Kirchmann wins stage 2 of women's Tour of California

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Canadian champion Leah Kirchmann took out the second stage of the women's Tour of California, topping German Trixi Worrack (Velocio-SRAM) and Lauren Komanski (Twenty 16).

Komanski opened up a gap on overnight leader Katie Hall (UnitedHealthcare), and took over the race lead by three seconds over Worrack, with Hall in third at 10 seconds.

"I felt pretty comfortable on the climbs today," said Kirchmann. "I think I'm continuing to become more of an all-rounder, not just a sprinter."

Riders started the second day of racing at Heavenly Resort in sunny 50 degree temperatures. The race took riders down the steep hill from the previous days finish, before heading out for the first of two 39.7 km circuits.

The days course ran east of South Lake Tahoe past rocky, snowy peaks, and through several ski towns. The day's major obstacles were two punchy climbs, located halfway and at the end, of each lap. The climb at the end of each lap through the start-finish was a steep 1.6 kilometer grind. Split up by a short flat section, the final climb enabled riders to catch their breath before sprinting the final 300 meters.

Race action started early with many attacks from the field. Several teams animated the early kilometers of the race, but UnitedHealthcare kept a watchful on the field. Riding in support of the race leader Katie Hall (UnitedHealthcare), UHC was reluctant to let anything go up the road.

"They were fantastic," said Hall about her teams effort to keep her in yellow. "They were all over everything, it was such a hard race, and they were so strong."

The field remained intact after the first QOM segment until Allie Dragoo (Twenty 16 p/b SHO-AIR) attacked. Dragoo built up a 30 second lead and grabbed the only intermediate sprint points of the day.

Dragoo held her lead for the rest of the lap, and was finally caught on the steep climb to the start-finish area. The painful climb made the first selection of the day. A group of 25-30 riders gained a 25 second advantage after the climb through the start finish. A large chase group, led by Sarah Storey (Pearl Izumi-Sports Tours International), chased back on before the second QOM.

Teams eager to form a break started throwing down attacks but nothing could gain any traction. Kathrin Hammes (TIBCO), Allison Jackson (Twenty16 p/b SHO-AIR) and Miranda Griffiths (BMW Happy Tooth), Allison Tetrick (Optum), and Elena Berlato (Ale-Cippollini) all made promising, but unsuccessful efforts.

Jasinska took her second QOM of the day, but the effort did nothing to split up the field. The race started its way back to Heavenly Resort intact.

Heading into the final two kilometers UnitedHealthcare continued to to keep the field in check. The team moved to the front of the pack and set a fast pace in hopes of setting Hall up for repeat win at the top of Heavenly Resort.

The final climb whittled the field down to seven riders. Leah Kirchmann (Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies) jumped out of the group and held on for the win. Lauren Komanski (Twenty 16 p/b SHO-AIR) was a close second and Trixi Worrack (Velocio-SRAM) was third.

"I just made the back of the select group. I just waited to the perfect moment," said Kirchmann. "I took a few moments to recover and when I launched my sprint I just didn't look back. I just gave it everything."

For the second day in the row Komanski narrowly missed the win. "Leah was a super smart racer. She launched herself off of that perfectly," said Komanski. "It is just hard to catch back onto her."

Despite missing the win, Komanski's effort earned her the yellow race leaders jersey. Trixi Worrack slots into second place in the GC, three seconds behind Komanski. Hall dropped to third and now sits ten seconds out of first.

Kirchmann leads the sprint competition, while Kristi Lay (Canadian National Team) holds a four point lead over Jasinksa in the climbing competition. Hannah Barnes retains the lead in the best young rider competition.

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