Cliff-Ryan claims first road stage in Exergy Tour

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Exergy-TWENTY12's Theresa Cliff-Ryan added some salve to her team's recent wounds by winning stage 1 of the women's Exergy Tour Friday in a crash-marred sprint finish, while stage runner-up Ina-Yoko Teutenberg rode into the yellow jersey by grabbing the first time bonus at the intermediate sprint and another six seconds on the line.

Cliff-Ryan was positioned ahead of a crash inside the final kilometer that took out reigning world champion Girogia Bronzini. Faren Honda's Rochelle Gilmore took third on the stage.

"It happened to the right of me and maybe two, three, four spaces back," Cliff-Ryan said. "So it was a non-factor for me. I wanted Jackie [Crowell] as my last lead out, and I think in the last kilometre, kilometre and a half, she kind of got jumbled up, so I just jumped from wheel to wheel and tried to get on the move that was going at the time."

Just as in Thursday's prologue time trial, where track riders took the top three spots, Cliff-Ryan relied on her velodrome skills to get the advantage in Friday's sprint.

"Alison Powers jumped on the last left-hander," Cliff-Ryan said. "And I jumped over to her and ended up third wheel through the chicane. Then I did kind of a track move and let two girls in front of me get a bit of gap and then ran at them through the corner and slingshot past them."

Rain and relatively cold weather arrived overnight for the Friday morning start in Nampa, and the field seemed content to ride as a bunch until the first ascent up the Pump Road climb. Beth Newell (Now and Novartis for MS) tried to break the stalemate with an attack in the kilometers approaching the climb, but was caught by a chasing group just before the line.

After the top, nine riders peeled off the front, including Taylor Wiles (Exergy-TWENTY12), Jennifer Hohl (Faren Honda), Trixie Worrack (Specialized-lululemon), Claudia Häusler (Orica-GreenEdge), Maaike Polspoel (Topsport Vlaanderen-Ridley), Lauren Hall (TIBCO-To the Top), Karol-Ann Canuel (Candadian National Team), Leah Kirchman (Optum Pro Cycling-Kelly Benefit Strategies) and US national road race champion Robin Farina (Now and Novartis for MS).

The nine-rider break rolled well together and built an ultimate gap of 2:30 before some of the bigger teams decided they didn't like the make-up of the move and began to pull it back. Specialized-lululemon sent four riders to the front and almost made contact as the breakaway headed up Pump Road for the second time.

"In the nine-rider break we had only one rider," said Specialized-lululemon director Ronny Lauke. "So we were not happy with the composition. We're always seeking to have the majority in a breakaway of that size."

With Specialized-lululemon chasing and the breakaway splitting up on the climb, riders started jumping across to form a new move of 25 riders that included many of the favorites for the overall. Exergy had Wiles, Kristin McGrath and Andrea Dvorak; Faren Honda had Hohl, Nicole Cooke and Fabiana Luperini; Specialized-lululemon had Worrack, Evelyn Stevens and Amber Neben; Optum had Kirchman, Janel Holcomb, Carmen Small and Jade Wilcoxson; Orica-GreenEdge had Mclean, Claudia Häusler and Shara Gillow; TIBCO had Hall and overall leader Tara Whitten; Now and Novartis for MS had Farina and Alison Powers; the Canadian National Team had Canuel and Julie Beveridge; Abus Nutrixxion had Rachel Naylen; Forno D'Asolo had Sair Saarelainen; and Topsport had Polspoel.

Although the 25 rider group stayed away for most of the final circuit before the race turned back toward the run into Nampa, the number and quality of riders represented in the group doomed its chances for success. Cooke said it was important to be in the move, but it was just not the right combination.

"A few people would have worked really hard, and in the end we all would have finished together on the same time," Cooke said. "Maybe if there had been more attacking in that front group, for sure we might have stayed away, but I think perhaps it was sort of all canceled out."

Neben agreed with Cooke's analysis, adding that the big bunch had an advantage on the long drag to the finish.

"There was no concerted rolling, and the people behind us were riding harder, so it was just going to come back," Neben said. "It was such a long drag to the finish, and it was pretty fast, too. So a big bunch was going to roll fast, which helped them from behind. I think if there was more wind today, then it would have been a different story. I think our group would have stayed up."

In the end, the bunch did bring it all back together with about 20km remaining, setting up the showdown the sprinters had been waiting for. Optum tried to get riders off front on the run into Nampa, first with Lex Albrech and then again with Jade Wilcoxson, but the field only allowed the solo riders to dangle off the front, never giving more than a 50-meter gap.

The bunch was all together again for the final kilometres, setting up the dual between Cliff-Ryan, Teutenberg and Gilmore. With the sprinters in position, ExergyTWENTY12 went to the front and applied the pressure, while Teutenberg's team effort fell just short of the top podium step, although her second-place finish boosted her into yellow.

"I think if it had been windy out there it would have made it really hard,," Teutenbegr said. "But it all came back together, and our girls worked hard to make that happen. Then we saw that everything came back together, so the poor young ones had to come to the front again to get me there, and they did an amazing job."

Although she missed out on the stage win, Teutenberg said her first yellow jersey at an Idaho race more than made up for it.

"You just have to try and do whatever you can and get the best out of it," she said of the team's effort. "In the end we are all on the same battlefield now again just like before the stage; everybody is pretty much at zero. So the time trial will show more tomorrow."

Teutenberg's teammate Stevens took the QOM jersey, while Now and Novartis for MS rider Beth Newell grabbed the jersey for most aggressive rider. Gillian Carleton (Canadian National Team) held onto the Best Young Rider classification, while Teutenberg also rode into the sprint jersey on the stage.

Although Bronzini fell hard on the same shoulder she injured earlier this year and was seen leaving the course with a splint from her elbow to her hand, head race doctor Alex Homaechavarria said Bronzini suffered minor road rash and would likely start Saturday's stage 2.

Exergy-TWENTY12 team leader Kristin Armstrong, who underwent surgery Friday morning to repair a fractured clavicle she suffered in the previous evening's prologue time trial, made a surprise visit to the finish line to support her teammates in the race and was pleased with what she saw.

"It was a great team effort today," she said. "They told me this morning that they were racing for me, and I told them not to cross the finish line with any regrets. I think they worked well together. Taylor Wiles e-mailed and put it right there. She said, 'You know, you've taught us well all year, and now it's time to do it one our own.'"

Cliff-Ryan said the team's performance during the race, infiltrating the moves and delivering her to the line – combined with Armstrong's presence at the finish – created "an amazing feeling."

"We're happy we can maybe boost Kristin's spirits," she said. "I just wanted to run up and give her a big hug, but I knew I had to be careful."

The race continues Saturday with a 16.7km out-and-back time trial through the heart of downtown Kuna.

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