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Armstrong, Zirbel tops at Nature Valley opening time trial
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Tom Zirbel (Bissel Pro Cycling) and Kristin Armstrong (Cervélo TestTeam) stormed over a wet, 6-mile time trial course on Wednesday to take the opening stage of the 2009 Nature Valley Grand Prix in Minnesota.
Organizers opted for something of a departure from earlier editions of Nature Valley by moving the St. Paul Riverfront time trial to the first day. The route included a steep 1-kilometer climb, which was added to the otherwise flat Riverfront time trial in 2008. The ascent proved decisive, as the winners were able to open time gaps on the finishing climb. The course ran along the Mississippi River where racers flew over the flat terrain, only to be greeted by the sharp ascent up to the Smith Street Bridge and the finish line on Cherokee Avenue.
Zirbel sets the standard
Zirbel clocked a 12:36 over the short time trial stage and won by a comfortable 13-seconds margin over defending champion, Rory Sutherland (OUCH), and a further five seconds ahead of his teammate, Peter Latham.The story of the day were the pro teams, Bissel and OUCH, which took all but two of the top 12 spots on the stage. Just off the podium was last year’s time trial winner, Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissel), and John Murphy (OUCH) rounded out the top five.
Bissel repeated its dominant performance in the time trial from last year, but Zirbel acknowledged that the race was still wide open.
“Last year, we did the same thing and didn’t finish too well,” Zirbel told reporters after the race. But considering Bissel’s strong position after Stage 1, the Bissel strong-man was optimistic, “We have some stronger guys on the team this year. Hopefully, we learned from last year and will do better.”
The big teams seemed wary of the weather and hedged their bets by putting slotting some of their top riders in for early start times. And the strategy appeared to pay off as the day’s early best times remained unchallenged for much of the day … at least until the end when a group of team leaders, including Zirbel, rolled out of the start house.
With several seasoned riders near the top of the leader board and second place overall, defending champ Sutherland was also confident in his team’s position after the time trial.
“I think we are in the best position,” said Sutherland, “If it comes down to the climb in Mankato [on the finishing circuit of Saturday’s road race], I would rather be chasing Zirbel than chasing Ben [Jacques-Maynes, last year’s TT winner]. I think I am a better climber than he is.”
Another win for Armstrong
Armstrong started the 2009 Nature Valley Grand Prix where she left off at the 2008. The defending champion and quadruple stage winner nearly topped her own time from last year, finishing in 13:48, just four seconds off her 2008 pace.. Alison Powers (Team Type 1) claimed second place, finishing 13 seconds behind Armstrong with a time of 14:01. Finishing a somewhat distant third and rounding out the podium was Erinne Willock (Webcor Builders), who finished in 14:36.
The women started early in the morning, under very light rain. The day’s early best times never lasted long as each wave of riders from the top teams seemed to go just slightly better than the women before them.
Katherine Carroll (Team TIBCO) finished in fifth place and started as the 65th rider of the day. But the best times were all set by the last 30 riders to go. Anne Samplonius (Lip Smacker) was fourth on the day, starting with only 12 riders behind her.
In the final minutes Willock looked like she might be able to hold on to her narrow margin on Samplonius and Carroll. But the final two riders, Powers and Armstrong proved that they were head and shoulders above the rest by shattering the best times in quick succession.
“This is one of my favorite races,” said Armstrong, whose skills earned her gold in the Beijing Olympic Time Trial.
Despite being at a disadvantage on GC, several teams are hoping to topple Armstrong, who came to the race without a team to support her.
“We’re looking forward to tonight’s crit, where there are 30 seconds worth of time bonuses,” said Allison Powers (Team Type 1) who currently sits second on GC. “We have a full team of eight, and we’re a strong crit’ team.”
The race continues Wednesday evening as riders take on stage 2’s Downtown Saint Paul criterium, with both the men’s and women’s fields slated to race the wide-open course in the Lowertown district for an hour.
