Joe Martin Stage Race: Alia Shafi wins stage 3 time trial

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Stephens increases overall lead after uphill effort in Devil's Den State Park

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Women's winner Alia Shafi from Fount Cycling guild moved up 14 places to 5th overall in the general classification
Women's winner Alia Shafi from Fount Cycling guild moved up 14 places to 5th overall in the general classification(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)

Alia Shafi (Fount Cycling)  won the uphill stage 3 time trial at Joe Martin Stage Race on Saturday. The only rider to break the 11-minute mark, Shafi covered the 4.8km route in 10:58 beating runner-up Lauren Stephens (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) by four seconds and Laurel Quinones (Virginia's Blue Ridge-Twenty24) by seven seconds.

“It was tough. I was just thinking of all the fast girls behind me and I didn’t want to slow down and have them catch me so I just put my head down,” Shafi said at the finish.

It was the first UCI win for Shafi, who is racing her inaugural road season.

”It’s been tough. This is only my second big race. Racing with the best in the U.S. is really inspiring, it’s been great. Learning a lot,” added Shafi who finished ninth overall at the Redlands Bicycle Classic earlier this year

Overall leader Stephens increased her lead to 1:17 over her closest competitor Emily Ehrlich (Virginia's Blue Ridge-Twenty24) ahead of the finale stage 4 in Fayetteville on Sunday. Emilie Fortin (Cynisca Cycling) dropped one spot to third in the general classification at 1:29 back.

“I was just behind by a few seconds and held onto the lead,” Stephens said.

On a beautiful calm sunny day, 95 riders faced a twisty 4.8-kilometre course in the Devil's Den State Park with an average grade of 5 per cent.

The 77th rider to start, Shafi had to wait until all the GC contenders were finished to celebrate her victory. The Seattle-based rider moved up to fifth overall, at 3:28 down.

“It went by a lot quicker than I thought it would. It was a pretty short TT. Nice and hot, it felt like I did a pretty good effort,” she said. I really like climbing so it was nice to have a more uphill TT today to give it a try, I’ve never really done something like that," said Quinones who finished third at the time trial at the Redlands Bicycle Classic

The Joe Martin Stage Race concludes on Sunday with a criterium in Fayetteville, taking place on a technical 1.2-mile course with an uphill section leading to the start/finish line.

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Lyne Lamoureux
Lyne Lamoureux

Lyne has been involved in professional cycling for more than 15 years in both news reporting and sports marketing. She founded Podium Insight in 2008, quickly becoming a trusted source for news of the North American professional cycling world. She was the first to successfully use social media to consistently provide timely and live race updates for all fans. She is proud to have covered men's and women's news equally during her tenure at the helm of the site. Her writing has appeared on Cyclingnews and other news sites. 

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