Neben wins stage 2 time trial in Idaho

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Specialized-lululemon dominated the Kuna time trial at the women's Exergy Tour in Idaho Saturday, sweeping the podium with Amber Neben, Evelyn Stevens and Clara Hughes in first, second and third.

Neben also took over the yellow jersey from teammate Ina-Yoko Teutenberg, who finished sixth, and the squad now has the top four spots in the general classification.

"I'm on the best team in the world," Neben said. "And between the sponsors, the equipment, the staff and my teammates, it's all the best. We all get along and love each other and want to see each other do their best, so we feed off that, and then you see it in the results, too. So it's a special thing, and I don't take it for granted. I know it doesn't come around very often, but it certainly is a lot of fun when you're in the middle of it."

Rain battered the 16.7km out-and-back course northwest of Boise throughout most of the race, and the best times fell frequently as the heavy hitters took to the course near the end of the day. Starting 88th out of 98 riders, Neben, who covered the course in 21:37.56, eclipsed the previous best time of Jasmin Glaesser (Canadian National Team) at 22:35.63 and then had to wait for 10 more riders to cross the line to confirm her win.

Neben's teammates Stevens and Hughes, starting 93rd and 95th, respectively, came closest but slotted into second and third to complete the team's podium sweep. Orica-GreenEdge rider Shara Gillow finished fourth with a time of 22:06.85, and Best Young Rider Gillian Carleton put in another impressive performance with a mark of 22:08.7 to round out the top five.

Specialized-lululemon's Emilia Fahlin was on the hot seat for much of the early running, starting 22nd and crossing the line at 23:23.92. The mark held for nearly half an hour before Orico-GreenEdge's Claudia Hausler came in 10 seconds faster to take over the lead. But 13 riders later Anne Samplonius (Now and Novartis for MS) broke the 23-minute barrier with a time of 22:39.16. Samplonius said she was confident she could set the fastest time when she started, but she knew it probably wouldn't hold until the end.

"This field here is like being at the world championships," she said. "There are so, so many quality time trialists here, and that's not even including Kristin Armstrong. You have Amber Neben, who won today, who is a former world champion. Clara Hughes, who has also medaled in the time trial. Tara Whitten, Rae Shaw, these riders all finished top 10 last year at worlds. This field here is really, really good, so no I didn't have hope that my time was going to hold. I was hoping top 10."

The string of top GC riders who followed Samplonius eventually bumped her down to 11th on the day. And despite missing the top 10, Samplonius said she was pleased with the result.

"This is my last year racing, and I've been around the block a few times as they say," she said. "So I'm happy with the effort and just wanted to go out and have a solid ride today. We'll see what happens in the next few days."

Canadian National Team rider Jasmin Glaesser continued the the red-and-white maple leaf quad's good run in the race and was the rider who initially knocked Samplonius out of the lead with a new-best time of 22:35.63. Her mark held until Neben blasted across the line, and the Canadian rider eventually finished 10th.

All but one of the next 10 riders came in under 23 minutes, with Neben's teammates also coming in under 22. Stevens had the second-best time of the day at 21:52.55, and Hughes, who started fourth from last, came in at 21:57.35 for the final podium spot.

Specialized-lululemon now has a virtual stranglehold on the top of the general classification, with Neben in yellow, followed by Stevens, Hughes and Teutenberg. Best Young Rider Carleton is sitting fifth overall, while Gillow is sixth. Now and Novartis for MS rider Alison Powers is seventh overall after finishing seventh Saturday.

Ronny Lauke, the Specialized-lululemon team director in the enviable position of having nine riders in the top 10 overall [Trixie Worrack is ninth], said the team will be ready to protect its leader and maintain its GC positions.

"There are two more days to come," Lauke said. "So it seems we have a lot of work to do then. We are a really strong unit, and I think if they stick together, obviously the form is good from everyone, and if they stick together I hope that we will have two more exciting days in front of us."

Lauke said the team would be all in behind Neben and her race leader's jersey, despite having multiple cards to play in any situation.

"I'm not a risky person, so we try to protect the yellow jersey, and then anything else is a bonus," he said. "But the yellow jersey will be a priority, of course."

Neben was a little more open to the idea that she might not be wearing yellow when the race ends on Monday, as long as the winner is from her team.

"I think we have four people who could potentially win the race," Neben said. "And really, it doesn't matter who goes up the road as long as it's Specialized-lululemon. So I have that to fall back on. I certainly will be prepared to do my best and hold onto the jersey. But I also know I have a really strong team, and we're going to do our best to hold on as a team."

The race continues Sunday with the 93km queen stage from Crouch to Idaho City. Riders will face two significant climbs about three-fourths of the way through the course, totaling 1,377 meters of climbing. The last climb comes about 20km from the finish before a long descent to the line.

Neben said that despite Sunday's stage 4 getting the "queen" label, Monday's 75km final stage could prove to be more decisive, with a course profile that shows little flat ground and 1,125 meters of total climbing.

"Just knowing how bike races go, that looks like it might be the really difficult stage, deceptively hard," Neben said. "Everybody knows tomorrow is going to be hard, but Monday looks like it will be more deceptively hard, so we have at look at both."

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