Mankato Road Race

Another beautiful day in Minnesota. We lined up for a start time of 1:50. It was perfect riding weather. Sunny, a slight breeze, and mild temperatures. Plan of the day was to keep Anne in 4th and possibly move her up in the G.C.

The racing didn't start for quite a ways into the 92mi stage. After the first two sprint points, TIBCO started throwing down some attacks. Our guest rider Jessica Phillips was in a break for a long time with 3 other riders. When they were caught, I was near the front and ready for the counter. Meredith Miller of TIBCO countered, and I latched onto her wheel. The break didn't stick. There was another counter. Eventually 4 riders flew up the road. The break included Rhodes, Bausch, Miller, and Benjamin. No one wanted to chase. A little later on, two riders bridged to the break. The riders were Evans and Dillon. Most of these riders were quite a ways down on the G.C., but top G.C. riders needed to keep an eye on them. The break eventually grew to almost 4 minutes! Still, no organized chase. Everyone was trying to make Kristin Armstrong do the work. Once again, Kristin proved why she is truley one of the best riders out there. Not only is she super strong, but she's super smart. At the end of the day, Kristin still leads the G.C. by 11 seconds.

We hit the finishing circuits and the lead group quickly whittled it's way down to 20 riders or so. I managed to stay with the group until the last lap up the hill. I chased as hard as I could, but I was cooked. Managed to come across the line 25th place. Anne was 23rd. Alexis Rhodes ran away with the race. Very impressive! Unfortunately, she was caught in a crash during the Cannon Falls race and moved back to 40th in G.C. Her win during the Mankato road race moved her up to 2nd in G.C. She won the stage, collected the climber's jersey, and also is in the young rider's jersey. I am 1:32 down from the lead in the young rider competition. Today at Stillwater, I get to start in the white jersey since Alexis is starting in the climber's jersey.

One more stage to go. It's the hardest stage (in my mind). Nothing like ending a 6-stage stage race with a brutal criterium :). More to come later!
-A