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Tour of Missouri Women's Criterium - NE
Kansas City, Missouri, USA, September 8, 2008
Miller takes Missouri
By Kirsten Robbins in Kansas City, Missouri
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The newly crowned USA national criterium and road champion, Brooke Miller of Team Tibco, felt the added motivation from her stars and stripes skin suit, fuelling her winning sprint ahead of Jen McRae (Advil-ChapStick) and Erica Allar (Aaron's).
"It was such a great race out there, so much more fun when people come out to race their bikes," said Miller who acknowledged her team's small numbers. "It's fun to come out with only three riders and come out and race tactically well. Ambar Rais and Lauren Franges were flawless."
Some sixty women lined up to start the Tour of Missouri women's criterium. The inaugural event held in Kansas City in conjunction with the men's stage one finish. The pro women competed for one-hour over a one-kilometre rendition of the men's five-kilometre finishing circuits.
"I'm such a sucker for a good crowd –They were great," said Miller regarding the thousands of fans out to watch the race despite less than desirable weather conditions. "It was very aggressive out there from the beginning and I get giddy with good hard races."
Teams like Cheerwine, Aaron's, Value Act Capital, Vanderkitten and Colavita-Sutter Home along with single rider teams Revolution and Kenda Tire played hardball with one another. The continued to send a flurry of attacks for the duration of the one-hour event however, strong winds, especially a headwind through the start finish line, forced the field to continuously regroup.
"It was really hard out there," said runner up McRae who had the pleasure of competing in front of her two young daughters Henna and Elle. "There was a lot of activity coming from the teams who had the numbers. I surfed the peloton until the last lap and found my way onto the Colavita-Sutter Home, which was a good option for me."
Cheerwine and Colavita-Sutter Home rallied their riders at the front of the field following a gambler's prime for $1000 won by Miller's team-mate Ambar Rais. "The other teams did a great job with their lead outs. But when you have a phenomenal lead out like Lauren Franges, its hard not to do well in a sprint," said Miller.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by John Pierce/Photosport International
- Brooke Miller (Tibco) revs up her sprint to take the Tour of Missouri Women's Criterium.
- Brooke Miller (Tibco) wins the Tour of Missouri Women's Criterium
- USA Champ Brooke Miller (Tibco) tops the podium in the Tour of Missouri Women's Criterium, Erica Allar (Aaron's) and Jen McRae (Advil-ChapStick), l & r.
Results
1 Brooke Miller (Team Tibco) 2 Erica Allar (Aaron's Pro Cycling) 3 Jen McRae (Advil Chapstick) 4 Tina Pic (Colavita-Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light) 5 Shontell Gauthier (Colavita-Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light) 6 Jenny Drew (Vanderkitten) 7 Kelly Benjamin (Cheerwine) 8 Samantha Schneider (Colavita-Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light) 9 Lauren Franges (Team Tibco) 10 Martina Patella (Value Act Capital) 11 Amber Rais (Team Tibco) 12 Meredith Miller (Aaron's Pro Cycling) 13 Catherine Walberg (Team Kenda Tire) 14 Carrie Cash-Wooten (Team Revolution) 15 Megan Hotman (DFT) 16 Anna Young (Team Revolution) 17 Laura Van Gilder (Cheerwine) 18 Chris Roetger (Team Revolution) 19 Stacy Maple (Cheerwine) 20 Liz Hatch (Vanderkitten) 21 Taitt Sato (Value Act Capital) 22 Lindsey Myers (Dewars) 23 Sydney Brown (Team Revolution) 24 Linsey Bradshaw (Dewalt) 25 Nicole Wanguard (Colavita-Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light) 26 Yukie Nakamura (Team Kenda Tire) 27 Alison Powers (Colavita-Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light) 28 Michelle Jensen (Mercy Cycling Team) 29 Allison Brand (Cheerwine) 30 Andrea Dvorak (Colavita-Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light) 31 Hannah Banks (Value Act Capital) 32 Jen Rhoades (Mercy Cycling Team) 33 Melissa Sanborn (Vanderkitten) 34 Sarah Bamberger (Cheerwine) 35 Robin Farina (Cheerwine)
