Rivera seals Golden criterium victory in Women's USA Pro Challenge

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Coryn Rivera (UnitedHealthcare) reconfirmed her perch as the country's top sprinter with an uphill stage 3 win, and Kristin Armstrong (Twenty16 Sho-Air) further advanced her goal toward the 2016 Summer Olympics by claiming the overall title Sunday of the three-day Women's USA Pro Challenge.

Rivera, who will begin her final semester at Marian University on Monday morning, bolted to the front of the lead group of about two-dozen riders to win the one-hour criterium in downtown Golden, Colorado. Lauren Hall (Twenty16 Sho-Air) was second, while Joanne Kiesanowski (Team TIBCO) finished third.

Armstrong, 42, who emerged from her second retirement in April, claimed the opening title trial by 0.12 seconds over another teammate, Allie Dragoo. She increased her advantage with a third place in the second stage and eased up approaching the finish to place ninth in the final stage.

The lead group finish resulted in Armstrong’s 29-second final margin over Tayler Wiles (DNA Cycling). Mara Abbott (Amy D. Foundation) finished third, trailing Armstrong by 51 seconds. It was Armstrong's second stage race in her selective itinerary of her comeback season.

"The time trial didn't help prepare for the World Championships at all, except that it was a workout that I needed," said Armstrong, the two-time Olympic time trial gold medallist. "The worlds will be a different kind of race."

How it unfolded

The final stage of the inaugural women's portion of the USA Pro Challenge began 2 hours and 40 minutes before the start of stage 7 of the men's race from Golden to Denver.

The 56-rider women's field split nearly from the opening 2.25 km loop. A group of six riders moved to the front and then Amanda Miller (Visit Dallas/Noise4Good) had the first sustained solo break. She built as much as a 10-second cushion after a few laps. Meanwhile, a second group of a dozen riders fell back more than one minute to the main field and then quickly lost further contact.

Miller rode at the front until six laps remained before Olivia Dillion (Visit Dallas/Noise4Good) briefly moved into a slight lead. The lagging rest of the field, nearly six minutes back, was then pulled. The lead group rode together for the final five laps. The loop feature a long, wide steady uphill finish and then a short, steep uphill just after the finish.

"Twenty16 just really kept it together, which worked in my favor," said Rivera, who also won the sprinter's stage of the Tour of Utah on August 4. “And then it all came down to positioning and speed at the end.”

Rivera, who claimed her 12th victory of the season, was in second position with two corners remaining.

“The final sprint wasn’t too bad; I thought it was pretty fast,” said Rivera. “You got a lot of speed coming down the hill. It’s just because of how fast it was and how much risk there was, I wanted to go around the final corner in first.”

Armstrong, who also won the time trials time at the Cascade Cycling Classic and USA Professional Road Race Championships, rode near the front throughout the final stage.

“If you don’t deal with the nerves, you won’t do it,” Armstrong said. “Everyone knows to stay away from Kristin Armstrong for 36 hours before a time trial. But as far as my training is going, I feel like I am right on track.”

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