Exergy Tour (2.1 WE) May 24 - 28

[Califootman]

The spotlight of the (women's) cycling world is on Idaho this Memorial Day weekend for the innaugural Exergy Tour. http://www.exergytour.com/

Here is the list of teams competing in the event:
ABUS Nutrixxion
Axman Team Taiwan
Canadian National Team
Diadora - Pasta Zara
EspnW
Exergy TWENTY12
Faren Honda Team
Forno D'Asolo Colavita GreenEdge - AIS
NOW and Novartis for MS
Optum Pro Cycling presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies
Primal / MapMyRide powered by BH Bikes
Sengers Ladies Cycling Team
Team Specialized - lululemon
Tibco - To the Top
Topsport Vlaanderen - Ridley 2012

The prologue starts in the evening, a quick 2.0 mi/3.2 km swing through Boise in the traditional giraffe-with-no-hind-legs shape:

The two big questions to be answered tonight:

1. Who will take the first leader's jersey? My very limited knowledge of women's cycling doesn't encompass any prologue specialists, so I'll just put my virtual money on the home team... Kristin Armstrong of Team Exergy TWENTY12.

2. Will the tarmac be blue!?!?! (Sorry, American college football reference there) I don't know, but it'll probably be at least as good as the tarmac was here in debt-ridden California.

You can find out the above answers and much, much more later this evening (or early Friday morning, if you're on the continent and incontinent). Coverage is available on the TourTracker, http://exergytour.thetourtracker.com/ which has hitchhiked it's way up to Idaho from California over the last week.

(Speaking of the TourTracker, can we get this thing exported, like, stat? Or does the rest of the world not have electricity and the internet?)

 

[Skip Madness]

Bizarre crash for Armstrong. The replays didn't really make any clearer what happened. I hope she's OK to continue, she looked in a lot of distress.

This race is of personal importance to me because I correctly predicted the queen stage a month before we found out exactly what it was, giving me the green light to act the smug bore far longer than I ought to have.

I would've liked a harder race given the terrain available, and there's no need for a prologue and a "long" ITT in a five-day race, but it's a good quality field so it should be entertaining. The live coverage on Tour Tracker was a lot better than I had expected/feared.

 

[Master50]

13th place after her crash in the corner near where she was married. Is this an Omen?
To do this well after a crash indicates she is fit but is she badly hurt? I guess tomorrow will tell. I am super pleased with the all Canadian podium but not at the expense of superior performance. I wish her a speedy recovery and more I hope her injuries don't spoil her Olympic aspirations

 

[mr. tibbs]

Just nuts about Armstrong. That's like Mario Andretti totalling his Ferrari in an empty parking lot.

I had to leave Boise yesterday, and the ladies were out in their kits all over the place while I was on my way out of town. Sucks. I wanted to stay.

I'll be back in Boise for Skip's stage, though. If anyone wants to get together and watch it (and paint Fahlin's name on the tarmac!) let me know. Also, if anyone wants to come in to Boise for the race, I've got plenty of floor space in my little apartment.

 

[Califootman]

Exergy Tour - Stage 1

The two questions answered (and I must admit I was a bit disappointed that the tarmac wasn't blue), but a new question emerges:

Are Canadians taking over this sport?!?!? Not only is Ryder Hesjedal in the driver's seat at the Giro D'Italia, but three Canadian ladies complete the podium at the Exergy Tour prologue. Team Specialized-lululemon also rode well, placing five riders in the top 10. On a down note, American Kristin Armstrong is out of the Exergy Tour after breaking her collarbone midway through her prologue ride. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/armstrong-breaks-collarbone-at-exergy-tour Despite that little incident she did manage to finish with the 13th best time. Unlucky all around for her.

Stage 1 of the Exergy tour starts in Nampa, and winds for 76 miles by Lake Lowell and the Snake River before returning to Nampa for the finish. The climb up away from the Snake River will be done twice, and looks to be around 2km at around 7 percent gradient.

Today's stage starts in about 30 minutes. I'm not exactly sure when the live coverage will begin, but at some point it will be on the Exergy Tour Tracker: http://exergytour.thetourtracker.com/

 

[avanti]

..........American Kristin Armstrong is out of the Exergy Tour after breaking her collarbone midway through her prologue ride. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/armstrong-breaks-collarbone-at-exergy-tour Despite that little incident she did manage to finish with the 13th best time. Unlucky all around for her.
..............................

I hope Kristin (and Marianne Vos) can recover from their broken collar bones in time for the Olympics.

 

[Skip Madness]

Very entertaining stage today marred by another bad fall, this time for Bronzini. Hopefully she can recover quickly but like Armstrong she was very shaken up and it looked like quite a bad injury to her arm. Talk of a broken wrist.

 

[Master50]

Very entertaining stage today marred by another bad fall, this time for Bronzini. Hopefully she can recover quickly but like Armstrong she was very shaken up and it looked like quite a bad injury to her arm. Talk of a broken wrist.

Looks like Bronzini will start tomorrow after seeing her in the hotel. The climb up from snake river was steeper than 7% or at least it looked it.

 

[Califootman]

Exergy Tour - Stage 2

First Armstong goes down, then Vos, now Bronzini... it's the Illuminati, I tell ya!

Stage 1 of the Exergy Tour had some exciting racing, with things coming together for a bunch sprint in the end. Exergy-TWENTY12's Theresa Cliff-Ryan won the stage and some consolation for her team after the loss of their leader in Thursday's prologue. Full report here: Stage 1 Report

Stage 2 of the Exergy Tour is a 10.4 mi/16.7 km time trial starting and ending in the town of Kuna, Idaho. It's essentially an out-and-back with a slight rise (2.5 miles at about 1.5 percent) on the first half of the outbound leg.

The Exergy Tour Tracker provides live video with running commentary by Craig Hummer and Leslee Schenk Trzcinski. They're certainly not Phil & Paul... but I'll let you interpret that statement as you see fit.

 

[Califootman]

Exergy Tour - Stage 3

Team Specialized-lululemon took the top three spots in Saturday's Stage 2 time trial, and hold the top four places in general classification. Amber Neben is in the leader's jersey.Full story here: Stage 2 Report


Stage 3 is the Queen Stage of the Exergy Tour, a 57.8mi/93.0km swing through the Boise National Forest from Garden Valley to Idaho City. There is a sprint point about 11 miles into the stage and two Queen of the Mountains climbs at approximately miles 34 and 44. The climbs aren't super steep (4-5%), but the first is a pretty long drag, it slogs on for about nine miles and gains 2200 feet of elevation. Both climbs top out at just over 6000 feet.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

That TT is sheer domination. This is a very TT-heavy race for a women's event, given even the Giro Donne has only about 9km this year. It's good to see it once in a while since it feels like it's dying as a format sometimes.

 

[mr. tibbs]

Heading out for the final stage in just a bit. I'm gonna watch at the top of the Pierce Park climb, right where the loop begins and ends. Hopefully, I'll see the winning move! (But then again this isn't a men's cycling GT, so the contenders may make a move before the final 2km of the final climb...)

If anyone's around that area, I'll be the tall guy in the black and green Contender Bicycles kit. Come chat me up. And go Fahlin!

 

[Califootman]

Exergy Tour - Stage 4

The Teutenberg Express had enough steam to make it over the mountains and still sprint for the line at the end of the Queen Stage of the Exergy Tour, taking the win by a bike length over Leah Kirchmann of Optum Pro Cycling - Kelly Benefit Strategies. The sprint bonifications moved Ina Yoko Teutenberg into second place on GC, nine seconds behind her teammate and overall GC leader Amber Neben. Team Specialized-lululemon continues to hold the top four places on GC. Full report on Stage 3 is here: Stage 3 Report

Today's fourth and final stage starts and ends in Boise, with the riders heading north out of town and doing three loops of a circuit before heading back to Boise for the finish. Total distance for the stage is 46.6 mi/75.0 km.

Team Specialized-lululemon would seem to have a pretty solid hold on the leader's jersey. With riders in the top four spots on GC they will have plenty of options to cover breaks and ensure one of their riders stands on the top step on the final podium... and the team could even take all steps on the podium.

Ina Yoko Teutenberg looks to have the sprint jersey all but wrapped up. Optum's Leah Kirchmann and Exergy's Theresa Cliff-Ryan have an outside chance, but if Teutenberg makes it to the finish line with any kind of legs she should be able to get enough points to secure the final points jersey.

The Queen of the Mountains competition has a potential battle brewing, with Faren Honda's Fabiana Luperini leading Specialized-lululemon's Evelyn Stevens by only 2 points. There's a QOM climb on today's route that the riders cross on the outbound leg and return leg. We'll see if those two riders duke it out for the overall QOM jersey.

Stage 4 route and profile:

Live coverage of the Exergy Tour can be found on the Exergy Tour Tracker

 

[User Guide]

lol, attacks from the startline, and a crash madness, who needs giro and its prossesions

 

[mr. tibbs]

What a beautiful stage! I rode out early to watch the peloton on a punchy climb in the circuit, and then beat it down to the finish line to catch the sprint.

I was also **face to face with <3 Emilia Fahlin <3** (and two of her cohort) after the team presentation and said: "Congratulations, ladies; you guys ****in' killed it." Way to go, tibbs. fml. I need cyclist stalking lessons from ACF and Florecita.

Hell of a good stage, though. I'm with User Guide: **** the processional Giro. These ladies could teach Purito, et al, a thing or two about winning a race.

 

[Izzy eviel]

Sounds like it was a good race, any highlights on youtube?