Nature Valley Grand Prix

^{8th - 12th June 2005} 

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Day 1 Review   Thorburn surprises only herself in win at first stage of Nature Valley Grand Prix  

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Minnesota weather is known to be unpredictable, with thunderstorms rolling in and out at a moment’s notice.

But for Wednesday’s first stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix – the inaugural St. Paul Riverfront Time Trial – the storms moved out in time for the predictable to happen: Webcor Builders’ and current U.S. National Time Trial champion Christine Thorburn winning the 4.5-mile route by 14 seconds.

A pre-race favorite, Thorburn blitzed the course in 9:32, coming in front of a pair of T-Mobile riders, Kim Baldwin and Kori Seehafer, who clocked 9:46 and 9:47 respectively. The result surprised no one, except maybe Thorburn, herself.

"I'm a little bit surprised," Thorburn said. "I feel like my fitness is up. I've been working on these shorter time trials."

The work paid off and fits in with Webcor's strategy for the five-day stage race.

"I wanted to get as much time as possible today, because there are lots of time bonuses coming up this week,” Thorburn said. “And I'm not known as a sprinter."

Neither is her Webcor teammate, Erinne Willock, who finished eighth at 10:01. Along with Katheryn Curi and Felicia Greer, Webcor finished with four riders in the top 10.

"This is great for us. Now we've got to defend the (GC leader's) jersey," said Willock, who will also wear the top young rider’s jersey starting tomorrow. "It's nice to be back and have the young rider jersey again. I got it on the last day last year. It's nice to be wearing it so soon."

Despite a 6-week haul that included 10 days in France, then Montreal and finally Philadelphia before coming to the Twin Cities, Willock said she wants Webcor to be competitive since Nature Valley is part of the Women's Prestige Series.

"There's lots of time bonuses coming up and we don't have a pure sprinter on our team.   It'll be harder for Christine and me to go for those, but we'll give it a try," she said.

Does that mean Webcor will make a go for the time bonuses and mix it up? Willock responded, "Well, we haven't had our team meeting yet. So, we'll see."

While the thunder and lightning may have gone, the riverfront course along the Mississippi didn't lose the spring winds that came with them. All of the riders talked about the challenging conditions, with some saying they lost five miles an hour after the turn-around.

"It was hard. It's a little bit windy," Willock said. "I thought it would be more of a headwind going out, but it was windy all the way around."

One rider who came in with an idea of how volatile Minnesota weather can be was Seehafer, a native of nearby Eau Claire, Wis., and veteran of the roads around the Twin Cities.

"I started out with a big crosswind," Seehafer said. "I got a report to take as close a line to the gates as possible. Try and take the shortest line.

"I'm happy. I put a good effort out, especially with this race being so short."

With 15 seconds separating Seehafer from Thorburn, and teammate Baldwin in between, Seehafer said T-Mobile is sitting well. "It's nice to have Kim and I here. Kim's a climber.  She'll be good."

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Results  - Day 1  

4.49km at 28.321mph (44.7km/h), Number of starters 114,  Did Not Finish, 4