Race Report: 2025 Valley of the Sun Stage Race - Women’s Cat 4

Race: Valley of the Sun Stage Race- Women’s Cat 4

Date: Feb 14- 16 2025

AVRT racers: Maeve Roach 

Top Result: Time Trial 3/19 Road Race 1/19 Crit 1/19 GC 3/19 

Course: Time Trial 10 mi “L” shaped out and back, Road Race 45mi 2.8 loop triangle with an uphill finish, Crit 30min 1mi loop. 

Strava: TT https://www.strava.com/activities/13627095661

RR https://www.strava.com/activities/13635945614 

Crit https://www.strava.com/activities/13645849071 

Nutrition: TT I didn’t use nutrition, RR I had two Maurten gels and about 2/3 of one water bottle, Crit I had one gel prior to the start but nothing during. 

Comments: 

Stage 1 - 10 mi Time Trial

I wanted to base this effort on a power number, so I made my aim for this about 28 mins. I was going for a little over my 30-min power PR but I ended up doing it in 24:50. I was happy with the time but my power numbers weren’t where I had hoped. It’s a good lesson learned that power and speed don’t always correlate! I had practiced my aero position on my road bike in the days leading up to the TT, so I focused on keeping a good body position with my elbows in and head down. I broke the race up into thirds, increasing effort each section since there was a headwind coming back and I wanted to finish strong. I thought the start and finish were the same spot, so when I actually crossed the finish line, I was getting ready for my final push since I thought I had about 400m left -_- Another lesson learned to double-check start/finish before the race (getting that type B personality into order…)

Stage 2 - 45mi Road Race (2.8 laps) 

I made sure to look at the course before this! One little “climb” (could stay in big ring for it) and the finish was at the top. The start wasn’t too hectic, but the women at the front would surge and then chill, then surge and chill. So it was good practice for various race dynamics. Sometimes I would be in a good position right behind the group in the front and then all the sudden I found myself closer to the back, and had to work up again. 

On the second climb there was a QOM time bonus and a break happened on the uphill. I was caught behind a rider who wasn’t going for the break but saw about 7 strong women go for it, so worked up the climb to bridge the gap that had formed. Then we had a break that stuck which was exciting! We ended up getting neutralized a little later because the Cat 3 men had to pass us. So for about 5 minutes we had to wait and I could feel the lactic acid build up a bit. But once we started again we did some pace lining, so I was glad for the practice at Team Camp! Then on the final climb I was right behind the women in 1st for the GC. I could tell she was tired since she was at a  low resistance and really high cadence. All the advice I received (thank you everyone!) was to be patient so I sat until someone made a move with about 800 to go, when I caught her wheel I waited until about 200m and then got out the saddle and pushed to the finish! 

Stage 3 - 30min Crit

THIS was so FUN! We started out at a decent pace and I tried to stay out in the front in case there was a break and so I didn’t get stuck behind anyone on the corners. I sat at the front and worked with the girls who had been in the break yesterday pretty much the whole time. I found myself in the pack but out of the draft when I could have been in it at various points, so that is an area I want to be more mindful of and improve on. 

There was a prime lap but I didn’t want to burn my matches before the finish so I didn’t surge for that but focused on keeping a steady effort to keep myself in the race. Down the back stretch on the final lap I was feeling good still so I surged and took the last two corners on my own, then down the final straight away I just decided to full send out of the saddle the whole block. It was a bit of a long sprint but I haven’t really sprinted ever so I didn’t know what I was doing and wanted to empty the tank. It worked out in the end but another take away is to determine where the best sprint start is for various finished before the race! 

If you made it this far thank you for joining me on my first ever race recap! Learned so much and have so many areas I want to improve, but so grateful for all the support and mentorship from the AV squad! Feeling so lucky to be on this team.