Hub Racing

a rainy morning gave way to a foggy misty time trial. a
record 113 starters for the womens pro field at the
fitchburg longsjo classic. sheba had trouble seeing out of
her visor and shorted the turn around. sally flatted and
never knew it. josie's arm pads were soaking wet, so she
had to ride without them.

but sheba looked styling on the cannondale slice tt bike
and the kids had a ton of fun.

sally annis leads the way for hub racing, at 2:21 back of
tt winner allison powers (team type 1).

hub racing gc placings after stage 1 of 4:

67 sally +2:21
88 amy mcguire +3:19
96 josie giddens +3:30
97 sheba farrin +3:30
105 arley kemmerer +4:07
109 veronica martinez +4:28
113 liz leyden +5:03 (lantern rouge)

circuit race on friday, road race on saturday, crit on
sunday.

some quick results from the exeter criterium:
(retired) former olympian nicole freedman wins it in a
sprint finish.

podium for hub racing's josie giddens!

hub riders in the money:
3rd josie giddens
4th veronica martinez
8th sally annis
12th liz leyden
15th arley kemmerer

josie also won the brian bogart mid race memorial prime,
and sally and arley also both won primes along the way.

fitchburg starts thursday with the time trial.

july 2009 is gonna rock for the hub racing women and it
starts on Tuesday June 30th with the exeter hosppital
criterium in new hampshire.
hub racing won this last year with brooke o'connor and
hub's arley kemmerer took the David Barrows 9th Lap prime.

then its the fitchburg longsjo classic - thursday july 1st
through july sunday july 5th. we get to race against
Jeannie Longo!

then across to milwaukee for the international cycling
classic - superweek. 14 races in 16 days beginning on july
11th! hub racing has podiumed several times in the general
classification at the icc, and this year we expect nothing
less of ourselves. the hub women are more prepared than
ever to take on the now 2-week superweek!

follow us all month long right here at hubracing.com/news

Nature Valley Grand Prix
Final Results
Stillwater Criterium
stage 6 of 6

Kristen Armstrong put the hammer down from the gun. taking
no chances, she shattered the field on her own in the
first couple of laps. only a pair of riders stayed with her
as the peleton broke into about 10 different groups on the
steep climb, and armstrong would win the day and the tour.
making the time cut became a challenge for several riders,
including hub's sheba farrin.

but as kristen came around to lap her, sheba sprinted down
the decent, making the time cut just before getting pulled
and thus holding a final placing. sheba would finish 80th
on the day, and 59th in the general classification.

hub's sally annis stayed with the 4th group on the road and
finished 51st on the day. her excellent ride, especially on
the climb, moved her up to 61 in GC on the tour.

hub's arley kemmerer put in another gutsy ride, caught
between groups, she had to time trial to the finish. she
rode into 67th on the day, moving up to 72nd in gc. arley
also finished 8th in the amateur competition (cat 2's) and
18th in the young rider (under 26).

its a credit to anyone's racing who finishes the nature
valley grand prix, the grandest of women's american stage
races. and while hub didnt make the nrc points or the
money, well, if it was easy, the points wouldnt mean much
would they? after over 9 hours of racing across 5 days and
6 stages, all of the women are glad to be going home.

of note: all 3 hub racing finishers moved up in gc follwing
their tt's at the beginning of the race. getting better as
we go is a good sign for the 19 days of racing in july. the
women now take 2 weeks off as we head to fitchburg next,
followed by SuperWeek.

nature valley grand prix
final standings:

1 Kristin ARMSTRONG Cervelo Test Team 9.26'03"
--
59 Sheba FARRIN Hub Racing 9.41'08" @15'05
61 Sally ANNIS Hub Racing 9.41'32" @15'29"
72 Arley KEMMERER Hub Racing 9.46'11" @20'08"

Nature Valley Grand Prix
Mankato Road Race
Stage 5/6
91.8 miles

it was well predicted that the road race would break up the
general classification, and it didnt dissapoint. amongst
the 6 riders up the road in the breakaway, both webcor's
alexis rhodes and tibco's brooke miller would take serious
time from a chasing kristen armstrong. but while they
closed the gap, armstrong still holds yellow by 11 seconds
going into the stillwater criterium. the 13 lap crit on
sunday has a huge climb the women will do 13 times, so it
aint over yet.

the hub racing women rode hard to stay with the charging
main field onto the 4 lap finishing curcuit. it all
shattered on the climb, and everyone would loose time to
the leaders every time around. sheba would drop to 53rd
just out of the nrc points. she'll need something special
on the 20% grade to move back up on sunday.

on the line in gc: 50 places for nrc points / 30 places for
money

gc rankings after stage 5 of 6:

1 Kristin ARMSTRONG Cervelo Test Team
--
30 Tiffany CROMWELL Colavita Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light
@3'23"
--
50 Kelly BENJAMIN Colavita Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light
@6'56"
--
53 Sheba FARRIN Hub Racing @7'49"
65 Sally ANNIS Hub Racing @9'50"
76 Arley KEMMERER Hub Racing @12'52"

nature valley grand prix
minneapolis uptown criterium
stage 4 of 6

a massive crowd gathered in minneapolis for the uptown
criterium. a mix of residential and resturants lined the L
shaped course. technical and flat was just what USA
national champion brooke miller needed for the stage win.
kristen armstrong remains up by 12 seconds in the general
classification.

the stretched out field tossed several riders off the back,
and the hub racing women all gained places but not time.
all 3 rode comfortably and safely in the field and finished
same time with the leaders. the lack of any hills felt a
little more like home, but tomorow is the 90 mile road race
at mankato. the field will break up there for sure. field
finishes on saturday and sunday could well put sheba into
the money in gc. but a mistake the other way could put any
racer past the time cut...

on the line in gc: 50 places for nrc points / 30 places for
money

gc rankings after stage 4 of 6:

1 Kristin ARMSTRONG Cervelo Test Team
--
30 Kristin WENTWORTH Team Kenda @1'44"
--
44 Sheba FARRIN Hub Racing @2'58"
--
50 Rachel HEAL Colavita Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light
@3'32"
--
71 Sally ANNIS Hub Racing @7'07"
81 Arley KEMMERER Hub Racing @8'57"

Nature valley grand Prix stage 3
Cannon Falls Road Race

The race saw break attempt after break attempt as virtually
every team took a shot at Kristen Armstrong. Even when
multiple teams got off the front, it never lasted.
armstrong took 5th in the sprint behind erica allar's
victory and kristen remains 12 seconds up on allison powers
in the gc.

The hub racing women:

a huge dissapointment for amy mcguire and it wasnt her
fault. on the lead in to the first QOM, while riding next
to the yellow jersey (normally a very safe spot), amy was
slammed by a rider from behind. while she stayed upright,
her bike was toast. she desperately yelled at support at
the back of the field, but they missed her and drove on
ahead. by the time a bike got back to amy, she was already
several minutes back. and despite generous leeway from the
official allowing amy to draft off the team car, any real
hope of returning to the field or even making the time cut
was already gone. by mile 10 into the 66 mile race, she was
forced to abandon.

arley kemmerer continues to hang on. with a gritty spirit,
arley stayed with the field on the 56 miles before the
finishing circuit. she came off as the race exploded
entering the city, and lost about 5 minutes to the charging
field with her 89th place, but she's still racing on friday
in minneapolis.

sally annis stayed with the front group until about 3 laps
to go on the circuit, a again got with the right riders to
finish it out. showing proper sportsmanship, noone in her
group sprinted for the finish. they just rode strong
together saving every second they could. sally would place
47th on the day 48 seconds back.

sheba stayed comfortable in the field all day, and twice
had to do team roll call following crashes. but with her
team safely through the gravel entering the city of cannon
falls, she pushed hard towards the front. the peleton
stretched out around the curcuit and sheba hung in with the
sprint for 32nd on the day, same time as the winners. just
staying in the bunch moves her up the general
classification to 47th, inside the national racing calendar
points and just 17 spots and 1:14 out of the money
placings.

on the line in gc: 50 places for nrc points / 30 places for
money

gc rankings after stage 3 of 6:
1 Kristin ARMSTRONG Cervelo Test Team
--
30 Kristin WENTWORTH Team Kenda @1'44"
--
47 Sheba FARRIN Hub Racing @2'58"
--
50 Rachel NEYLAN PROMAN Hit Squad @3'10"
--
73 Sally ANNIS Hub Racing @7'07"
85 Arley KEMMERER Hub Racing @8'57"

friday evening: uptown minneapolis criterium.