Van Gilder busts out her winning sprint

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Laura van Gilder (C3 Athletes Serving Athletes) kicked off the season winning Saturday in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania. She defeated Mo Bruno-Roy in a two-up sprint and saw teammate Deidre Winfield cruise in for third place.

"I don't always look at the course as an opportunity to sprint, I just look to see where my strengths are," said Van Gilder. "This particular course was more of a roadie type course and I did plan my move for the end to try to beat her in the sprint. But I think the next time we race together you will probably see a different tactic."

The women's race donned a handful of key national contenders amongst a healthy some 40 riders who lined up to start the season opener. It was no surprise to see a select group of five riders led by Bruno-Roy, Van Gilder and Winfield along with Rebecca Wellons (Team Plan C), Arley Kemmerer (Hub
Racing) and Kristin Gavin (Human Zoom).

"It's the first race of the year for a lot of us and Mo's a great competitor and I never put her to the sides or discount her ability," said Van Gilder. "With having a teammate like Dede behind us I thought, 'I'm going to let Mo do all the work.' Things can happen and it's not a cut and dry race. You can have flats or mechanicals and I really just wanted to get one [win] under my belt."

Bruno-Roy took control of the race and set a pace strong enough to reduce the front-runners down to a more manageable three -- or not! She found herself followed by teammates Van Gilder and Winfield. One extra burst of power was enough to shed Winfield from the pursuit of victory however, Bruno-Roy had to contend one of the fastest sprinters in the country.

"It was really fast course overall and exposed to the sun," said Bruno-Roy. "Laura Van Gilder sat on my wheel the whole race and I couldn't let up because it would have been really hard with both her and Winfield together. They are smart racers."

"I have to race to my strengths and that's what they are," she continued.
"Mo's a great mud rider and a runner and today those elements weren't there but when we do see those elements I'm going to have my work cut out for me. There won't be any gifts after me sitting on her today but you have to ride the race to win and I would be foolish to miss an opportunity to try and win."