Marie-Soleil Blais (Fearless Femme Racing) took the biggest win of her cycling career in downtown Athens last night. The Canadian outsprinted her breakaway companion, Sara Tussey (Visit Dallas DNA Pro Cycling) in a straight up drag race after turning the final corner toward the start/finish line.
Erica Allar (Rally Cycling), winner of the Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System Criterium the day before, came out on top in the bunch sprint to take in 3rd place.
Racing was aggressive, which was not unusual for Speed Week and the TUFMED USA CRITS Championship Series. Different attacks took off but nothing stuck until the final 20 laps when Blais decided to go at it alone. Tussey bridged up to her and the duo gained 20 seconds.
Because Allar had no teammates to help her, she was isolated and unable to respond. Also, the Happy Tooth team wasn’t willing to chase because their top rider, Tina Pic, was wearing the Speed Week overall leader’s jersey, which she ended up winning outright after the Athens finale.
Following the conclusion of the race, Tussey took home the Cyclingnews Lap Leader jersey and Jessica Mundy (Fearless Femme Racing) won BikeReg Best Young Rider.
Full Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team |
|---|---|
| 1 | Marie-Soleil Blais (Fearless Fem) |
| 2 | Sara Tussey (Visit Dallas DNA Pro Cycling) |
| 3 | Erica Allar (Rally Cycling) |
| 4 | Laura Van Gilder (Mellow Mushroom Pizza Bakers p/b Van Dessel) |
| 5 | Tina Pic (The Happy Tooth Pro Cycling) |
| 6 | Ashley Barson (Rise Racing) |
| 7 | Christina Gokey-Smith (The Happy Tooth Pro Cycling) |
| 8 | Jessica Mundy (Fearless Femme Racing) |
| 9 | Brittlee Bowman (CRCA/ Velo Classic p/b Stan's NoTubes) |
| 10 | Jamie Gilgen (Visit Dallas DNA Pro Cycling) |
| 11 | Kelly Sweatt |
| 12 | Venessa Drigo (Stradalli Cycles/Papa John's) |
| 13 | Megan Heath (Frazier Cycling) |
| 14 | Madison Kelly (Stradalli Cycles/Papa John's) |
| 15 | Hannah Arensman (2016 RIDEBIKER) |
| 16 | Jane Tullis (Frazier Cycling) |
| 17 | Christa Ghent (LA Sweat) |
| 18 | Arden Stelly (OrthoCarolina Winston) |
| 19 | Lucy Betchtel (Fearless Fem) |
| 20 | Tiffany Pezzulo (Visit Dallas DNA Pro Cycling) |
| 21 | Debbie Milne (Stradalli Cycles/Papa John's) |
| 22 | Anna Grace Christiansen (Visit Dallas DNA Pro Cycling) |
| 23 | Kristen Arnold (CRCA/ Velo Classic p/b Stan's NoTubes) |
| 24 | Alexandra Burton (The Happy Tooth Pro Cycling) |
| 25 | Vanessa Botero (Finish Strong Elite Cycling Team) |
| 26 | Christina Birch (LA Sweat) |
| 27 | Laura Jorgensen (The Happy Tooth Pro Cycling) |
| 28 | Rachel McKinnon (Low Country Racing) |
| 29 | Kathryn Clark |
| 30 | Jennifer Caicedo (Finish Strong Elite Cycling Team) |
| 31 | Maria Carrelli (UHC p/b 706 project) |
| 32 | Isabella Brookshire |
| 33 | Stephanie Nave (Finish Strong Elite Cycling Team) |
| 34 | Hannah Shell (Velo Force) |
| 35 | Lauren Leclaire (CRCA/ Velo Classic p/b Stan's NoTubes) |
| 36 | Natalie Tapias (CRCA/ Velo Classic p/b Stan's NoTubes) |
| 37 | Jana Luttrell (The Happy Tooth Pro Cycling) |
| 38 | Jennifer Sharp (LA Sweat) |
| 39 | Julia Fresne (Stradalli - Safetti) |
| 40 | Cinthia Lehner (OrthoCarolina Winston) |
| 41 | Zoe Mullins (OrthoCarolina) |
| 42 | Elspeth Huyett (QCW Breakaway Bikes p.b. Felt Bicycles- JL Vell) |
| 43 | Holly Beard (Advanced Cycles PB Topview Sports) |
| 44 | Jennifer Wagner (Shift Racing) |
| 45 | Sarah Guilbert (Uptown Cycles) |
| 46 | Deborah Prouty (Robson Forensic p/b Subaru) |
| 47 | Kate Kirkpatrick (Haymarket/Starlight Custom) |
| 48 | Aysa McGovan (A Quick Brown Fox PB HatchMap) |
| 49 | Julie Sanchez |
| 50 | Kathleen Laporte (Primatappa) |
| 51 | Barbra Stella (Primatappa) |
| 52 | Victoria Kanizer (OrthoCarolina) |
| 53 | Diana Ramos |
| 54 | Katherine Aristizabal (Finish Strong Elite Cycling Team) |
| 55 | Judah Sencenbaugh (Ames Velo) |
| 56 | Tess Oliver (QCW Cycling p/b JLVelo) |
| 57 | Sarah Nunnelly (Sh!ft racing) |
| 58 | Kelli Samuelson (LA Sweat) |
| 59 | Michelle Hedrich |
| 60 | Tara Smith (West Coast Cycling) |
| 61 | Lilly Ahrens (EvoDevo) |
| 62 | Mary Emily Davidson (Bay Women's Racing) |
| 63 | Dawn Decaminada (West Coast Cycling) |
| 64 | Madeline Pearce (Primatappa) |
| 65 | Lauren Dodge (703p Chicks) |
| 66 | Kimberly Vaughan |
Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*
Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets
After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59
Join now for unlimited access
Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1