It's Miller time in Charlotte
By Kirsten Frattini published
US Criterium Champion flies her colours in North Carolina
Brooke Miller (TIBCO) won the Presbyterian Hospital Invitational after a mad dash to the line. The US National Criterium Champion outpaced sprint legend Tina Pic (Colavita-Sutter Home) who placed second and Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Verducci) in third.
"The reason I felt so confident today was because my team is an incredible team and everyone is selfless and does their job," said Miller. "There’s a certain feeling you get when your team is behind you so much. Like the feeling that you can close your eyes and fall backward and everyone’s there to catch you and it’s the best feeling in the world. I was confident today because I knew my team would race like that."
The rowdy crowds were treated to a star-studded call up before the start of the women’s 40-kilometre criterium. Riders like Meredith Miller (TIBCO), recent winner of the US national road championships, USA Crit Series leader Laura van Gilder (Mellow Mushroom), Rachel Heal (Colavita-Sutter Home), Women’s Prestige Cycling Series winner Alison Powers (Team Type 1), Pan-American champion Joelle Numainville (Kenda) along with local riders Robin Farina (Value Act Capital), Laura Bowles (Vanderkitten) and Erica Allar (BMW-Bianchi). Lastly, defending champion Katharine Carroll (TIBCO).
Carroll initiated the first move of the day that ignited a series of counter attacks from her aggressive TIBCO teammates. Teams Colavita-Sutter Home and Value Act Capital were quick to respond and the field came back together in time for the first of many primes to be had.
"We missed the move at the national championships last week so we wanted to make up for it tonight," said Pic. "We were so mad at ourselves for that. It was good for us to have a break. We were fine with all of them."
Van Gilder jumped on the first prime valued at $250 followed by Farina and Kelly Benjamin (Colavita-Sutter Home). The peloton entered into a series of counter moves that saw riders like Jen McRae (Team Type 1), Chrissy Ruiter and Kristin Sanders (Value Act Capital), Andrea Dvorak and Nicky Wangsgard (Colavita-Sutter Home) and Christina Smith (Veloforma) reshuffle into several short-lasting breakaways.
Mid-race, Carroll jumped for a second time and she was quickly followed by Rachel Heal. The pair gained 15 seconds, testing each other through several lucrative primes. Alison Powers (Team Type 1) took responsibility to try to drag the breakaway back. She received help from teammate Kori Seehafer to seal the deal with five laps to go.
"Our goal was to save me for the finish to lead-out Jen, so Alison was doing a lot of work to bring back the breaks," said Seehafer. "There was a lot of attacking in the last three laps and we were covering those. By the end, Jen was left out to dry because she didn’t have any teammates left."
The three fully loaded teams, TIBCO, Colavita-Sutter Home and Value Act Capital continued to put pressure on the short-handed Team Type 1. Catherine Cheatley made her move with Joanne Kiesanowski, followed by Powers and Wangsgard. With things back together again, Seehafer reacted to several more attacks throughout the final lap.
"We usually don’t like anything to go up the road without one of us on it right away," said Miller. "It’s easier to cover somebody when they attack with a short effort than to try and bring it back. Almost no one gets more than 50-metres in front on the peloton before one of my teammates brings them back. All my teammates are strong enough that they can win if they are up the road. So I’m a good plan-B. It doesn’t have to be me standing on the podium. We have five other women who are incredibly phenomenal athletes."
With half a lap to go, TIBCO and Colavita-Sutter Home organized a lead-out for their designated sprinters Miller and Pic. Notable sprinters Van Gilder and McRae sat protected amongst the front group. The long straight away to the finish line made it hard to anticipate when to start the sprint. Cliff-Ryan was the first to go but both Miller and Pic passed her at the line. "This is such a long sprint and I waited too long," said Pic. "Brooke and I have a similar sprint and she just caught me off guard."
1 | Brooke Miller (Team Tibco) | 0:54:47 |
2 | Tina Pic (Colavita Sutter Home P/b Cookin) | 0:00:01 |
3 | Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Verducci/breakaway Racing) | |
4 | Laura Van Gilder (Mellow Mushroom) | |
5 | Christina Smith (Veloforma) | |
6 | Joanne Kiesanowski (Team Tibco) | |
7 | Erica Allar (BMW-Bianchi) | 0:00:02 |
8 | Jennifer Mcrae (Team Type 1) | |
9 | Joelle Numainville (Team Kenda) | |
10 | Cath Cheatley (Colavita Sutter Home P/b Cookin) | |
11 | Kori Seehafer (Team Type 1) | 0:00:03 |
12 | Lauren Tamayo (Team Tibco) | |
13 | Meredith Miller (Team Tibco) | 0:00:04 |
14 | Katharine Carroll (Team Tibco) | |
15 | Shontell Gauthier (Colavita Sutter Home P/b Cookin) | 0:00:05 |
16 | Kelly Benjamin (Colavita Sutter Home P/b Cookin) | |
17 | Melissa Sanborn (Vanderkitten Racing) | |
18 | Kristen Lasasso (Mellow Mushroom) | 0:00:06 |
19 | Samantha Schneider (Team Type 1) | |
20 | Toni Bradshaw (Team Lip Smacker) | 0:00:07 |
21 | Kristin Sanders (Valueact Capital) | 0:00:08 |
22 | Rebecca Larson (Valueact Capital) | 0:00:13 |
23 | Tonya Lail (BMW-Bianchi) | 0:00:14 |
24 | Leigh Hopkins (Vanderkitten Racing) | 0:00:16 |
25 | Kacey Manderfield (Team Lip Smacker) | 0:00:18 |
26 | Silke Wunderwald (Team Kenda) | 0:00:23 |
27 | Robin Farina (Valueact Capital) | |
28 | Kirsten Davis (BMW-Bianchi) | 0:00:26 |
29 | Jacquelyn Crowell (Team Type 1) | |
30 | Sheba Farrin (Hub Racing) | |
31 | Kate Veronneau (Altarum Women's Cycling Team) | 0:00:27 |
32 | Andrea Dvorak (Colavita Sutter Home P/b Cookin) | |
33 | Jessie Maclean (Verducci/breakaway Racing) | 0:00:28 |
34 | Kathryn Clark (Team Kenda) | 0:00:29 |
35 | Hilary Billington (Team Lip Smacker) | 0:01:03 |
36 | Alison Powers (Team Type 1) | 0:01:06 |
37 | Christina Ruiter (Valueact Capital) | 0:01:20 |
38 | Jennifer Wilson (Vanderkitten Rcing) | |
39 | Sinead Miller (Unattached) | 0:01:56 |
40 | Rachel Heal (Colavita Sutter Home P/b Cookin) | 0:03:24 |
41 | Nicky Wangsgard (Colavita Sutter Home P/b Cookin) | |
42 | Jennifer Reither (Vanderkitten Racing) | |
43 | Elizabeth Morse Hill (Hub Racing) | 0:03:25 |
44 | Veronica Martinez (Hub Racing) | |
45 | Jenette Williams (Altarum Women's Cycling Team) | |
46 | Dale Tye (Altarum Women's Cycling Team) | |
47 | Rebecca Blatt (Team Kenda) | |
48 | Emma Petersen (Team Ultralink) | |
49 | Arley Kemmerer (Hub Racing) | |
50 | Allison Lampi (Team Ultralink) | |
51 | Amy Mcguire (Hub Racing) | |
52 | Emily Helmboldt (Team Marshall Mechanical/rcwr) | |
53 | Julie Kuliecza (Team Marshall Mechanical/rcwr) | |
54 | Emily Joyner (Team Marshall Mechanical/rcwr) | |
55 | Lenore Pipes (Team Marshall Mechanical/rcwr) | |
56 | Lauren Shirock (BMW-Bianchi) | |
57 | Liz Leyden (Hub Racing) | |
58 | Ashley Anderson (Proman Hit Squad) | |
59 | Nicole Johnson (Team Kenda) | |
60 | Christi-An Hansley (Team Medplan) | 0:03:26 |

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Kirsten Frattini is an honours graduate of Kinesiology and Health Science from York University in Toronto, Canada. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's WorldTour. She has worked in both print and digital publishing, and started with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. Moving into a Production Editor's role in 2014, she produces and publishes international race coverage for all men's and women's races including Spring Classics, Grand Tours, World Championships and Olympic Games, and writes and edits news and features. As the Women's Editor at Cyclingnews, Kirsten also coordinates and oversees the global coverage of races, news, features and podcasts about women's professional cycling.
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