| |
|
||||
|
Tech Features Road MTB Cyclocross Track News Photos Feedback | |
|||
USA, March 22-24, 2001
Stage 1 - March 22: Laguna Seca time trial, 27.2km
 |
Here we are back in America and racing the Sea Otter classic in Monterey, California. Racing started yesterday with a 27 km time trial in the morning and I took first place on my Olympic time trial bike. Kim Bruckner (Saturn) was second, 36 seconds behind me, and Kim Smith (Autotrader.com) was in third place, another minute and 10 seconds back. In fact the whole Saturn team had a good performance with Anke Erlank coming in 6th place, Suzanne Sonye finishing 12th and Petra Rossner 15th. Kristy Scrymgeour had the misfortune to puncture only 5 kms into the time trial and she had to wait a full 5 mins for my following car to reach her and change her wheel. So she just rode in at 80%, hoping for better luck in the following stages.
Stage 2 - March 22: Cannery Row criterium, 40km
 |
Stage 2 was a 40km criterium in the streets of Monterey on the afternoon of the time trial. Our Saturn team has 7 riders here and most of them are excellent criterium riders so we aimed to be aggressive and go for the stage win. From the very beginning of the race, Suzanne Sonye forced the pace and almost immediately a breakaway formed containing both her and Ina Teutenberg (Saturn). However, there were a few too many other riders in there who weren't fully committed to making the break succeed and after 5 or 6 laps they were caught.
Suzanne Sonye and Kristy Scrymgeour continued to attack and counterattack the bunch, featuring in many small breakaway groups. Finally, with about 6 laps to go, Ina Teutenberg launched another attack and Kim Smith (Autotrader.com) went after her. I followed Kim since I didn't want her gaining time on me and the three of us established a good gap to the rest of the field. With two Saturn riders against one Autotrader rider, Kim was always facing a losing battle and I was soon away solo with Kim trying to chase me down and Ina enjoying a free ride on her wheel.
The bunch soon caught the two of them but Kim had to continue to work to try and prevent me taking more time out of her. By this stage we only had about 4 laps to go and I was giving it everything I had out in front to try and hold off the bunch. The Autotrader team was trying to chase but weren't particularly organised and with a lap to go Ina saw an opportunity and she shot clear of the bunch and rode across to me within half a lap. She won the stage easily, I finished second and we couldn't believe our luck when Suzanne Sonye and Anke Erlank finished 3rd and 4th. We had wanted to win the stage and we ended up taking out the first 4 placings!
Stage 3 - March 23: Fort Ord road race, 100km
 |
The following day we raced 100km - 3 laps of a very tough circuit containing many difficult hills. We wanted to hold onto our 1st and 2nd positions overall and grab the stage win as well if possible. A bit greedy maybe and we certainly ended up working hard for our goals! From the start the pace was fairly high with Jimena Floritt (Autotrader.com) and Ina Teutenberg (Saturn) riding hard at the front.
At the completion of the first lap, there was a sprint for the points competition and Petra Rossner led out Suzanne Sonye for that sprint. With the high pace of the sprint, the field was totally strung out, with gaps appearing. Immediately after the sprint, Katrina Berger (800.com) attacked. Kim Bruckner and I gave chase and as we crested the next hill, we found ourselves in a small breakaway group containing Kim Bruckner, Anke and myself from Saturn, Katrina Berger (800.com), Sandy Espeseth (Intersports team) and Judith Arndt (Germany).
Kim Smith was in hot pursuit with her team-mates Julie Young and Jimena Floritt as well as 800.com rider Gina Grain. The four of them soon joined us and our breakaway swelled to 10. It wasn't a great working group and with hard chasing from behind we were caught after another 5 or so kms. At that point, Suzanne Sonye (Saturn) put in some big attacks and spent some time off the front solo. She came back about midway through the second lap and then Kim Smith attacked hard and took myself, Petra Rossner and Gina Grain (800.com) with her. Kim Bruckner missed the move and was soon to regret it.
Although Petra and I weren't working with Kim Smith at all, Gina and her team were riding strongly and quickly gaining time on the bunch. We hit the major climb of the race and Kim dropped Gina and continued putting time into the bunch. At that point, Petra dropped back to help Kim Bruckner (Saturn) chase Kim Smith (Autotrader.com), so that she wouldn't lose second place overall.
For the next 30kms I sat on Kim Smith's wheel and marvelled at how hard and fast she was going. At times I wondered if I could stay with her, even though I wasn't contributing at all to the pace setting. Behind me, Petra Rossner, Anke Erlank and Kim Bruckner were chasing their hearts out, trying to get on terms with Kim Smith. Finally, with a little over 10kms to race, Kim Smith and I were caught.
With the frenzied chasing the bunch had been severely reduced and there were only 10 of us left to contest the finish. Saturn still had Kim Bruckner, Anke Erlank and myself, Autotrader also had three riders with Kim Smith, Julie Young and Jimena Floritt, 800.com had two riders in Katrina Berger and Gina Grain, Intersports had Sandy Espeseth and Germany had Judith Arndt. Katrina Berger and Sandy Espeseth were the only two riders left with the energy to attack up the last climb but they didn't succeed in splitting us up. It came down to a bunch finish and I won. We had achieved our goals but paid a pretty heavy price for them!
Now there is only one stage left - a 50 km circuit race tomorrow morning. Hopefully it will be a lot more fun than today's stage!
Stage 4 - March 24: Laguna Seca circuit race, 47km
 |
The final stage of the Sea Otter Classic was a textbook race for us. We had a Saturn rider in every breakaway of the day and Suzanne Sonye was able to win enough intermediate sprints to take home the points jersey from this race. In the end, it was a group of 10 riders who approached the finish together, including 4 Saturn riders - Kim Bruckner, Anke Erlank, Petra Rossner and myself. Kim and Anke did a brilliant job of leading us out and I won the stage with Petra in third place. Things couldn't have gone better.
We were also very excited to watch the men's race - the Saturn men went into the final stage with Trent Klasna in the overall lead and they never looked to be in trouble in the final stage, successfully defending Trent's yellow jersey. So the Saturn men and women completed the double here and there were a few celebrations last night!
Now I get a little break from racing for a couple of weeks while I set up base in Pennsylvania. It will be good to get out of hotel rooms and unpack some bags and settle in for a little while!
Cheers,
Anna
|
|
|
Contacts: Editorial
- Advertising
Systems:
|
|||