Race Report: Tucson Bicycle Classic - Women’s Cat 3
Race: Tucson Bicycle Classic - Women’s Cat 3
Date: Feb 21-23, 2025
AVRT racers: Maeve Roach, Louise Thomas, Steph Hart, Candice Lo
Top Results: Maeve (2/32 GC) Steph (14/32 GC) Louise (22/32 GC) Candice (24/32GC)
Stage 1 - 5 mi Time Trial
This was a point to point race with an S curve at the start. Wind played a key factor since it was on a flat and open desert bike bath. We talked before the race about aero positions and using the drops, and the plan for pacing was going out strong/at 10min-ish power effort and then increasing effort the second half to aim at increasing watts the second, finishing strong, and ending on empty. The pavement was super smooth and it was good to see the S curve before the race but would have been good to do a pre-ride of it just to see how fast you could take it and save some time. The W3 results were all so close, with only a couple seconds between the top 15 results!
Stage 2 - 61mi Road Race (3 laps)
The Women's Cat 3 and 40+ were in the same group so we had a strong showing of 5 women! Whitney, Steph, and Louise kept things interesting, making attacks and pushing the pace during the first two laps, and Candice made sure I was good on water and nutrition. Some other women in the field made attacks throughout the race as well but the peloton eventually closed the gap on any breaks. There were bonus Omnium points the first lap, and luckily I don't think many people knew about those so I (Maeve) sent a little tempo effort to secure some extra points in the GC, with the lead woman right behind. With about 5km to go tensions started rising in the peloton, and with 3km to go the tempo was still rising. With 1km to go Steph was going strong at the front of the Peloton, working hard to set up a lead out. Whitney helped play defense on a woman who was trying to box me in, and at 800m I decided to send it. Looking back, this was totally not the move! I went way too early and the woman leading the GC was right on my wheel. With 500m to go I was really questioning why I went so early, and actually down shifted because I didn't think I had much left in me. With 200m to go I heard the woman behind me shift and knew she was about to make an attack. With how hard the team had worked to get me in a good position for a stage win, I found the extra motivation to shift up and get out of the saddle to give the sprint everything I had. Thanks to the wheel throw practice we had at early birds, we secured the stage win! Earning enough points to also secure a leader's jersey in the GC thanks to how hard and smart the team worked!
Stage 3 - 45 min Circuit (~2 mile loop with an incline on the back half)
This stage was hot from the start! It wasn't a technical course but everyone was pushing the pace and accelerating after corners to try and make a break. I got confused with when the bonus points were and went a lap early, and then missed the attack the next lap and worked the whole fourth lap to catch the break. After yesterday I was in my head about going too early, which led me to go too late on the last attack and not have enough of a kick to catch the leaders before the finish. Definitely a fun and challenging final stage of the weekend, all the women really gave it their best and secured 2nd in the GC!
