Stillwater Criterium and Overall, Women

Armstrong Victorious in Stillwater; Three-peats at Nature Valley Grand Prix

By Lindsey Dickinson
Photo by: Matt Moses

If the past five days of women’s professional racing at the Nature Valley Grand Prix are any indication, the women’s Olympic cycling field had better sit up and pay attention: Kristin Armstrong is coming. No really, Kristin Armstrong is coming.

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.

“When you’re out here at a bike race, especially me without a team, I’m just here to race my bike and so I want to be aggressive,” said Armstrong, who rides with Cervélo-Lifeforce. “I want to get the fitness in and I’m just trying to throw a little bit of animation in.”

And animate she did. Armstrong pounded the field during the Saint Paul Downtown Criterium, which was neutralized due to poor weather, and went on to stage victories in the Time Trial, Mankato Road Race and again in Stillwater. Anything but “squeakers,” Armstrong’s victories were impressive efforts demonstrating her champion-level mentality and abilities. Her huge victory in Stillwater cemented Armstrong’s position at the head of the pack for American women’s cyclists, and earned her the admiration of the more than eight thousand fans present along the course.

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.”