Stage 1: Ed Farrel Memorial Joe Miller Road Race
The women’s Tour de Bloom started with the Ed Farrel memorial Joe Miller Road Race. The race began with 4 laps of a shorter loop and finished with 1.3 laps of a longer loop which consisted of a 5 mile climb. The team stayed consistently in the front for the 4 laps of the shorter loop which allowed for two riders (Cynthia and Larissa) to get into the front chase group for the last 1.3 shorter loops. Brenna, Emma, and Kathryn raced to an impressive 27th, 33th, 34th respectively!
The men completed 4 smaller laps and then 3 times up a large climb gaining 500m elevation each lap. After a fast and furious start in which Matthew Ney managed to claim the first sprint points, Kolby Mullen powered himself into the breakaway. When the climbing started to get intense our boys were up near the front with Aidan Oliphant and Cooper Langard the first two red truckers across the line in 12th and 24th respectively.
Stage 2: Waterville Road Race
Strong crosswinds during Stage 2 of Tour de Bloom (The Waterville Road Race) made for challenging race conditions. The team fought the winds in the peloton and finished in a bunch sprint securing 17 (Brenna) 18 (Emma) 19 (Larissa) and 20 (Cynthia).
Longer day at Tour de Bloom stage 2 today with the boys tackling a 140km course with rolling hills and crosswinds. It was a viciously fast day out with an average speed of almost 43kph. Our men’s team was very active at the front of the race with Matthew taking the first intermediate sprint after some of impressive teamwork. The team committed to a lot of moves with Caleb and Matthew even getting 35 seconds up on the peloton at one point but ultimately missed the decisive move. The team rolled across the line with 3 riders in the top 30 and ready to race again tomorrow.
Stage 3: Pallisades Time Trial
Day 3 of Tour de Bloom started with a wet and windy Stage 3 Palisades TT. Cynthia earned a top ten finish while Larissa, Brenna, and Emma placed 20th, 21st, and 22nd respectively.
Remy was our first men's rider to start and he and the rest of the squad put down solid performances in difficult conditions. The race ended with 4 Red Truck riders inside the top 22 finishers, Aidan and Cooper 15th and 18th respecitvely, and some super strong riding from the team members racing on their road bikes.
Stage 4: Criterium
The team then raced stage 4 (Twilight Criterium) in downtown Wenatchee with Cynthia leading the team to a 15th place and Larissa, Brenna, and Emma not far behind placing 20th, 21st and 25th.
Day 3 finished with the night crit around downtown Wenatchee. With a race start at 9pm it was almost entirely raced in the dark on wet roads to make for very challenging conditions. The team put down some solid performances and picked up some sprint points. Despite some big attacks the field stayed together for a bunch sprint with Matthew and Caleb both finishing within the top 15 and the rest of the team sprinting through in the main group to round out another good day for the team.
Stage 5: Plain Road Race
The team finished off tour de bloom with stage 5, the Plain road race. The race consisted of two laps around the lake and a steep hill climb to the finish. The girls fought hard to the end which concluded the 4 days of racing!
Day 4 was a rolling 120km with a steep five minute climb to the finish line. Caleb and Matthew attacked as soon as the neutral zone ended and established a four man breakaway. The team members in the main group worked hard to ensure the break stayed away. With one 40km lap to go they had just over 90 seconds on the main group but with just 5km to go the breakaway was caught by the highly motivated peloton. When we arrived at the climb the pack splintered with Adian riding up in the front group to finish 16th. The rest of the team put in a good effort to finsh off a super solid 4 days f racing
