Women's Teams to Watch
As the top ranked women’s race in North America, you can expect all of the stars to come out to shine. The top teams are sending their A squads in what’s sure to turn into a battle royal.
The former queen of the Nature Valley Grand Prix, Kristin Armstrong retired to start a family in 2009 after winning four consecutive Nature Valley GP titles, two World Championships and an Olympic Gold Medal. The 2009 Nature Valley GP was to be her last race on American soil before a European campaign that concluded with her second World Championship. On the 2009 podium, she took the microphone and declared Nature Valley to be “what the men get in the Tour de France”. A pregnant Armstrong returned in 2010 to direct her protégé, Shelly Olds, to the victory on her Peanut Butter & Co. Twenty12 team.
PEANUT BUTTER & CO TWENTY12
Retirement didn’t suit Armstrong, who is making a comeback in 2011, with husband and baby Lucas in tow. She is targeting the Nature Valley Grand Prix, her favorite race, as a step towards the ultimate goal of defending her Gold Medal at the 2012 Olympics in London.
The supporting cast on Kristin’s Peanut Butter & Co Twenty12 team will include three national champions, Olivia Dillon (Irish National Champion), Coryn Rivera (multiple US Junior National Champion) and Kaitlin Antonneau (US Collegiate National Champion from Racine, WI). Riders from our programs include Kristin McGrath, an alumna of our Kowalski’s Markets Collegiate All Stars, and Alison Starnes and Olivia Dillon, who both got their big breaks in our Nature Valley Pro Ride.
But the 2011 Nature Valley women’s field is stacked, so winning will be a tall order.
www.teamtwenty12.com
DIADORA PASTA ZARA
Shelly Olds got the taste of victory at the 2010 Nature Valley GP, riding on Armstrong’s Peanut Butter & Co. team. She’ll returning in 2011, riding for the European-based Diadora Pasta Zara women’s team to challenge her former mentor for the title.
Supporting Olds will be US National Champion Mara Abbott, another contender for the title. This will be Diadora’s first visit to the Nature Valley Grand Prix, but most of their riders have been here before.
www.diadorapastazara.com
HTC HIGH ROAD
The top ranked women’s team in the world, HTC High Road, will be making their second trip to the Nature Valley Grand Prix in as many years. Their roster includes US National Champion Evelyn Stevens, who seemingly sprang from nowhere two years ago, leaving her lucrative job as a Wall Street investment banker to become a fulltime professional bicycle racer. Also racing for HTC will be former World Champion Amber Neben and Kowalski’s Markets Collegiate All Stars alumna Amanda Miller.
Not on the roster will be HTC’s Carla Swart, another alumna of the Kowalski’s Markets Collegiate All Stars. Swart was killed in a tragic training accident last January while training for her first season with HTC High Road. We’ve established the Carla Swart Sportsmanship award in her memory.
www.highroadsports.com
COLAVITA/FORNO D’ASOLO PRO CYCLING
Team Colavita has gone international, merging with Italy’s ASC Chirio Forno D’Asolo Cycling Team to create Colavita/Forno D’Asolo Pro Cycling, an Italian-registered UCI team. This team currently dominates the Women’s Prestige Cycling Series, a four-race women-only series that is the heir apparent to the fabled HP International Women’s Challenge. After two races, they lead the Individual, Sprinters and Team Classifications. They also hold commanding leads in the Individual and Team Classifications of the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar.
And now Colavita/Forno D’Asolo is bolstering their roster further bybringing the current World Champion, Italian Giorgia Bronzini to the Nature Valley Grand Prix. Colavita team director Rachel Heal said“with Giorgia on our squad, I’m confident that we will add Nature Valley to our roster of victories.”
www.teamcolavita.com
TEAM TIBCO
Team TIBCO is the only US-based women’s UCI team, although one of four UCI teams in the race. Their team leader would likely have been Alison Powers, a seven-year member of the US Ski Team, if she hadn’t broken her arm at the Redlands Bicycle Classic at the beginning of April. A likely replacement is Erinne Willock, who won our 2010 Menomonie Road Race after a long breakaway with HTC’s Linda Villumsen, the Danish National Champion. Joanne Kiesanowski is a favorite to snag the Wheaties FUEL Sprint Jersey, repeating her performance in 2008.
The TIBCO roster will also include 2009 US National Champion Meredith Miller. For a look inside the women’s pro peloton, check out Meredith’s blog.
www.teamtibco.com
MISSING LINK COACHING SYSTEMS / SPECIALIZED
Missing Link Coaching Systems / Specialized is a team on a mission. Their goal is to promote all aspects of women’s cycling. A primary vehicle is through their Women’s Bike Talk blog, which provides race reports but also covers women’s cycling issues ranging from beginning to ride to becoming a bicycle commuter to entry-level racing.
Members of this team come from all walks of life and have impressive accomplishments both on and off the bike. Their career paths range for corporate executives to biomolecular scientists. With their focus on development, it’s no surprise that their team roster boasts graduates of our own development programs. This year’s squad will include two Anna Barensfeld, a member of the 2010 Nature Valley Pro Ride Team, and Anna McLoon, who rode for the Kowalski’s Markets Collegiate Alls Stars in 2008.
www.womensbiketalk.com/the-team
VANDERKITTEN FOCUS
A California-based team with an international flair. Vanderkitten Focus will feature New Zealand U23 National Champion Emily Collins, who spent an entire season in Europe with the Swabo Ladies Team in the Netherlands. She’ll be joined by Australia’s Jasmin “Jazzy” Hurikino, who won the prestigious Cats Hill Criterium in Los Gatos, CA as well as the AT&T Butterfly Criterium.
The Vanderkitten racing program is part of a national club whose goal is to inspire women through competitive and recreational sports. Their outreach to the women’s community promotes active, healthy lifestyles for everyone.
www.vanderkittenracing.com
KOWALSKI’S MARKETS COLLEGIATE ALL-STARS
Bike racing is an intercollegiate sport that’s growing by leaps and bounds across the country. The Kowalski’s Markets Collegiate All-Stars were selected at the USA Cycling Collegiate National Championships held in Madison, Wisconsin, on May 6 – 8. The riders who were selected for this team will have the chance to be “discovered” when they race in front of all the top pro team managers at the Nature Valley Grand Prix. This will be the fifth year for this innovative program. Over the past four years, 15 of the 24 Kowalski’s Markets riders had pro team contracts the next year.
Kowalski’s Markets Collegiate All Stars alumnae who will be racing pro at the Nature Valley Grand Prix this year include Kristin McGrath (Peanut Butter Twenty 12), Amanda Miller (HTC) and Anna McLoon (Missing Link Coaching Systems / Specialized).
www.naturevalleybicyclefestival.com/Collegiate-All-Stars
NATURE VALLEY CYCLING TEAM
What the Kowalski’s Markets Collegiate All-Stars does for collegiate women, the Nature Valley Pro Ride does for all amateurs: give them a chance to have the full pro experience. Rolled out in 2008 with three selector events across the country, this program has grown to six events in 2011.
Amateur riders across the country can win trips to the Nature Valley Grand Prix at regional events from Seattle to Virginia. They race as guests of the Nature Valley Cycling Team, an amateur club based in Minnesota.
Nature Valley Pro Ride alumnae racing pro at the Nature Valley Grand Prix this year include Olivia Dillon and Alison Starnes (both Peanut Butter Twenty 12).
Meet the riders and follow their exploits on the Nature Valley Pro Ride web site.
www.NatureValleyProRide.com