June 3/08 6:04 am - Lehigh Valley Classic: Pro Women
Posted by Editoress on 06/3/08
Lehigh Valley Classic Allentown PA
Teutenberg charges to another Triple Crown triumph
Ina-Yoko Teutenberg picked up right where she left off a year ago, capturing the opening round of the Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling on a sunny Tuesday morning in southeast Pennsylvania. The win upped the indomitable German’s Triple Crown winning streak to four. Teutenberg (Team High Road) swept the three-race series a year ago.
The stage for Teutenberg’s latest win was the women’s Lehigh Valley Classic Criterium, a new-for-2008 event situated in downtown Allentown. After watching a break of seven go off the front early in the race, Teutenberg made a solo bridge, and then fractured the leading group, eventually winning a one-sided two-up sprint with Cheerwine’s Laura Van Gilder. Alison Powers (Colavita-Sutter Home) was a distant third in the first of the three-race series that will conclude Sunday with the Liberty Classic in Philadelphia.
“All my teammates are in Montreal racing the World Cup race right now, so I had to do it alone today,” said Teutenberg, alluding to the four-day stage race in Quebec that concludes on Thursday. “I got a good jump on Laura coming out of the final corner and was able to take it to the line.”
Teutenberg’s biggest effort likely didn’t come at the finish, but during her solo bridge away from the bunch and up to the then-leading group. After starting off on her own with eight laps to go, Teutenberg had closed down the 35-second gap by the time the lap counter read seven. From there, she started applying pressure at the front, slowly whittling down the lead pack until only four riders remained.
Cervelo-Lifeforce rider Sarah Duster was the other rider to make the decisive selection, taking fourth. Colavita’s Tina Pic won the bunch sprint for fifth place.
“I do think it’s possible to beat Ina,” said a hopeful – and apparently ageless – Van Gilder, who turns 44 this year. “But you’ve got to outfox her or it’s pretty tough to do.”
Indeed, the final sprint to the finish was never in doubt. Teutenberg was first out of the final turn, allowing her time for an extended celebration.
“I’ve been doing mostly longer stage races lately, so I wasn’t sure what kind of kick I would have today so I decided to go early,” explained Teutenberg, who will look to make it five in a row come Thursday’s Commerce Bank Reading Classic criterium, and then be joined by her teammates for Sunday’s race. “The criteriums are fun to win, but for High Road it’s all about the Liberty Classic.”
At stake for Teutenberg and the rest of the women’s field is a $27,200 prize purse that includes $5,000 for the overall series winner. After the Reading race and a pair of rest days, the women will relocate to Philadelphia for the 56.7-mile Liberty Classic, which is run on the same circuit as the men’s Philadelphia International Championship. In both cases, racing begins and ends on Philadelphia’s famed Benjamin Franklin Parkway. In between, the world’s fastest women cyclists will scratch and claw their way around four laps of the grueling 14.4-mile circuit that includes the infamous Manayunk Wall, which boasts precipitous grades in excess of 17 percent.
Pro Women
1 Ina-Yoko Teutenberg (USA) Team High Road - Women
2 Laura Van Gilder (USA) Cheerwine Cycling
3 Alison Powers (USA) Colavita/Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light
4 Sarah Duster (Ger) Cervelo-Lifeforce
5 Tina Pic (USA) Colavita/Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light
6 Kelly Benjamin (USA) Cheerwine Cycling
7 Martina Patella (USA) ValueAct Capital Cycling Team
8 Erica Allar (USA) Aaron's Professional Women's Cycling
9 Catherine Cheatley (NZl) Cheerwine Cycling
10 Laura McCaughey (USA) Juice Plus/NC cycling
11 Kristin Armstrong (USA) Cervelo-Lifeforce
12 Rebecca Larson (USA) Aaron's Professional Women's Cycling
13 Melissa Sanborn (USA) Vanderkitten Racing
14 Christina Ruiter (USA) ValueAct Capital Cycling Team
15 Robin Farina (USA) Cheerwine Cycling
16 Liz Hatch (USA) Vanderkitten Racing
17 Priska Doppmann (Sui) Cervelo-Lifeforce
18 Susy Pryde (NZl) Jazz Apple
19 Holli Steelman (USA) Juice Plus/NC cycling
20 Steph Roorda (Can) Juice Plus+ Cycling Team
21 Sharon Allpress (USA) ValueAct Capital Cycling Team
22 Kate Veronneau (USA) Kutztown Cutters
23 Marple Stacy (USA) Cheerwine Cycling
24 Marni Hambleton (Can) ValueAct Capital Cycling Team
25 Catherine Powers (USA) Aaron's Professional Women's Cycling
26 Laura Weislo (USA) BMW-Bianchi p/b Hendrick BMW
27 Emma Rickards (Aus) Cervelo-Lifeforce
28 Jacquelyn Crowell (USA) Team Kenda Tire
29 Kate Flore (USA) HPC powered by Altarum
30 Jessie Maclean (USA) Verducci/Breakaway Racing
31 Dale Tye (NZl) Hub Racing
32 Sarah Bamberger (USA) Cheerwine Cycling
33 Pascale Schnider (Sui) Cervelo-Lifeforce
DNS. Anna Lang (USA) Aaron's Professional Women's Cycling
DNS. Andrea Dvorak (USA) Colavita/Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light
DNS. Nichole Wangsgard (USA) Colavita/Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light
DNS. Liz Leyden (Aus) Hub Racing
DNS. Lauren Ellis (USA) Jazz Apple
DNS. Belinda Goss (NZl) Jazz Apple
DNS. Sarah Tillotson (USA) Team Advil-ChapStick
DNS. Amber Rais (USA) Team TIBCO
DNF. Christy Blakely (USA) BMW-Bianchi
DNF. Sonja Evers (USA) C3-Sollay.com
DNF. Diane Grim (USA) C3-Sollay.com
DNF. Lorraine Lipfert (USA) C3-Sollay.com
DNF. Beth Mason (USA) C3-Sollay.com
DNF. Janet Olney (USA) C3-Sollay.com
DNF. Heidi Von Teitenberg (USA) C3-Sollay.com
DNF. Patricia Schwager (Sui) Cervelo-Lifeforce
DNF. Lenore Imhof (USA) Colavita Racing, Inc.
DNF. Shontell Gauthier (USA) Colavita/Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light
DNF. PARKS, Iona Wynter (USA) Colavita/Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light
DNF. Kristy Swope (USA) EPS/CSS/Riptide Cycling
DNF. Lorena Candrian (USA) HPC powered by Altarum
DNF. Lesley Golenor (USA) HPC powered by Altarum
DNF. Jennifer Rasmusson (USA) HPC powered by Altarum
DNF. Kristy Scheffenacker (USA) HPC powered by Altarum
DNF. Jenette Williams (USA) HPC/LIST
DNF. Alison Fischer (USA) Hub Racing
DNF. Emma Giddens (USA) Hub Racing
DNF. Leeanne Manderson (NZl) Hub Racing
DNF. Brooke O'connor (USA) Hub Racing
DNF. Nonnie Howard (USA) Human Zoom/Pabst Blue Ribbon
DNF. Malindi Maclean (NZl) Jazz Apple
DNF. Amity Elliot (USA) Juice Plus
DNF. Rachel Warner (USA) Juice Plus/NC cycling
DNF. Yukie Nakamura (USA) Team Kenda Tire
DNF. Veronica Martinez (Arg) JVR Sports
DNF. Colleen Hayduk (USA) Kutztown Inn / Bicycling World
DNF. Kimberly Geist (USA) Metro Volkswagen
DNF. Natalie Klemko (USA) Team Advil-ChapStick
DNF. Marjan Huizing (USA) Team Kenda Tire
DNF. Jennifer Maxwell (USA) Team Kenda Tire
DNF. Rushlee Buchanan (USA) Team TIBCO
DNF. Sarah Caravella (USA) Team TIBCO
DNF. Sinead Miller (USA) UPMC Cycling Performance
DNF. Lara Kroepsch (USA) ValueAct Capital Cycling Team
DNF. Flavia Oliveira (USA) Vanderkitten Racing
DNF. Jennifer Wilson (USA) Vanderkitten Racing
DNF. Theresa Cliff-Ryan (USA) Verducci Breakaway Racing
DNF. Kacey Manderfield (USA) Verducci Breakaway Racing
DNF. Tricia Carnila (USA) Verducci/Breakaway Racing
DNF. Lisa Jellett (USA) Verducci/Breakaway Racing
DNF. Kele Murdin (USA) Verducci/Breakaway Racing
DNF. Jacqueline Paull (USA) Watchung Wheelmen/High Gear Cyling
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