Selle San Marco Team TIBCO Update - February 2009

Team TIBCO is in The New York Times

The New York Times has written an article on professional women's cycling, featuring Team TIBCO!!

Lauren Tamayo - photo by rdmasoner

Aggressive Tamayo Takes Second at Amgen Tour Women’s Crit

Photo Courtsey of Nicholas Weaver

Santa Rosa, CA – Lauren Tamayo of Team TIBCO didn’t let a little rain bother her in Santa Rosa Sunday. She didn’t let a lot of rain bother her, either. In a chilly and drenched Amgen Tour of California Women’s Criterium, she not only helped establish and drive the winning break, she finished second in the final sprint to Swedish national champion Emelia Fahlin (Columbia Highroad). In between, she was constantly attacking to keep the pace high, winning primes and even taking a late dig in an attempt at a solo win.

“I felt really strong today,” Tamayo said. “I came out of the Tour of Qatar with good form and I wanted to be really active today.”

With last year’s race winner and current national criterium and road champion Brooke Miller of Team TIBCO sitting comfortably in the chasing pack, Tamayo could be a bit more aggressive, knowing that if the break was caught, the team still had perhaps the best sprinter in the country ready for the finish.

“Having Lauren up there really took a lot of the pressure off of us,” Miller said.

But with 13 riders off the front, there was enough horsepower for the break to maintain a steady gap. And with the sketchy conditions, mounting an effective chase wasn’t a given. Two-thirds of the way through the 60-minute race, the gap reached its maximum of 0:40. But as they got into the final 10 laps, the gap started dropping. With seven to go, it was down to 0:25. But over the next few laps, the gap held steady and then went out another five seconds.

“We weren’t sure until there was only five laps to go that we were going to stay away,” said teammate Meredith Miller, who was in the break with Tamayo. “The break went really early. The race started out pretty fast and I had just worked my way up to the front when the break went and I was able to jump on. Unfortunately, my legs weren’t very good today, so I didn’t feel like I could help Lauren as much as I wanted.”

But what she could do was take a flyer on the last lap of the race to maintain the pace, but also to take some of the pressure off her teammate for the sprint.

“It was a good sprint,” Tamayo said. “Meredith put in a great effort. I think maybe I didn’t have quite the snap in my legs at the end. Emelia came out of Qatar with really good form, too, and she didn’t do quite as much work as I did in the break.”

Rachel Lloyd (ProMan), fresh off a number of top-10 finishes on the cyclocross world cup circuit, rounded out the podium in third place.

Notes

With the break fighting it out up front, there was still plenty of action back in the bunch. Jerika Hutchinson of Team TIBCO took a spill on the wet the pavement about mid-race. But the same wet pavement that helped cause the wreck helped her escape with only some bruises. She reported afterward that she was just fine.

Brooke Miller almost joined her teammate on the pavement a bit earlier. “I was following a move by Ina Teutenberg (Columbia-Highroad) and Tina Pic (Colavita-Sutter Home) and someone to my right swung in on me and caught my rear derailleur with her front wheel. I stayed upright but it bent my derailleur hanger.” After a quick bike change and taking advantage of the free lap rule, she was able to integrate back into the main back and work her way back toward the front.

Final Results

1. Emelia Fahlin (SWE) Columbia-Highroad

2. Lauren Tamayo (USA) Team TIBCO

3. Rachel Lloyd (USA) ProMan

Brooke Miller takes 3rd in San Jose

Team TIBCO got warmed up for the AToC Women’s Criterium at the San Jose Cycling Classic Saturday. The team put in a strong effort to deliver Brooke Miller to a t3rd place finish.

“The team took over the front of the race with four to go and really controlled things at the end,” Miller said. “Unfortunately, I got boxed in during the sprint and couldn’t win it for the team. But I’m really excited to see the team just take over the front and keep control until the end. It’s not an easy thing to do.”

Team TIBCO's Brooke Miller was featured in the Santa Rosa Democrat.

News Lead Photo by Ken Conley