Melanie Vaughan Wins Ore Crusher MTB Race!

Elitewave's Melanie Vaughan won her first race of the year this weekend in Squamish. Results to follow.

Tuft Wins Pan Am Gold Again

By Canadian Team Manager, Dan Proulx

Svein Tuft won a second gold medal at the Pan American Cycling Championships in Montevideo, Uruguay today. Tuft took the gold medal in the Men’s Points Race ahead of Daniel Halloway of the United States and Antonio Cabrera of Chile. Zach Bell was fourth and was an integral part of Svein’s win tonight.

Canada had two strong contenders in the race and two shots at winning. The field was primarily concerned with Zach Bell. Bell launched several attacks in the early part of the race – winning four of the first eight sprints. Zach made several attempts to get away and lap the field but each move was brought back. Bell was a marked rider. Everyone was extra vigilant when he hit the front of the race.

At the midway point of the race, Zach and Svein were part of an eight man break that took a full lap on the field (worth an automatic 20 points). The move included both Cabrera and Halloway. The race was down to eight serious riders in contention for a medal.

Midway through the race, Svein chased down a move that was attempting to take a second lap on the field. Cabrera and Halloway were in it. The group eventually lapped the field for a second time. This move put Svein into the lead by just one point over Cabrera and Halloway.

Three quarters of the race in, a dangerous move got off the front again. It contained Halloway and three lower ranked riders. The group quickly gained a half lap on the main field – threatening to take a full lap and gain a further 20 points. If the move was successful it would have put Tuft into second place with almost no chance to come back.

Zach, Svein and Cabrera chased hard at the front of the main field without assistance from any other riders. Eventually they were able to bring back Halloway’s breakaway. From the sidelines, it was an agonizingly long chase. Tuft remarked, “We knew we could bring them back in. We weren’t going to let them take the lap.”

The breakaway with Halloway was captured with 6 laps to go in the race. Svein was still leading the race by just one point over Halloway at this point. The final sprint was critical to preserving the win for Tuft. Down the back-straight it was Halloway who made the first acceleration – riding for Gold. Tuft stayed calm and powered over top of the sprinters lane drawing even with Halloway’s shoulder midway through turn four. Svein’s momentum carried him through to get second in the final sprint. Halloway finished 5th and did not score points. Gold to Tuft – his second win of the 2008 Pan American Championships!!!

The victory for Tuft was a team effort. Riding breathless around the apron, Bell’s only concern was that Svein had won. Bell rode hard in support of the Gold Medal. It was great to see these two racing so hard out there.

Tomorrow the competition resumes at 2pm with the Madison. The final day of competition will be Thursday where Zach Bell will represent Canada in the Omnium competition.

Competition at the Pan American’s will conclude this weekend with the time trial and road race. The courses will be challenging. The coast line is windy and the competition will fierce. Team Canada is up for the challenge.

Alex Wrubleski 4th at Berne World Cup

Alex (far right in photo) emailed to say that she finished fourth today at the World Cup in Switzerland. The finish is still under protest because Alex's placing was not recorded on the official results. Alex is confident it will all be worked out.

Catharine Pendrel 9th at Madrid World Cup

Here is the latest from Elitewave's Catharine Pendrel (Luna) who all but assured her spot on Canada's Olympic Team with a 9th place finish in today's World Cup in Madrid. Here is the race in Catharine's own words "another solid race, and top 10 for all the Lunas. My race felt good. I raced hard i just couldn´t cover some of the moves that would have moved me up a couple more positions. 6th was soo close. It was a pretty tight & fast race. My back is letting me know i worked hard. Mical was pumped to finish 3rd canuck."

Sarah Gets 13th Final Stage Tour of Gila

Sarah finished her first big pro race in fine style - getting 13th in today's final stage of the Tour of Gila. She finished 21st overall on the General Classification. The race was won by Leah Goldstein (ValuAct Captial) who rides with Sarah on Canadian projects with Total Restoration. Elitewave rider Alison Testroete was second in two of the stages in this year's race.

Svein Tuft Wins Gold At Pan Ams

By Canadian Team Manager, Dan Proulx

Svein Tuft raced consistently and strongly to take the Pan American Championships in the Pursuit today in Montevideo, Uruguay. Svein rode 4:46 in the qualifier and headed into the final (less than 45 minutes after the qualifier was held) with a time that was nearly six seconds faster than his closest rival from Argentina. In the final, Svein rode another 4:46 to take the Gold Medal – Canada’s first of the championship. Svein rode smoothly and powerfully in the event – finally breaking his opponent in the final kilometre of the race.

It was incredible to see how much honour Svein’s win commanded. The Pan American Championship win is very prestigious. Svein was congratulated over and over again by fellow riders and coaches from many different countries. The podium presentation was held in front of filled to capacity spectator stands. The race was also televised live on National television. Svein’s win was a great start for Canada’s Pan American competition.

The track in Montevideo is an outdoor 333m with a steep banking and a very rough surface. Times in all events were slowed by the windy conditions this evening. Svein rode a very good time tonight.

Zach Bell and Svein Tuft were both set to ride the scratch race this evening which was set to begin after the Pursuit, Team Sprint, 500m and Opening Ceremonies. The race was scheduled for 7pm on the official program (confirmed at the managers meeting held in the morning). Suddenly, the scratch race was moved to immediately follow the medal presentations for the pursuit, team sprint and 500m (over one hour earlier than officially scheduled). Svein was in doping control (and prohibited from leaving for his event) when the riders went up to the rail. Zach was just arriving at the track with over an hour to prepare for the published start time of the race. Many teams were caught off guard by the sudden change and had to scramble to get riders to the start. Unfortunately for both Zach and Svein it wasn’t possible to get to the start in time. No official protest was possible. I spoke with the Chief Commissaire who simply stated “schedule change”. I showed him the official schedule that had been given to managers in the morning (showing Pursuit, Opening Ceremonies - then Scratch Race at 7pm). Again, the only reply was “schedule change”. It was a very frustrating situation to say the least. No official Communiqué was ever released regarding the schedule change (despite all changes for Monday’s program being done with standard Communiqués.)

The Opening Ceremonies were to feature over 50 performers who were to be the entertainment at the ceremony. They had arrived before 5pm to prepare for the scheduled 6pm start. They were moved because of the “schedule change” to the end of the night’s program – performing after most of the riders and staff had already left for dinner. The schedule change had obviously come as a huge surprise to more than just the riders!

The frustration from this event will be put to good use in the remainder of the championships where Svein and Zach will be solid medal threats in every event they ride. The circumstances surrounding the scratch race has further strengthened their resolve to do well in the Championships.

Despite today’s difficulties, Svein’s win sets the tone for how Canada expects to do at these championships. Svein is coming off some very tough racing at the Tour of Georgia and his form will only improve as the competition progresses. Zach continues to improve each day as he recovers from a shoulder injury suffered prior to the World Championships.
Zach Bell’s chiropractor, Jenn Turner of Vancouver, has volunteered her expertise at the Championships here in Uruguay – looking after Svein and helping Zach with daily therapy on his shoulder. According to Turner, “Zach is healing at a remarkable rate”. This bodes well for Zach’s continued success on the track this summer.

Monday is a rest day for the Canadian endurance riders at the Pan American Track Championships. They will compete again in the Men’s Madison on Tuesday.

Testroete Podiums Again

Elitewave's Alison Testroete (Aaron's Pro Cycling) earned another podium position - taking second in Stage 4 of the Tour of Gila - the Silver City Criterium. Sarah Stewart (Proman) continues to gain strength each day - earning an 18th place today! Great work girls!!!

Stage 4: Downtown Silver City Criterium

Pro/1 Women - 43.5 km (25 laps)
1. Rachel Heal (GBr) Team TIBCO 1:05:31
2. Alison Testroete (Can) Aaron's Professional Women's
3. Suz Weldon (USA) PROMAN Racing
4. Leda Cox (Gbr) America's Dairyland all s.t.
5. Joanne Kiesanowski (USA) Team TIBCO 0:08
6. Anne Samplonius (Can) Cheerwine Cycling
7. Virginia Perkins (USA) PROMAN Racing
8. Kristin Sanders (USA) Aaron's Professional Women's
9. Kristin McGrath (USA) Colavita/Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light
10. Felicia Gomez (Can) Aaron's Professional Women's
11. Linsey Bradshaw (USA) DeWalt
12. Betsy Shogren (USA) America's Dairyland
13. Leigh Hobson (Can) Cheerwine Cycling
14. Julie Beveridge (Can) Aaron's Professional Women's
15. Rachel Lloyd (USA) PROMAN Racing
16. Melanie Meyers (USA) Specialized D4W/Bicycle Haus
17. Amber Rais (USA) Team TIBCO
18. Sarah Stewart (Can) PROMAN Racing
19. Helen Kelly (Aus) Team TIBCO
20. Megan Hottman (USA) America's Dairyland

Alison Testroete Second at Gila Stage 2

Elitewave's Sarah Stewart (Proman) and Alison Testroete (Aaron's Pro Cycling) are competing at the Tour of Gila this week. After a tough winter in Calgary (with less than ideal training), Alison almost got herself a stage win yesterday. Sarah rode hard in support of her teammates on the Proman Cycling Team and was active in helping the ValuAct Team reel in the main break - which Alison and breakway companion Amber Rais survived.

Story from www.velonews.com

Held on nearly the same course as the men, but a few hours later and in perhaps even more wind, the 88-mile women's race featured a successful long breakaway of three riders.

The NOAA reported winds from the west at 33mph — gusting to 45mph — on Thursday afternoon ... the race's final 18 miles were headed straight into the wind.

Tibco's Amber Rais outkicked Alison Testroete after a long breakaway.
Photo: Action ImagesAmber Rais (Tibco), Anne Samplonius (Cheerwine) and Alison Testroete (Aaron's) got together off the front after the hair-raising Sapillo Crossing descent, about 28 miles into the race.

Testroete, from Abbotsford, British Columbia, was the best placed of the three, at 5:03 behind race leader Leah Goldstein.

On a tailwind ride down the Mimbres Valley, the trio built up a maximum lead of more than 4 1/2 minutes, which had Goldstein's team nervous. Goldstein had just two teammates with her in the lead group and they got little help from the other teams.

Testroete, who used her descending skills to initiate the break on the Sapillo descent, said she never would have taken off if she had known what the last miles were like, once the course turned into the wind and hills on the wide highway leading back to the start/finish at Fort Bayard.

"We came up the first hill at the feedzone and I thought, ok, I can make it. And then we got to the top and I could see another hill, and then another. But we just kept trading pace and we kept moving somehow," she said.

In the final miles the gap came down to about two minutes, just enough margin for the three women in the break to engage in some cat-and-mouse tactics in the final kilometer.

Rais finally jumped with about 200 meters to go and held off Testroefe and Samplonius.

"It was what you might call an exquisite suffer fest," said Rais, a Reno, Nevada, native who lives in Austria but is racing this summer in the U.S.

"On the last few hills we were getting blown all over the place and it felt like we were moving at a snail's pace," she said.

Goldstein finished in the middle of the pack and will maintain her overall lead.

"We pulled it off," she said. "Now we just will to look forward to the time trial, the crit and another day of hell," she said, referring to the Gila's last stage, the Gila Monster, which will take the women 72 miles and the men 106 miles.

Sarah's First Big Race

Sarah is competing in her first big race with a pro team at the Tour of Gila. She will be a worker for the Proman Cycling Team. According to the team manager, Sarah had a really strong day and was able to do some great efforts in support of the team. She also climbed well up the course's final 25km climb. Elitewave's Alison Testroete is also competing in the race - her first since a stellar early season performance at Redlands.

Pro 1/2 Women - 115.8 km
1. Leah Goldstein (Isr) ValueAct Capital Cycling Team 3:45:18
2. Kristin McGrath (USA) Colavita/Sutter Home p/b 0:28
3. Leigh Hobson (Can) Cheerwine Cycling 0:55
4. Kristin Sanders (USA) Aaron's Professional Women's 1:31
5. Andrea Dvorak (USA) Colavita/Sutter Home p/b 1:49
6. Kelly McDonald (USA) Touchstone Climbing 1:53
7. ? Asplund-Owens (USA) Cheerwine Cycling 2:06
8. Leda Cox (GBr) America's Dairyland 2:13
9. Stacy Marple (USA) Cheerwine Cycling 2:29
10. Sharon Allpress (USA) ValueAct Capital Cycling Team 3:03
24. Rachel Lloyd (USA) PROMAN Racing 5:03
25. Alison Testroete (Can) Aaron's Professional Women's 5:03
26. Sarah Stewart (Can) PROMAN Racing 5:03
27. Amber Rais (USA) Team TIBCO 5:06
28. Julie Beveridge (Can) Aaron's Professional Women's 5:06