BMW Bianchi takes the show on the Road

After their trip to Philadelphia for the women's Liberty Classic, BMW-Bianchi set off on a cross country tour. The first stop was the Grande Visite De Gatineau a Time Trial, Road Race combo held over the 12th and 13th of June.

Despite the presence of teams like HTC-Columbia and Webcor, BMW-Bianchi lined up to race and race they did. Taking the fight to the rest of the field Rachel Warner, Kathleen Billington and Cinthia Lehner all took turns launching attacks in an attempt to force a break, but despite their best efforts the race came down to bunch kick with all three BMW-Bianchi riders finishing in the field. You can read Rachel's account of the race here.

After Canada the team headed to Minnesota to compete in the five days of racing that make up the Nature Valley Grand Prix. Once again the team lined up against the best in the nation and managed to place a rider in the top twenty overall and competed aggressively throughout the event.

After Nature Valley Kathleen, Cinthia and Rachel flew to Bend, Oregon for the National Championships. Rachel competed in the Time Trail early in the week after which all three riders raced the Criterium. The week of racing finished up with the national championship road race run this past Sunday on June 27th, with over 100 Elite Women lined up to contest. The course was regarded as one of the toughest in the past years was held on a 27 km loop that included two decisive climbs. The race was completed over four laps for a total of 113 km of racing.

Of the several breakaways that managed to gain time ahead of the field through out the race a decisive one came late in the race and included Rachel Warner along with two other riders and gained as much as 45 seconds over the diminished pack. However, all attempts were reeled back in before the base of the final climb over Archie Briggs Rd. At that point a final selection of just over ten riders went clear with Kathleen Billingon making the break and providing BMW-Bianchi with a tenth place finish.

Next up will be the Fitchburg Longjo Classic held July 2-5th in Fitchburg Mass. For this race, Rebecca Wellons will join the team once again but this time we are thrilled to announce that she will be a part of the team for the rest of the season. A fixture on the east coast racing scene and a experienced competitor Rebecca adds a lot to team and we are happy to have her, you can find out more about Rebecca here.