Wiasak taps into world-class pursuiter strength to win Colorado Classic opener
17 August 2018 12:08
Rebecca Wiasak (Fearless Femme) used her experience and strength as a two-time former individual pursuit world champion to win the opening stage of the Colorado Classic Women's Race in Vail on Thursday. The Australian marked the 1km to go banner as the perfect spot to make her winning move to take both the stage victory and the event's first leader's jersey. "I didn't want to leave it down to a sprint," said Wiasak, who is also the current Australian criterium champion and has spent much of the season competing in select criteriums across the US with Fearless Femme. "It was too risky. There were some really strong sprinters in that group, and obviously my background is as a pursuiter," said Wiasek, who was the world champion in the individual pursuit in both 2015 and 2016. "I saw the 1km to go banner, and one of the UHC girls was off the front, so I was, like, 'Okay, if I bridge to her and launch off her, UHC aren't chasing because they have a rider off the front.'ADVERTISEMENT "I think some other teams must have been scrambling, but obviously I was trying not to look back too often. I looked back a couple of times, of course, as you don't want to raise your hands in the air until you're safely across the line. It hurt quite a bit, that last kilometre." Wiasak ended up crossing the line ahead of Tibco-SVB teammates Lex Albrecht of Canada and American Kendall Ryan. Her victory automatically gave her the early overall lead as the race heads into stage 2 – a 16.3km time trial to Vail Pass on Friday. Fearless Femme have a strong team competing in Colorado with cyclo-cross specialist Katie Compton and climbing talent Flavia Oliviera, who are both guest riders, along with Kristina Clonan and Ashlee Ankudinoff. Wiasak said the team arrived a few days ahead of the start to acclimate to the altitude and to preview some of the critical points of the parcours – mainly the two climbs up Forest Road during stage 1's 53km route.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com.read full article
