Final Olympic gauntlets to be thrown down in Idaho stage race
This week sees the first ever running of the women’s Exergy Tour, the only 2.1-ranked event in North America, which will see some of the top teams in the women’s sport compete for its biggest prize purse of the year. A total prize fund of $100,000 was announced by the race organiser last month, but the far bigger prize on offer will be the ranking points that success will earn.
This will be the last chance for nations, and individual riders, to stake their claims for a spot at the summer’s Olympic Games, and so competition is expected to be high.
The five-day race, made up of a prologue and four stages, will take place entirely in the state of Idaho, will cover a variety of terrains, with the toughest day coming on stage three between Crouch and Idaho City. All eyes though, will be on the time trial on stage 2, which will pit the three riders who are chasing the two spots in the US team for London.
Kristin Armstrong(Exergy-TWENTY12), who – as a Boise resident – will be the race’s home rider, won the Tour of California invitational time trial last week, but she did not have to face the Specialized-lululemon duo of Amber Neben and Evie Stevens, who finished second and third behind Canadian teammate Clara Hughes in Saturday’s Chrono Gatineau.
Hughes, on current form, might well take the stage, but the interesting contest will be between the Americans.
The race will also see a return to the peloton for World champion Giorgia Bronzini (Diadora-Pasta Zara), who dislocated her shoulder in the sprint at the GP Nicolaz Franz in Luxembourg last month. The 28-year-old Italian will join Australian Rochelle Gilmore (Faren-Honda) in battle with German über-sprinter Ina Teutenberg (Specialized-lululemon) in the flatter stage finishes. Gilmore’s teammate, Nicole Cooke, Olympic road champion from Beijing, will continue her own fight for inclusion in this year’s Great Britain team.
While the race will pit the cream of North American women’s cycling against some of the best teams in Europe, there are some notable omissions from the start list. Among those not attending are the Rabobank team of World number one Marianne Vos, the AA Drink-Leontien.nl team – which features some of the top British talent, including Emma Pooley and Lizzie Armitstead – and the Hitec Products-Mistral Home team of Swedish champion Emma Johansson. The two Dutch teams will instead be racing the Holland Hills Classic, which features the climb of the Cauberg, where this year’s World championships will finish.
Exergy Tour (2.1)
Stages
May 24th: prologue – Boise, 3.2km
May 25th: stage 1 – Nampa, 120km
May 26th: stage 2 – Kuna TT, 17km
May 27th: stage 3 – Crouch to Idaho City, 93km
May28th: stage 4 – Boise, 75km
Teams and riders
ABUS-Nutrixxion (Ger)
Daniella Gass, Belinda Goss, Marlen Jöhrend, Emma Mackie, Rachel Neylan and Ana-Bianca Schnitzmeier
Axman Team Taiwan (Tai)
Huang Ho-Hsun, Hsiao Mei-Yu, Lee Yu-Hsuan, Lin Chia-Hui and Tseng Hsiao-Chia
Canadian National Team (Can)
Julie Beveridge, Laura Brown, Karol-Ann Canuel, Gillian Carleton, Annie Ewart and Jasmin Glaesser
Diadora-Pasta Zara (Ita)
Polona Batagelj, Giorgia Bronzini, Inga Cilvinaite, Alessandra D’Ettorre and Amber Pierce
ESPNW (USA)
Kathryn Bertine, Jamie Bookwalter, Joanie Caron, Kathryn Donovan, Leah Guloien, Moirah MacGregor and Mary Zider
Exergy-TWENTY12 (USA)
Kristin Armstrong, Theresa Cliff Ryan, Andrea Dvorak, Jackie Crowell, Kristin McGrath, Rhae Shaw, Alison Tetrick and Tayler Wiles
Faren-Honda (ITA)
Nicole Cooke, Rochelle Gilmore, Myfanwy Galloway, Fabiana Luperini, Chiara Nadalutti and Jennifer Hohl
Forno d’Asolo-Colavita (ITA)
Uenia Fernandes da Souza, Whitney Gaggioli, Flavia Oliveira, Federica Primavera, Liza Rachetto, Tetyana Riabchenko, Sari Saarelainen, Jessica Übelhart
Orica-GreenEdge (Aus)
Tiffany Cromwell, Rowena Fry, Shara Gillow, Claudia Häusler, Jessie MacLean, Alex Rhodes and Linda Villumsen
Now and Novartis for MS (USA)
Olivia Dillon, Robin Farina Christina Gokey-Smith, Devon Gorry, Ashley James, Beth Newell, Alison Powers and Anne Samplonius
Optum Pro Cycling p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies (USA)
Kasey Clark, Kelly Crowley, Emily Kachorek, Jackie Kurth, Kristin LaSasso, Nicky Wangsgard, Jen Weinbrecht and Alisha Welsh
Sengers Ladies Team (Bel)
Kimberly Buyl, Sofie De Nijs, Eline De Roover, Claudia Koster, Anouk Rockx, Geerike Schreurs, Emma Silversides and Celine Vanseveren
Specialized-lululemon (Ger)
Emilia Fahlin, Clara Hughes, Amber Neben, Loren Rowney, Ally Stacher, Evelyn Stevens, Ina Teutenberg and Trixi Worrack
Tibco-To The Top (USA)
Megan Guarnier, Lauren Hall, Amanda Miller, Lindsay Myers, Jennifer Purcell, Jennifer Wheeler and Tara Whitten
Topsport Vlaanderen-Ridley 2012 (Bel)
Else Belmans, Ine Beyen, Latoya Brulee, Gilke Croket, Jolien d’Hoore, Kelly Druyts, Maaike Polspoel and Anisha Vekemans