Team Colavita|Bianchi p/b Fine Cooking showed true grit and determination during the US Pro Road Race National Championships in Chattanooga, TN.
Sunday’s race consisted of 111.6km that saw the riders complete three start laps through a downtown circuit of Chattanooga, two longer loops up Lookout Mountain, and then finishing on three final downtown laps. Each lap included a trip up the Kent St. wall which was a short 13 percent climb.
Colavita|Bianchi entered the race with a small squad, so it was important that each rider rode efficiently and to her strengths. Whitney Schultz has a proven track record of being a break away rider within the women’s peloton. Once again Schultz was able to showcase that ability on the grand stage of a National Championship. The early attack driven by Shultz took along Beth Orton (Visit Dallas-Noise4Good) and Kaitlin Antonneau (Twenty16-ShoAir). Antonneau refused to do any work in the break, which left Schultz and Orton to take pulls.
Photo credits- Jonathan Devich
Once the trio hit the base of Lookout Mountain, Orton was popped from the group, which essentially left Schultz alone on the road, with Antonneau on her wheel. Schultz was determined to work the break as best she could, gaining over 60 seconds on the field. After decending Lookout Mountain and heading back into the city, with no help on the flat section of the course, the peloton was able to eat up the time gap and pull the break back.
Meanwhile teammate Katie Donovan was saving her energy for the climb up Lookout Mountain. Katie Donovan has proven her abilities to stay with the best climbers in the women’s peloton on long sustained climbs. Donovan remained with the top group up the second accent up Lookout, but a late surge by the group proved to be unlucky. Nevertheless, Donovan as well as the third rider on the squad, Jessica Cutler raced with determination all day and helped keep the race animated in the early laps.
Photo Credits – ScottKingsleyPhotography.com
From Chattanooga, the team will head to the UCI 1.2 Winston Salem Cycling Classic in Winston Salem, NC. The two race weekend will start off with a criterium on Saturday evening at 5pm. The Road Race will follow on Sunday afternoon starting at 12:30pm. The women will race 8 laps on a 12.7K circuit for a total of 101.6 kilometers. The team’s sprinter Erica Allar will look to improve upon her near miss at the podium from last year’s event in both the Criterium and Road Race.
Check out the short clip featuring Team Colavita/Bianchi from the Volkswagen National Bike Month Anthem Video!
Get Out and Ride: Join the National Bike Challenge!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Wr1pbOOHFM&feature=youtu.be
Heckling Editor, Image Taker, Crash Test Dummy, and Beard Master at Bikeworldnews.com
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Location – Lancaster, PA
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