I'll fill in some blanks from Lisa's and Pam's reports.
Tara Whitten won the prolouge for the second year in a row. They added a parking lot section to the course which made me super dizzy and sad, but I think some of the girls loved it.
The first stage got going on the first long climb. I was in a group that chased a break that had gone off earlier. We gained minutes on the climb , but nobody really worked together in the valley. Andrea Dvorak attacked for the KOM on the first climb and attacked again on the second climb. By the time we caught her our group had dwindled down to four girls. Kristin McGrath and Andrea went for the sprint. I tried , but couldn't jump that hard. Kristin Lasasso was the fourth girl and after that girls came trickling in.
It seemed like the race for GC didn't play out until after the time trial. Clara Hughes won by 20 seconds to Kristin Armstrong.
Stage 3 was another road race. A break got away but I think everyone thought we'd catch the break on the final climb. We caught half the break. There were tons of attacks in the final 5k and a select group of about 15 rolled through behind the winners. Kristin and Clara were in that group.
I can't tell you what happened in the crit. I tail-gunned the whole thing. At one point I think I heard Thurlow yell at me to start riding my bike.
By the last stage my health was fading and I barley hung on. My legs still felt strong but my head and lungs were suffering. Meredith Miller attacked on the second lap. I bridged and brought about 6 girls with me. I drove it hard until the break was established. Not all the girls were strong enough to work so the stronger girls kept attacking. I was not on that day and kept finding myself missing the jumps and having to chase. Janel attacked on the third lap. Robin and Anne went with her but I didn't have the legs. Tibco wasn't working and kept looking back so I figured they had girls bridging. They did, but the pack was right behind those girls and soon caught us all. The pack was a lot smaller by this time. I couldn't hang on the final climb and finished slightly behind the group. I'm not sure who won , but Janel ended up winning the GC. Overall , I would say that Colavita raced really well. Watching their team tactics play out in a race is a real eye-opener.
Bea, Dennis, Thurlow and James were amazing throughout the entire race. Dennis took care of our host really well too.
I enjoyed getting to race with Lauren. She fit in really well and was a great teammate. NOW should be proud to have her representing them so well.
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