Prestige Women's Series 2005

^USA

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Webcor Builders Comes Up Big at First WPCS Event

Thornburn & company set high mark at PoolGel Redland Bicycle Classic

The Webcor Builders Women’s Professional Cycling Team set the pace at the first round of the Women’s Prestige Cycling Series: the PoolGel Redlands Bicycle Classic.  The Webcor Builders women took the lead in the individual, best young rider and team competitions.  The only competition to elude their grasp was the chase for the sprinter’s jersey, which was claimed by Ina Teutenberg of T-Mobile. 

Christine Thorburn (Webcor Builders) emerged as the Series leader after a hard-fought battle with Annette Beutler (Quark).  Thorburn held a tenuous lead over Kimberly Baldwin (T-Mobile, 6 seconds) and Beutler (7 seconds) going into the final stage: the Shaver Auto Center Sunset Road Race.  Beutler attacked at the finish, claiming a 4 second bonus for finishing 2^nd place on the stage.  However, she fell just short of claiming the Series lead when a huge effort by Thorburn closed a gap with the Buetler’s group, giving Thorburn the same time as Beutler and a razor-thin 2-second margin of victory.  Baldwin fell to third, 13 seconds behind Thorburn. 

The individual Series standing after the PoolGel Redlands Classic are:

  Erinne Wilcok (Webcor Builders) claimed the lead in the Best Young Rider competition, with an impressive fourth overall when she finished with Thorburn and Beutler on the tough Sunset Road Race.  Teammate Stefanie Graeter took the second Best Young Rider spot for the Series by finishing 29^th overall.  Wilcok had been a favourite for the Series’ BYR competition, following her third place finish in this competition last year, but her performance in Redlands tips her as a rider to watch for the overall as well.

The Best Young Rider standing following the PoolGel Redland Classic are:  

Ina Teutenberg (T-Mobile) answered any lingering doubts about her comeback from her 2004 surgery when she claimed the PoolGel Redlands Classic’s 1st Centennial Bank sprinters’ jersey and took the lead in the Series sprinter’s competition.  Teutenberg came from five points back after the Sun Oak Glen Road Race to eek out a narrow win over the Quark duo of Laura Van Gilder and Helen Kelly (21 vs. 20 & 18 points) in the Beaver Medical Group Downtown Criterium.  Although no sprinter points were on offer in the final stage, Teutenberg added an exclamation point to her performance by winning the Sunset Road Race with an impressive solo breakaway that left her almost a minute up on her pursuers.  

The Series sprinter competition standings are:

Webcor Builders took a commanding lead in the Series team competition, with Quark and T-Mobile in a virtual dead heat for second.  Webcor placed three riders in the top ten and earned 121 bonus points thanks to an outstanding performance by Young Rider Erinne Willock.  Their team performance was reminiscent of Equipe Rona, which dominated last year’s team competition in similar fashion.

The current Series team standings are: 

The Series continues at the Nature Valley Grand Prix (June 8 – 12), followed by the Tour de Toona / International (July 25 – 31) and the Bermuda Grand Prix (September 22 – 25). 

About the Women’s Prestige Cycling Series

The goal of the Women’s Prestige Cycling Series is to highlight women’s racing by giving them a spotlight that they don’t have to share with the men. The Series grew out of meetings that began in Minnesota in 2003 at the first Yoplait Women’s Cycling Summit Conference hosted at the Nature Valley Grand Prix. The Summits, now sponsored by Yoplait Nouriche, take place twice a year: at the Nature Valley Grand Prix in June and at the Interbike trade show in October.

Visit www.WomenCyclists.com for more information.

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