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. All twelve of the top dozen teams are sending their A squads in what’s sure to turn into a battle royal.
And there’s more on the line than a victory at one of the most prestigious races in the World. Kristin Armstrong’s crown is up for grabs. Kristin owned the Nature Valley Grand Prix for the past four years, riding away from anyone who had the gall to challenge her. With her retirement, a new queen will be crowned at this year’s race.
PEANUT BUTTER & CO TWENTY12
Although Kristin won’t be racing this year, she’ll be back: this time as a team director and coach. Her team, Peanut Butter & Co. Twenty 12, is focusing on extending Kristin’s legacy at the London Olympic Games in 2012. Who better to lead the charge than the Olympic and World Champion herself?
The most likely contender is Mara Abbott, returning from Europe, where she spent the last two years racing with HTC Columbia. In her last appearance at the Nature Valley Grand Prix in 2007, Abbott finished second to, you guessed it, Kristin Armstrong. Mara will be supported by an excellent cast, any one of whom is capable of challenging for the yellow jersey, including Kat Carroll, Shelly (Olds) Evans, Lauren Tamayo, junior phenom Coryn Rivera, Fiber One Collegiate All Stars alumni Kristin McGrath and Nature Valley Pro Ride alumna Olivia Dillon.
www.teamtwenty12.com
HTC-COLUMBIA
Abbott’s old team, European powerhouse HTC-Columbia, will be here to challenge her for the Nature Valley Grand Prix win. They’ll have many weapons in their arsenal, including the Swedish, Danish and Australian National Champions along with a former German National Champion and a winner of the women’s Tour de France.
With this much talent, it’s hard to know who the team leader will be. One interesting option would be Evelyn Stevens, a newcomer to the sport who’s loaded with talent. Stevens became an international sensation in 2009 when she won Fitchberg and the Cascade Classic stage races as a guest rider. She left her job as an investment banker, taking a major pay cut to pursue a career as a professional bicycle racer.
www.highroadsports.com
TEAM VERA BRADLEY FOUNDATION
Team ValueAct Capital has become Team Vera Bradley Foundation, to build awareness of the breast cancer foundation. With the new name has come a lot of talent, and this team currently leads the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar by a whopping 600 points.
Leading the team is the aptly named Allison Powers, a former member of the US Ski Team who raced the World Cup Circuit for that sport. A World Cup crash in 2001 led to her retirement from skiing in 2004. But, always the competitor, Powers has returned to sports, this time as a bicycle racer. And her cycling success has been impressive, winning the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar in 2009, a feat that’s she’s on her way to repeating in 2010. Her supporting cast includes Erica Allar and Carla Swart, two alumnae of the Fiber One Collegiate All Star team.
www.facebook.com/teamvbf
WEBCOR BUILDERS
Webcor is committed to women’s cycling with a team that may be their strongest ever. That’s a bold statement, since four of their 2008 riders made it to the Olympics. Their 2010 team emphasizes a balance of experience and youth, with three of their riders under age 26.
It’s hard to know who’ll lead Webcor at the Nature Valley Grand Prix. An obvious candidate is former World Champion Amber Neben, who recently joined the team. But former US National Champion Katheryn Curi Mattis is another candidate, currently sitting third on the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar. So is double Canadian National Champion Alex Wrubleski. Stay tuned, since we won’t find out until the gun goes off.
www.webcorcycling.com
TEAM TIBCO
Team TIBCO prides itself on supporting up-and-comers under the guidance of Canadian Olympian Linda Jackson. One of their discoveries, Brooke Miller, has clearly arrived.
Miller, one of their rising stars, burst onto the national scene with her surprise win at the Cannon Falls Road Race at the 2006 Nature Valley Grand Prix. She repeated that feat in 2007 and won our criterium in Minneapolis in 2008 and 2009. Her ability to dominate in both road races and criteriums led to her double national championship in those disciplines in 2008. Support riders include Fiber One Collegiate All Stars alumnae Amanda Miller and Nature Valley Pro Rider Allison Starnes.
www.teamtibco.com
COLAVITA/BACI
Currently ranked 3rd on the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar, Colavita/Baci is versatility itself, with five riders ranked in the top 25 nationally.
The Nature Valley Grand Prix will be a meeting of old rivals who have made similar changes in their career, from racer to team director. While Kristin Armstrong is directing Peanut Butter & Co. Twenty12, Tina Pic will be directing Colavita/Baci. Pic, a veteran sprinter and five-time US National Criterium Champion, won the NRC in 2008 and three road stages at the Nature Valley Grand Prix. Armstrong knows time trials but Pic knows criteriums and, with only one time trial and three criteriums at the Nature Valley GP, the advantage may to Pic.
One candidate to lead Colavita/Baci is Jessica Phillips, the reigning US National Time Trial Champion, who also won the US Road Championship in 2002.
www.teamcolavita.com
TEAM KENDA
Based in Indiana, Team Kenda is a grassroots program that currently lists many elite riders from across the country. Aside of supporting a strong NRC level program, this is a team whose mission is to build the sport of women’s cycling by developing Junior, U-23 and Collegiate riders. Creative management has kept this team strong for years despite changes in sponsorship and the wavering economy.
This is the 2010 home of Fiber One Collegiate All Star alumnus Anna McLoon. A full time graduate student at Harvard, Anna hails from the Twin Cities and was a three-time Minnesota State Champion in Nordic Skiing. When she barely missed a trip to the Olympic Games, she turned to cycling as a way to maintain her fitness. She soon tried racing and found that she had a talent for cycling. Look for her to be a contender for the yellow jersey at the Nature Valley Grand Prix.
www.teamkenda.com
FIBER ONE COLLEGIATE ALL-STARS
Bike racing is an intercollegiate sport that’s growing by leaps and bounds across the country. The Fiber One Collegiate All-Stars were selected at the USA Cycling Collegiate National Championships held in Madison, Wisconsin, on May 7 – 9. The riders who are 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 fourth year for this innovative program. Over the past three years, eight of the fourteen Fiber One riders had pro team contracts the next year.
Fiber One 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 (TIBCO), Anna McLoon (Team Kenda Tire), Erica Allar and Carla Swart (Vera Bradley Foundation),
www.CollegiateAllStars.com
NATURE VALLEY
What the Fiber One Collegiate All Stars does for collegiate riders, 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 2010.
Amateur riders across the country can win trips to the Nature Valley Grand Prix at regional events from Seattle to New York. 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 (Peanut Butter Twenty 12) and Alison Starnes (TIBCO).
www.NatureValleyProRide.com