Powers wins women's Tour of California time trial

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Third time's a charm for Alison Powers (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) who won the Tour of California women's time trial on Monday, after placing second for the two previous years. Powers won the day's 20.1km race in 27:20, 21 seconds faster than Brianna Walle (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) and an additional four seconds in front of to Tayler Wiles (Specialized-lululemon).

"I'm so excited because it's an honor to come to this time trial and to be on the big stage with the men's race," Powers said. "It's an honor to be invited, race new courses and the money was great. This was my third time here, and I was second the two other times, so three's a charm for me. It's a really good feeling."

Twenty women were invited to compete in the Tour of California Women's Time Trial. Race organizers hosted a women's time trial in conjunction with its men's stage race three previous years. Olympic gold medalist Kristin Armstrong won the race in both 2011 and 2012, and Evelyn Stevens won the race last year.

Armstrong has since retired from racing, but Stevens returned to try and defend her title against other strong contenders Powers, Alison Tetrick (Twenty16 p/b Breakaway from Cancer) and Tour of the Gila time trial winner Laura Brown (Colavita-Fine Cooking).

The 20.1km rolling course suited Powers's ability with shorter climbs and long technical descents. "I saw the course and new that I liked it," she said. "The long downhills were good for me. They were long a fast and I like that because I'm a little bigger than the other girls and can carry my speed. I liked that it had corners, as opposed to an out-and-back."

Powers is pleased with her performance as it bodes well for the upcoming US road and time trial championships being held in May 24-26 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. "I won time trial nationals in 2008, but it's been along time, and I hope to win," Powers said. "This race was a big confidence booster for me. It's helpful to race with the women in the time trial here to see how I stack up against them. Chattanooga is a different course, a longer course, but this win helps my confidence going into nationals."

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