Tour of Tucson -Arizona
  

28th March - Tour or Arizona-Tucson  Stage 1- 3 mile TT -

The Time Trial stage was 3 miles starting on a rolling road which climbed up gradually to the finish.   We started around 12 midday and boy was it HOT!  thankfully I had a long sleeved skin suit to cover my already burnt arms up!       The circuit was fast to start then you had to just get on top of your gear and grind it to the finish which was climbing at about 6% steadily.    1st place was Melissa McWhirter -  Colavita, 2nd Sarah Summit, 3rd  Melanie Meyers - Specialized designs for women,  4th Cari Higgins - America's Dairyland, 5th Leda Cox America's Dairyland.  Clare came in 8th and Kate 10th place, a solid start for us but we had to make up time 29 seconds to take the Yellow Jersey in tomorrows stage.

Picture courtesy of Mason Ibas - www.masonibas.com

29th March 1st and 2nd for Cox and Clare  in stage 2 -Arizona stage race.....

Stage 2 - 100k Sahuarita Loop - 1st Place

Well it was a very early start today! we woke up at around 3.30a.m, yes a.m!  The organisers thought it would be a good idea to start our race at 6.55am whilst it was cool!  how considerate but I would of much rather started at say 8.30a.m but hey ho!    After a strong espresso or two we were fine and ready to race.   We had a team meeting last night and Missy our Manager decided today was good for me to try and get away and get the time bonuses in the Q.O.M and finish time bonus which would get me into the yellow jersey, just about.   The circuit was a 20 mile loop that climbed up about 700 metres or so.  The first lap we had Q.O.M sprint within 4 miles of the start so Clare and Kate worked their magic up front  for me and Carie.  Carie got 1st  and I was third so we both picked up some time bonuses early on thankfully.  The remainder of the first lap was painful at times with the girls not wanting to do any work from other teams which made it  Slow!  So my plan was to attack on the 2nd lap at the start of the climb and just keep it rolling until I got a gap.  A Colavita rider tried to come with me but blew up a bit so I was left alone with about 30 miles to complete solo ( good threshold session!)  I felt really strong climbing and just kept it going for the next 30 miles.  I knew Clare was in the second group with the Yellow Jersey and a Specialized rider so she would try and keep things under raps their.  I had 2 mins and 30 seconds going into the final lap and the start of the climb again which I just kept pushing up as I knew that there was a nasty head wind coming up with 8k to go.     The final 5k was hard and I just buried myself as I needed to keep going to take the time gap and get myself in the yellow jersey!  I finished almost 4  minutes ahead of the 2nd group which Clare came 2nd in! A fantastic sprint finish by Clare out sprinting the yellow jersey!    Carie took her bunch sprint for 5th place overall which was lead out by Kate.    So another great result for the team today!   I look forward to wearing the yellow jersey tomorrow!  Tomorrow stage is a 40 mile criterium with a sharp climb each lap to contend, should be tough but I know the girls will be determined the keep us in Yellow.

Picture courtesy of Mason Ibas - www.masonibas.com

Stage 3 - 70k Circuit race - 1st - 2nd - 3rd for America's Dairyland team!

It was another 6.45am start for us today but thankfully we were used to it after yesterday's early stage!  I had a clear 4 minutes going into today's stage over 2nd place and Clare was lying in 3rd place.   The plan was to try and get Clare into 2nd place overall by gaining 28 seconds which we could do with sprint bonuses and a good time gap over the field!  Kate and Carie controlled the race up until lap 3 the sprint lap.  Clare took the sprint time bonuses and I just kept it rolling with Clare on my wheel after the sprint  and we worked for the next 4 laps to build up a lead of 4 mins on the bunch which saw Clare move up into 2nd on GC and me secure my overall victory in the stage race by 8 mins to Melissa McWhirter from Colavita in 3rd place!   Carie came in 3rd place in today's stage and finished 5th overall with Kate in 11th place on the GC.   A great result for the team overall! Overall GC:  Leda Cox 1st, Clare 2nd, Melissa McWhirter- Colavita 3rd, Carie 5th and Kate 11th.

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