US squad seeks top-5 result at TTT world championship
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Jade Wilcoxson (Optum) recovered from yesterday's hard stage to come in fifth.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
The Optum ladies get ready to head to the start.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Optum rider Joelle Numainville digs hard on the uphill time trial, but finished 40 seconds off the winning time.(Image credit: Wil Matthews)
Janel Holcomb (Optum) on the way to her win.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Jade Wilcoxson (Optum) and teammate Lauren Hall celebrate taking 1,2.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Leah Kirchmann (Optum) and new National Champ teammate Jade Wilcoxson move to the front(Image credit: Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us)
Denise Ramsden (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) 4th(Image credit: Tour of Japan)
While the Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies men's team builds for its second appearance at the team time trial world championships with a steady diet of North American stage racing, the women's squad has travelled to Europe for the first time for a block of racing in France and Italy in preparation for their debut start at the team time trial world championships.
The schedule for Europe includes the UCI 2.2-ranked Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l'Ardèche (September 2-9), a six-day stage race in the Ardeche region of Southern France, and the UCI 2.HC-ranked Giro della Toscana (September 11-15), a five-day stage race in the Tuscany region of Italy that's close to the world championship venue.
The team time trial returned to the world championship program in 2012, now contested by both men's and women's trade teams, with Specialized-lululemon winning the inaugural women's TTT world title last year in the Netherlands. This year the women face a 42.8km world championship parcours on the opening day of the world championships, September 22.
"Although these are our first races in Europe as a team, the riders have all ridden in Europe with their respective national teams, and we are looking forward to combining their experience with the winning spirit we have in the US," said Optum performance director Rachel Heal. "We'll be looking for some great results. We will then have a week to fine tune before the team's big goal of a result at the TTT world championships."
The Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l'Ardèche kicked off on Monday with a 2.4km prologue time trial with the Optum women placing three riders in the top-10: Jade Wilcoxson, 4th; Janel Holcomb, 5th; and Lauren Hall, 10th. Wilcoxson, the reigning US road race national champion, finished five seconds off the pace of prologue winner Linda Villumsen.
The Optum men's performance director Jonas Carney expressed the organisation's high hopes for the women's TTT world championship squad.
"We feel that a realistic goal is for our women to finish in the top five of the world championships," Carney told Cyclingnews. "That would be a great accomplishment for our program.
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"We learned a lot at the world championship TTT last year and those experiences are definitely being shared between the staff and riders. In the week leading up to the championship, the men's and women's teams will be staying within five miles of each other. We'll definitely try to help each other as much as possible in the final run up to the championship."
Based in the southeastern United States, Peter produces race coverage for all disciplines, edits news and writes features. The New Jersey native has 30 years of road racing and cyclo-cross experience, starting in the early 1980s as a Junior in the days of toe clips and leather hairnets. Over the years he's had the good fortune to race throughout the United States and has competed in national championships for both road and 'cross in the Junior and Masters categories. The passion for cycling started young, as before he switched to the road Peter's mission in life was catching big air on his BMX bike.
