Team VBF’s Allar and Testroete Garner Top 5′s at Tulsa; Swart 8th at Liberty Classic
By Lisa Hunt
Team Vera Bradley Foundation tackled the heat in two places this weekend, where soaring temperatures in both Tulsa and Philadelphia led to tough racing for the women. In Tulsa, where three days of criterium action greeted the riders, Erica Allar took 4th on Friday evening's Blue Dome Criterium and Alison Testroete, who initiated the winning breakaway in Sunday's Riverside criterium, finished off the weekend with a 5th place. Sunday's Liberty Classic in Philadelphia proved to be another battle in the heat, with HTC-Columbia's Ina Teutenberg winning her 4th Liberty Classic victory, while Team VBF's Carla Swart sprinted to 8th place.
With the team splitting squads for the weekend, the team of Allar, Testroete, Carrie Cash and Lauren Hall took on Tulsa by storm. Testroete and Hall almost missed Friday's race due to travel delays. "Flights were cancelled, so Lauren and I didn't get to Tulsa until Friday afternoon, said Testroete. "So our plan was to use Friday's race as a way to get the legs going, and be in every break." Cash sprinted for high dollar primes, animating the race, while Hall and Testroete covered key breaks and letting Allar stay well positioned for the sprint. But Amanda Miller (TIBCO) took advantage of a lull with three laps to go and attacked hard and got a gap and took the solo win. Jennifer Purcell (MSU) won the field sprint, followed by Laura Van Gilder and Allar in 4th. Hot temperatures continued on Saturday at the Brady Village Criterium. "We wanted to race aggressively," stated Lauren Hall, who was first to initiate a breakaway in the early laps. But it came down to a field sprint, and Allar was well positioned with two turns to go. "There was a bit of jostling on the last few turns and I was forced to hit the brakes and lost my position going into the final turn and had to sprint from way back," said a disappointed Allar, who managed 9th on the day. "It's hard to make up that much ground when you're sprinting from about 20th place. Cari Higgins (Peanut Butter & Co/Twenty-12) took the win. The final day of racing in Tulsa, the Riverside Criterium, is considered one of the toughest courses, with the grueling "cry baby hill" that tests the riders' legs on each lap of the 60 minute race. "There's Snake Alley in Iowa, Stillwater in Minnesota...and there's the Riverside Crit in Tulsa," commented Carrie Cash. It's a race of attrition. From the gun, the VBF women set a fierce pace each time up the climb, splintering the field, with Hall and Cash lighting it up early in the race. Midway through the race, Testroete got to the front and set a hard tempo up the climb and created a separation that included Coryn Rivera (Peanut Butter & Co/Twenty-12), Meagan Guarnier (TIBCO), Jennifer Purcell (MSU), Laura Van Gilder (Mellow Mushroom). The break quickly gained time on the field, and then Amanda Miller (TIBCO) bridged up to the group. "When Amanda got there I figured TIBCO would start attacking, so I conserved a bit," said Testroete. "And then I went for the QOM prize and won it, but it might have cost me the win." In the end, Coryn Rivera took the victory, with Testroete getting 5th.
In Philadelphia, temperatures soared into the 90's as 128 women lined up for the 56-mile Liberty Classic. Teams from all over the world travel to the "City of Brotherly Love" to contest the UCI 1.1 rated race, which includes the infamous Manayunk Wall that the riders tackle four times. And all eyes were on HTC-Columbia's Ina Teutenberg who was aiming for her 4th victory. The star-studded field included the 52-year old cycling legend Jeannie Longo, who had only done the Classic once before. But despite a late solo breakaway attempt by Webcor's Erinne Willock on the final lap, the field was all together heading into the final time up the wall. A group of 22 riders separated themselves from the pack, which included VBF's Alison Powers, Anne Samplonius and Carla Swart, along with TIBCO's Brooke Miller, Jo Kiesanowski, Ruth Corset and Meredith Miller, Webcor's Joelle Numaineville and Amber Neben, Colavita-Baci's Theresa Cliff-Ryan and Cath Cheatley, and Peanut Butter & Co/Twenty-12's Shelley Evans and Lauren Tamayo. But no one could not stop Teutenberg from her task at hand and she successfully sprinted for the win, with Evans taking second and Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Colavita-Baci) in 3rd. Swart was 8th. "I had good position going into the sprint, but I got a little boxed in so I just didn't have it at the end," said Swart. "I really wanted to be top 5 today. I loved this race!"
This weekend, Erica Allar, Robin Farina and Carla Swart will race the Clarendon Cup in Arlington, VA; while Carrie Cash will be on her home turf of St. Louis for the Tour de Grove.
Follow all the action on the team's Twitter and Facebook pages.
Photos: Rick Mull (top); Brian Hodes/VeloImages (bottom)
Related Posts:
Leave a Response
Entries(RSS)