contend the final run to the finish. Hall was unsure she could beat van der Breggen and thought she had lost her chance once van der Breggen gapped Hall with several kilometres to go. Hall regrouped and decided to leave it all on the road as her teammates encouraged her over the radio.

"Ruth [Winder] and Tayler [Wiles] have the most beautiful ability to suffer in the whole entire world and turn themselves inside out," Hall said. "I find that really inspiring, and I was trying to take a page out of their book today and just suffer out of my mind. I could hear Ruth just saying "Go, Go, Go!'"

Hall caught and passed van der Breggen with less than 1 km to the finish, putting 21 seconds into the Olympic champion as she soloed in for the win. Van der Breggen finished second, with Kristabel Doebel-Hickok in third.

Only three seconds separate Hall and van der Breggen, with Winder and Guarnier close behind. The small gaps and flat stages will create intense race dynamics as the Tour heads out of the mountains and into California's Central Valley.

"I would say that keeping the lead from Boels will be almost impossible, but I thought taking it from them would be impossible, so never say never," Rachel Heal said. "Lauren [Hall] and Lauretta [Hanson] are great sprinters, and Ruth has surprised everybody with her sprint this year. Rushlee [Buchanan] and Tayler are big powerhouses, and Katie has determination in buckets, so we are going to go out there and give it a really good go."

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