Overall 2008 Results: Women

Armstrong three-peats at Nature Valley Grand Prix ahead of Olympic success

Even though the first stage St. Paul Lowertown Criterium was neutralized due to weather, Kristin Armstrong put everyone on notice that she was back to 3-peat at the 2008 Nature Valley Grand Prix.

“The number one goal I have is Beijing in two months, so I need to remember that,” she said. “With these conditions out here tonight I just want to be safe and I hope the peloton has the same feeling about being safe and we work together tonight.” But when the gun went off and the rubber hit the road, Armstrong took another tack. She took off like a bandit from the starting gun and never looked eventually lapping almost the entire women’s field.
With stage 1 neutralized though it was Tina Pic who took the first yellow jersey of the race by taking the field sprint at the end of the Cannon Falls Road Race over Joanne Kiesanowski of Team TIBCO and Cheerwine’s Laura VanGilder.
In a move eerily similar to the 2007 time trial, Kristin Armstrong of Cervélo-Lifeforce demonstrated her dominance in the time trial by blowing out the women’s field in the time trial stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix.  Second and third place for the stage went to Anne Samplonius of Cheerwine, and Katharine Carroll of Aaron’s Professional Women’s Cycling 42 and 47 seconds back, respectively. 

After the time trial, the peloton’s attention turned immediately to the Minneapolis Downtown Classic criterium coming up Friday evening and Team TIBCO’s Brooke Miller sprinted to the stage victory in the party-like atmosphere of the Minneapolis Downtown Classic, beating her competitors to the line with an outstanding effort. Colavita/Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light rider Tina Pic took second in the stage, while Team High Road rider Kate Bates took third. The peloton finished in a pack, and general classification standings weren’t affected.
Armstrong, who led some of the laps during the stage was pleased to be the race leader but still focused on Bejing. “The yellow jersey is a bonus,” said Armstrong. “I’ve won the last two years, and I love this race. If I can take home the yellow jersey, I’ll take it.”
It didn’t take too long for her to show how serious that statement was. 
The very next day defending Nature Valley Grand Prix champion Kristin Armstrong gave the large crowd of spectators and the women’s peloton déjà vu as she powered through four hilly finishing circuits to repeat her 2007 stage win of the fifth stage of the race, increasing her lead and protecting her hold on the Nature Valley GP Overall Leader yellow jersey.

The peloton entered the finishing circuits basically gruppo compatto after a long, hot, windy afternoon in the rolling plains of central Minnesota.  That formation didn’t last long, as Armstrong attacked on the first circuit, eventually beating the field by a wide margin. TIBCO rider Lauren Franges took second and Aaron’s Professional Women’s Cycling Team rider Katharine Carroll took third, though they finished 37 and 40 seconds behind Armstrong, respectively.
The Great River Energy Bicycle Festival featuring the Nature Valley Grand Prix wrapped up under perfect sunny skies in Stillwater today, with Kristin Armstrong winning the punishing 12-lap criterium on the 1.5-mile course featuring the tortuous Chilkoot Hill. With a grade of more than 20 percent, many of the riders probably hoped the fan dressed as the grim reaper would take action and end it for them by about lap three in the race.

Consequently, lap three was about the same time Armstrong took control, dusting the field with a solo breakaway, chased for the rest of the stage by a pack of seven, including second and third place finishers Leigh Hobson of Cheerwine Cycling and Joanne Kiesanowski of Team TIBCO. Armstrong’s victory was definitive, as she beat Kiesanowski and Hobson by a margin of 77 seconds.

In addition to winning the stage and the Nature Valley GP Overall Leader victory, Armstrong took the Jelly Belly Sports Beans Queen of the Hills Competition and the Freewheel Most Aggressive Rider jersey for the stage. Katharine Carroll of Aaron’s Professional Women’s Cycling Team took second in the general classification and Anne Samplonius of Cheerwine Cycling took third.

The Wheaties Sprint Competition went to Joanne Kiesanowksi of Team TIBCO. “It was really great to be on the podium every day, having the jersey,” said Kiesanowski. “My team worked really hard for it and it was great because it meant that I had it sewn up going into today’s stage so I didn’t have to waste any extra energy doing that...We have a really strong team at the moment. We’ve just been racing together the last couple months and it’s showing how we’re just really gelling together. Everyone’s happy to sacrifice themselves for other people on the team. It’s a good group of girls.”

Kristin McGrath, of Colavita/Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light completed the Nature Valley Grand Prix with both the BOOST Best Young Rider jersey and the Nature Valley Top Amateur jersey. “I just kept an eye on the girls I was in the jersey races for and made sure I was ahead of them…part of my strategy was picking off the riders Kristin dropped and it ended up working out…hopefully now I’ll get my upgrade.”

As an alumnus of the Ryan Collegiate All-Stars, a composite team of the best unsigned college cyclists in the country, McGrath demonstrated the value of the opportunity provided to these women by the Ryan Companies. This year, Anna McLoon, Ryan rider and Harvard University Ph.D. student, came in 23rd overall, just 6’23” behind Armstrong. All of the 2008 Ryan Collegiate All-Stars appreciated the experience. “It’s great experience, being able to ride with top riders and huge fields. In women’s cycling you don’t get that very much at the regional level.”

Cheerwine Cycling walked away with the Touchstone Energy Team Competition prize. “For us, it’s one of the competitions each race that we try to focus on,” said Cheerwine rider Anne Samplonius, who also came in third in the general classification. “A lot of people don’t realize that this is a team sport, and a big focus for us is always to try to win the team GC. For us to do it again here, it just shows the strength of our team.”

Fans in Stillwater were treated to quite a Father’s Day show, and the racers appreciated it. “It just made so happy to see all the fans out here today,” said Armstrong. “It was an amazing crowd and the community’s amazing. It wasn’t hard to get up that hill today, because of all the thousands of people out here. I had a great time. If I had to go up there by myself 12 times it would have been a lot more difficult but all those people just brought me up there. It was a great way to end the week.”

Stage GC Young Amateur Team Sprints Climbing Aggressive