A few days ago I was talking to my husband and he commented, “You know, Eric was wondering if you’re ever going to start Stage 3 of the Tour of New Zealand, let alone race in Europe.”  See, Eric had been following my updates on dougreport.com when they suddenly stopped.  Had Eric started following me on twitter, he would have been shocked to discover that, since New Zealand, I had trained in San Diego for 2 weeks and flown to Italy!  The last thing I would want to do is send someone into a state of shock, so I realized that it was time to make amends…
 
New Zealand!  What a fabulous race! Hopefully you read press reports about stages 3-6, but if not, it’s safe to say that we (Team USA) met our goals and were pleased with the results.  The final tally: 5 stage wins, 1st and 2nd place overall in general classification, and 1st place in team classification.  In all my experience racing, it was the most rewarding display of teamwork that I’ve been a part of and it was thanks to a great director, strong staff and a talented, hard-working group of riders.  How often do riders get thanked by their teammates who take 1st and 2nd in an individual time trial?  Both Amber Neben and Shelley Evans thanked us for our hard work leading up to the TT stage, because it allowed them to rest so they could shine in the time trial.  Another example: in stage 5, Jessica Philips, Alison Starnes, and I had worked all day to control the race and, 5 km from the finish, we were close to bringing back the day’s breakaway.  We were nipping at their heals but needed a little extra “oomph” to close it down.  At the perfect moment, Amber Neben, wearing the yellow jersey, pulled to the front, hit the gas, and strung out the peloton to bring Shelley within striking distance of the win.  We rounded the final turn, and I suddenly saw Shelley virtually going backwards in the group with a dropped chain.  Then, a second later, she blasted by me, found a hole, and took the win.  How often will you see that from the race leader and team sprinter?  Again, it’s safe to say that we were pleased with how we raced.
 
Fast forward a few weeks…
 
I flew to Italy to train from the team house in Lucca and prepare for the first World Cup of the year.  On Thursday of last week, we drove 350 kilometers northeast to the beautiful mountain town of Cittiglio, Italy, site of the Trofeo Alfredo Binda World Cup.  The team for this race was Lauren Tamayo (straight off the track from World Championships), Andrea Dvorak, Sinead Miller, Alisha Welsh, and I. 
 
The race course was fun and challenging: climbs ranging from steep & short to longer & winding, narrow roads to make things tricky, and quaint, small towns to motor through.  Our team had a combination of strong climbers, quality sprinters, and good experience, but we knew it would be a hard race as this was our first race together, first race in Europe this season and, for some, their first World Cup. 
 
From the start, the peloton was a bit antsy and it took two ascents of a steep climb in the town of Luino to thin down the pack.  After only 30km, we had dropped nearly 50 riders.   Around kilometer 45, we began a 6km climb, where a good group of 20 riders got away.  Unfortunately, we were not represented, and the best teams such as Cervelo, HTC-Columbia, and Netherlands, had multiple riders.  The remaining group behind, where all of the US team was, essentially shut down and was not interested in a chase.

On the first of four 18km laps, Manel asked us to try and bring the gap down by using the climb.  I set pace for the 3km climb, and we saw the time gap fall from 2:30, 1:55, and as low as 1:15, but when we crested the top, the riders on my wheel were happy to let Team USA continue to do the work, as they had teammates up the road. 
 
On to the next plan.  During the next lap through town, Sinead followed an attack initiated by a Fassa Bortolo rider.  From the peloton, you could see how tough their effort was in the headwind and slight uphill, but in no time at all, we heard that Sinead had made it across to the front group.  Bene!
 
On the final climb, the big contenders sent their teammates to the front to drive the pace.  Sinead lost contact after having put forth such a huge effort to bridge the gap on the previous lap.  But, this was the story for the majority of the group as the size dwindled from 27 to 20 to 11 and finally 9 as a result of hard climbing, a crash on the descent, and the fast pace back into town.  At the finish, 2009 winner Marianne Vos of the Netherlands, was first to the line.
 
Sinead finished a little bit back, in 18th place, racking up a few points in the World Cup rankings.  Lauren, Andrea, and myself finished in the following bunch, even though in the results we were listed as “DNF.”  Alisha had some bad luck with crashes in the beginning, and was not able to finish, but is in good condition to start our next race.
 
Needless to say, Binda left us with a feeling of unfinished business.  We were not happy with our team performance, but we will learn from the experience and make the best of our next five races together.
 
Speaking of next race: where will we be?  On the pave of Ronde van Vlaanderen, of course!  Also known as the Tour of Flanders, this race is considered the Belgian World Championships, and it has earned this reputation by being one of the most well-attended and hardest races on the calendar (for the women and the men!). We’ve already ridden the course and have seen not only what challenges the parcours will present, but the weather, too.  Wind, rain, and cold are likely, but we will be ready!