Lauren Stephens Dominates Tour de Bloom as Alia Shafi, Marlies Mejias, and Emily Ehrlich Deliver Breakthrough Performances in Historic UCI Debut.
STAGE ONE: Stephens Winning Streak Continues, Stealing Stage 1 Victory in Waterville
Lauren Stephens took yet another win this season in the opening stage at the 2025 Tour de Bloom for Aegis Cycling Foundation. It was a field sprint where Stephens slide from behind her rivals to steal the victory from the hands of second place Alia Shafi (Fount Cycling Guild), and Marlies Mejias in third place for Virgina’s Blue Ridge presented by Twenty28.
The UCI Women were met with beautiful clear skies as they got into position for the stage 1 Still Properties Waterville Road Race. Fount Cycling Guild and Valkyr Cycling Team led the field as they rolled out of the start, officially beginning this year’s Tour de Bloom.
The 60-mile course was set around a 29-mile circuit in the wheat country of Waterville, Washington. The field stayed together for the first stretch of the course, spreading out across both lanes of the straight road. Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty28, competing for the first time since the Pan American Track Cycling Championships in early April, as well as Fount Cycling Guild, were both visible at the front of the field, setting for the first Queen of the Mountain. The competition stayed tight, Fount Cycling’s Jennifer Wheeler–master’s national road and crit champion, former stage winner, and former Tour de Bloom victor–ultimately managing to take the first QOM.
Fount Cycling Guild and TaG Cycling led the front as the field regrouped, setting a comfortable pace as the riders approached the next part of the course, a winding descent that showed off the smooth roads and rolling hills among the wheat fields of Waterville. Once the riders rounded the curve that marked the end of the Country Loop and the beginning of the Town Loop, there was movement in the field as teams started shuffling to get into position for the downtown approach.
The end of the first lap marked not only the first intermediate sprint but also the double time bonus for the stage. Because this stage only offered one Intermediate Sprint for the pro women, with first place Intermediate Sprint winner subtracting six seconds from their time rather than three, second place earning a four second bonus instead of two, and third place receiving two seconds instead of one. As the peloton passed briefly through the downtown area and then looped back again for the final approach to the Sprint/QOM line, the energy in the field was palpable, with SpeedBlock p/b Terun Mixed Team making an effort to move closer to the front only 9 km from the end of the lap.
Fount Cycling fought to hold their place at the front of the peloton as they approached the lap finish, Aegis, Automatic Racing, and Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty28 getting into position from behind while Pato Bike BMC advanced up the left of the field. The field stayed tight as they crossed the IntSprint line; Twenty28’s Marlies Mejias Garcia won the six-second first place bonus, with Automatic Racing’s Arielle Martin-Verhaaren taking the four-second bonus and Lucie Kimberly (S&M CX Mixed Team) earning two seconds.
The next QOM approached as the second lap got underway. Jennifer Wheeler took Queen of the Mountain just as she had during the prior lap, confirming her lead in the classification, with Lauren Stephens following closely after. As the field descended, Fount Cycling Guild’s Minori Minagawa and United Cycling p.b. Cadence Cyclery’s Florence Howden managed to break away and maintain a small lead before being reabsorbed as the course hit the flats.
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Lauren Stephens won stage 1 of the 2025 Tour de Bloom. Photo by Blake Dahlin A headwind began to pick up as the peloton reached the last 10 km stretch to the final sprint and finish line, adding an extra element to the final battle. Fount, Twenty28, and Automatic Racing showed strong teamwork and communication as they skillfully began to fight for position. It would be the 2x Tour of the Gila Champion, Lauren Stephens who would come from behind to celebrate the first win of the 25th edition of the Tour de Bloom. The victory also placed her in the lead of the points classification. Vanessa Montrichard leads the Best Young Rider classification for TaG Cycling.
STAGE TWO: Shafi Solos to Victory in Wenatchee Twilight Crit
Fount Cycling Guild’s Alia Shafi took her first win of the 2025 Tour de Bloom in the Twilight Criterium last night in Downtown Wenatchee. Shafi won in a fierce sprint finish, with Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty28’s Marlies Mejias placing next in second and Aegis Cycling Mixed Team’s Lauren Stephens taking third.
This year’s criterium, a six-block, 4 corner, 1 km loop through the heart of historic downtown Wenatchee, presented by Rookard Custom Pools, drew huge crowds and activity. The stage began late in the day, with daylight expected to diminish as the race continued. Despite the setting sun the downtown mood was lively and festive, crowds buzzing in anticipation of the upcoming battle.

Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty28, after being unable to attend the other U.S. women’s UCI race at Tour of the Gila this year, were eager to show their team’s skill on the tight course. The powerful sprinting team moved up to control the front of the field. Twenty28’s Emily Ehrlich, one of the team’s strongest time trialist, moved to the front of the field to take control of the pace. Aegis’ Lauren Stephens also moved up to the front to remain safe, keeping an eye open on dangerous moves, using Twenty28’s draft to maintain her position. Fount Cycling Guild were also in the mix, beginning to establish their position at the front of the field.
As they approached the first intermediate sprint, Marlies Mejias of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty28 fought her way to the front of the field, taking the first intermediate sprint and time bonus. Emily Ehrlich took the second, with Fount Cycling’s Alia Shafia securing the third.
The field stayed together and in similar formation in the stretch leading into the second intermediate sprint. Competitive Edge Racing worked their way up the field, positioning to compete for the sprint bonus. Twenty28’s Marlies Mejias took the first bonus seconds in the second intermediate sprint, just as she had in the first sprint, followed by Lauren Stephens (Aegis). Competitive Edge Racing’s Mia Aseltine was able to cross next for the third place intermediate sprint bonus, showing that their team is one to watch in the remainder of the race.
The sun set fully shortly after the second sprint, and the lights came on in downtown Wenatchee. The stage began to heat up as riders readied themselves for the laps leading to the third and final intermediate sprint. Orange jerseys began to permeate the front of the race as Automatic Racing began making some moves for the front as well. Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty28 continued to set the pace of this race, preventing the possibility of a lead group forming out front and forcing the field to maintain tempo.
Tempo continued to increase as the field reached the final intermediate sprint. Just as in the last sprint, Mejias took the first-place time bonus, taking off an overall nine second bonus on her GC time and ensuring she keeps the green jersey moving forward. Lauren Stevens earned the second bonus again, granting her a four second bonus overall. Canadian Olympic Speed Skating Champion, Ivanie Blondin of Automatic Racin, took the third and final time bonus of the day.
With only ten laps to go, Twenty28’s Rylee McMullen suffered a rear flat and fell back, weakening Twenty28’s hold on the front. Fount Cycling Elizabeth Dixon managed to break away and hold a small lead for a couple laps before being reabsorbed with six laps to go. CCB p/b Levine Law Group and Automatic Racing moved up the field as they began to position themselves for the final sprint to the line.

The final laps saw a frantic battle for control of the front of the field. Mejias, Fount Cycling, and Lauren Stevens shuffled for the lead, while PatoBike made a bid from behind and Automatic Racing moved up the right side of the field. It seemed as though the peloton would stay together until the end of the final lap, whenyt Fount Cycling’s Alia Shafi suddenly broke away from the field and sprinted for the finish, crossing the line and placing first on the Stage 2 UCI Twilight Crit. Marlies Mejias (Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty28) followed to take second, with Lauren Stephens (Aegis Cycling Mixed Team) finishing third.
Fount Cycling, as a Seattle-based team, had the finish line alive with excitement over Shafi’s win and the team’s overall success so far. The crowd could still be heard chanting her name in the background as Alia Shafi gave her statement on tonight’s win. “It wasn’t necessarily the plan,” she said, laughing. “There was a gap, and I just kept going.”
STAGE THREE: Stephens Climbs to Victory in Plains Road Race
Lauren Stephens climbed to victory to secure her second stage win in Plain for stage 3 of the 2025 Tour de Bloom. The Aegis Cycling Foundation rider finished seconds ahead of Alia Shafi of Fount Cycling and Mia Gil Echevarria racing for Valkyr. Stephens managed to take over the lead once again in the Queen of the Mountain classification.
The UCI Women lined up at the start Sunday amid cool temperatures hovering in the upper 40s. In the front of the field, the current jersey leaders prepared for neutral rollout. Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty28’s Marlies Mejias wore the pink leader’s jersey after her performance at Friday night’s Twilight Criterium. Mejias is also leading the green sprint jersey, but was represented in the field by runner-up Lauren Stephens (Aegis Cycling Mixed Team). Next to them was Fount Cycling Guild’s Jennifer Wheeler, still holding the polka dot Queen of the Mountain jersey, and best young rider Mia Aseltine (Competitive Edge Racing).
Neutral rollout set a relaxed pace as the riders started the long, winding descent.Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty28 were first to control the front of the field after the 1 km neutral stretch ended, looking to gain bonus seconds available on the stage for Mejias who sat 33-seconds down on GC. Fount Cycling Guild moved to the front as well, the Seattle-based team also very comfortable with the demands of today’s stage.

8-10 mph winds buffeted the riders as the field climbed along the north shore of Lake Wenatchee. Fount Cycling started to set a more aggressive tempo, the team working together beautifully to hold a single-rider draft train at the front of the field. Although the peloton was able to stay together, riders at the back were pushing to avoid the field being split.
The field reached the turnaround point, heading back down the lake’s shore in the direction they had come. Riders were warned to be on the lookout for fallen pine cones as they started the curved descent, a unique challenge presented by racing in the pacific northwest. Undaunted, several riders made a bid to control the front of the field as the descent sped up.
Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty28 and Fount Cycling Guild swapped work at the front of the field, taking turns setting the pace. Sprinters Emily Ehrlich (Twenty28), Alia Shafi (Fount), and Jennifer Wheeler (Fount) were crucial in pushing their teams into the lead.
Marlies Mejias and Rylee McMullen of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty28, and Lauren Stephens (Aegis Cycling), respectively took first, second and third place bonuses on the first intermediate sprint. Automatic Racing made a bid for the front of the field as the peloton started to reach the end of the long descent.
Automatic Racing overtook Twenty28 and Fount for lead of the field as the peloton started to ready themselves for the stretch leading up to the final climb. Competitive Edge Racing and Aegis could be seen trying to shuffle forward as well.
Rylee McMullen (Twenty28) picked up another bonus by taking first in the second intermediate sprint, with Elizabeth Dixon (Fount) taking second and Jennifer Wheeler taking third. With only 5 km to the final, riders turned their focus to the last battle.

As the 1 km climb began, PatoBike briefly overtook Lauren Stephens in the lead. Lauren Stephens reclaimed her position at the front of the field, then, using her momentum from the shuffle, launched an attack and broke away from the peloton, followed closely by Fount Cycling’s Alia Shafi, Paula Gil Echevarria (Valkyr), and Lorena Villamizar of PatoBike.
Echevarria and Villamizar found the pace too hard to follow as they fell away as the climb steepened, leaving Stephens and Shafi to battle head to head up the ascent. Although Shafi stayed on Stephens’ wheel for a few turns, she eventually started to fall back as well, Stephens showing her strength as a climber as she maintained her speed up the hill and crossed the line to take the stage for Aegis Cycling. Shafi of (Fount) crossed next for second, and Paula Echevarria of Valkyr Cycling Team took third.

STAGE FOUR: Erhlich Sails into Pink and a Stage Win at the Palisades Time Trial
Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty28 Emily Erhlich sailed to victory Monday to win the Builders FirstSource Palisades Time Trial at the 2025 Tour de Bloom. The course was set on a 30km out-and-back country road in Palisades, located about 30 miles from Wenatchee. Speaking with riders after the stage, many would state the course was suited to a pure time trial specialists. Ehrlich was the only rider to finish in under 40 minutes, setting a blazing time of 39:09, ahead of Lauren Stephens in second (40:22) for Aegis Cycling Foundation, and Ehrlich’s teammate, Marlies Mejias (40:47).
Stage 4 was set in the rural area of Palisades, a quaint town filled with apple orchards surrounded by canyons. Temperatures had risen ever so slightly to a comfortable mid-60s when the first rider left the starting house at 9 AM. Fount Cycling Guild’s Jennifer Wheeler set the first time to beat at 41:19, ahead of Skyler Goudswaard of Cyclery Racing at 41:40. The time would keep Wheeler in the hot seat for most of the stage, until Ehrlich burst through the finish line to win the stage.

The general classification would see a big shake up at the end of the day. Lauren Stephens had been leading Alia Shafi by 12-seconds, ahead of Marlies Mejias in third another 21 seconds behind her. At the start of the day, Ehrlich was 54-seconds down on GC in 9th place, but would secure a new advantage above her rivals to move her into the pink jersey and overall lead. Lauren Stephens retained the Queen of the Mountains jersey, while the other classifications remained the same with Marlies Mejias (Twenty28) leading the points classification, and Mia Aseltine (Competitive Edge) in the Best Young Riders jersey.
The queen stage is set for Tuesday, for the Ed Farrar Memorial Road Race, this time starting with our Pro Men. The UCI Women start at noon for 3 laps of the Golf Course loop and the final lap up Joe Millar Road, the same training grounds as American Sprinter Tyler Farrar used during his professional career. The golf course loop includes a 1-mile climb at 5.7% gradient. After completing that three times, the peloton will face the final loop with a 6.4-mile climb averaging a 5.7% gradient before they hit the grand finale on the final 6.6-mile climb averaging 8% with a max gradient of 12.2% before crowning the first UCI Tour de Bloom champion.


STAGE FIVE: Stephens Hammers Her Way to Tour de Bloom Title
Aegis Cycling’s Lauren Stephens hammered her way up the brutal final segment of the UCI Women’s Stage 6 to claim victory over both the stage and the 25th Tour de Bloom. Three minutes and fifteen seconds later, Valkyr Cycling Team’s Paula Gil Echevarria crested the hill, securing second on the stage and third overall. Frankie Hall (Aegis Cycling) crossed 1’15” later for third.
Tuesday’s Ed Farrar Queen Stage, presented by Biosports Physical Therapy, marked the end of a challenging five days of racing and the first year marking UCI status. For some teams, the end of the stage wrapped up a long three weeks of American multi-day stage road races, informally nicknamed the ‘U.S. Grand Tour.’ The grueling period of racing starts with the Redlands Bicycle Classic in Redlands, CA, is followed by the Tour of the Gila in Silver City, New Mexico, and ends in Wenatchee, WA with the Tour de Bloom.
Offering their first ever UCI-level 2.2 Women’s stage race, this year’s Tour de Bloom was an especially impactful finale to the unofficial tour. The 25th Tour de Bloom also made history by presenting full live coverage of all pro stage races, both men’s and women’s, thanks to a collaboration with Guatemalan streaming team, Duro Al Pedal, and professional cycling coverage organization, RadioTourUS. It was another great opportunity, afforded to us by our sponsors and Wenatchee community, to be able to showcase the talent on the American road circuit and engage with the U.S. cycling community at large.
The Ed Farrar Queen Stage certainly gave this year’s riders ample opportunity to show off their skills. The first portion of the race consisted of three short laps around the Golf Course loop. An intermediate sprint marked at the end of each lap, for a sum of three intermediate sprints total. Next was the Joe Miller segment, a scenic but demanding 6.4-mile climb at a 5.7% grade, where the first QOM line was located, followed by a -5.3% grade, 5.5 mile descent. The riders then ascended the Joe Miller climb once more for the final QOM opportunity before turning left to begin the final segment of the course, a beautiful ascent through the county’s secluded apple orchards, ending in a brutal 6.6-mile climb that reached, at times, a maximum grade of 12.2%. There was a final 300m of gravel before the finish, one last challenge for the tired riders.
Following neutral rollout as the stage began, Aegis Cycling Team, including polka-dot jersey leader Lauren Stephens, and Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty28, with pink jersey leader Emily Ehrlich and green jersey leader Marlies Mejias, wasting no time moving to the front of the field. Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty28, showing the sudden, skilled team moves the group is known for, secured control of the front from Aegis Cycling, approaching the first sprint in a single-file train with sprinter Marlies Mejias perfectly positioned to attack for top sprint bonus.
With only 200m to go until the first sprint, Aegis Cycling attacked the left side, but it was too late. Twenty28 took the first sprint entirely, with first place bonus going to Marlies Mejias, the second place bonus awarded to Rylee McMullen, and the third place bonus awarded to Sofia Arreola.
An attack from Automatic caught the field off guard following the first sprint, an Automatic rider took the lead and driving the pace on the second Golf Course Loop climb. Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty28 was overtaken only for a moment, though, regrouping their train around Mejias in the front of the field again as the second intermediate sprint approached. In a very similar fashion to the first sprint, Twenty28 kept tight control of the front of the peloton, again earning the entirety of the intermediate sprint bonus points, Mejias earning the first place bonus.
Speedblock p/b Terún made a brief bid to challenge Twenty28 leading into the third sprint, along with some movement by CCB p/b Levine Law Group, PatoBike BMC, and LA Sweat, but Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty28 had their third intermediate sprint approach tightly locked down. Fanning out, the team blocked the attack from behind, then lengthened into a single-file train with Anna Hicks breaking the wind in lead. The third intermediate sprint results were the exact same as the second, awarded again to Mejias, Arreola, and McMullen, respectively.
Aegis took lead of the field as the peloton began the ascent into the Joe Miller segment, setting a fast tempo on the climb. Although Aegis set a steady pace, the members of Fount Cycling, lead by Wheeler, slowly but steadily overtook them, pushing the pace even faster up the climb.
Fount’s Jennifer Wheeler held the front for almost the entire Joe Miller climb, until Aegis attacked on the ascent approaching the first QOM, stealing the front from Fount. Using their momentum, three Aegis riders, a Fount rider, and a Valkyr rider launched a breakaway, and were unable to maintain it over the first Queen of the Mountains. First and second place QOM went to Aegis’ Frankie Hall and Lauren Stephens, in that order; third place QOM went to Fount’s Alia Shafi, that would ensue a tight battle all the way to the finish line for the classification title.
The five-rider break was slowly reabsorbed back into the front of the field as the road descended and then flattened before the next approach to the second QOM. It looked as though the field may relax for a moment, but attacks began launching from several different teams and riders, as others sprang into action to keep them from escaping. The relentless pace continuing into the beginning of the next Joe Miller ascent.
PatoBike and Valkyr were steadily maintaining their position in the lead group, but Aegis and Fount continued to fight for control of the front as the Joe Miller climb started, Aegis holding the peloton until the ascent really started to get underway. Even as Wheeler took the lead, Aegis, especially Lauren Stephens in the polka dot jersey, stuck right behind. Fount had stated earlier that morning that they were excited to challenge the final ascent, with climber Alia Shafi a strong competitor against Aegis’ Lauren Stephens. Stephens, current polka dot jersey leader and 2025 Tour of the Gila champion, already acquired a reputation for her strength and skill level when it came to stages exactly like the one they currently faced. The final stage of the Tour of the Gila (on which she claimed stage and overall race victory) was almost exactly the same as the Ed Farrar Stage, except the Mogollon ascent in Gila was a bit longer. Coming from her Gila win only a week ago, Stephens was expected to be in top form for this stage especially.
Both Fount and Aegis were part of a smaller group that launched as the peloton approached the second QOM and the turnoff to the final ascent. Notably also present in the breakaway were the green and pink jersey leaders Mejias and Emily Ehrlich (Twenty28). This had been somewhat unexpected, since they had arrived not long after. It would be a thrilling final ascent.
Stephens’ teammate Katherine Sheridan began to fall off the back of the lead group, but would catch back on several times before the elastic finally snapped. When she did so, Lauren Stephens jumped off of the front of the lead group, but was caught. As Katherine Sheridan began to fall off again, however, Lauren Stephens attacked again, and the group could do nothing to stop her as Fount’s Alia Shafi, then finally Frankie Hall, fell back one by one, leaving Stephens to power up the hill and win by over a three-minute gap.

Standing at the finish after yet another incredible victory, Lauren Stephens shared how important she felt it was that another UCI Women’s race existed. “It’s just exciting to see we have the UCI racing coming back to America,” Stephens said. “We had quite a few back in the past, and we had a little lull with Covid, but I think we see that it’s coming back.”

