KATIE HALL REPEATS HISTORY AND SEIZES RACE LEAD IN THE MOUNTAINS WITH WOMEN’S RACE CONCLUSION ON THEHORIZON
A pair of California riders, UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling’s Katie Hall (Oakland, Calif.) and Trek-Drops’ Tayler Wiles (Fairfax, Calif.), jumped out of the pack with about 5 miles to go in today’s mountainous South Lake Tahoe stage, with Hall ultimately pulling ahead to a solo stage victory, which she also claimed last year on the same stage finish. Having lost the race lead last year to Anna van der Breggen by just one second gained through Sprint points on the final circuit stage in Sacramento, Hall’s goal today was to gain enough time to protect her lead tomorrow on the same course.
2018 Tour of California Women’s Stage 2 Photo Gallery by Dave Richards
Team Sunweb riders await the start of Women's Stage Two, South Lake Tahoe, 2018 Amgen Tour of California cycling race (Photo by Dave Richards, daverphoto.com)
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Team Sunweb riders await the start of Women's Stage Two, South Lake Tahoe, 2018 Amgen Tour of California cycling race (Photo by Dave Richards, daverphoto.com)
“I just wanted to come out and race my bike and give it another good, hard try, and I feel good to come away with a 29 second gap today,” said Hall.
Battling a very steep final kilometer into Heavenly Mountain Resort, Wiles trailed in next over the finish line, with CANYON//SRAM Racing’s Kasia Niewiadoma (POL) in third. The three hold the same positions on the overall leaderboard going into the race conclusion tomorrow, with Hall at 29 seconds overWiles and 1’07” over Niewiadoma.
Snow remains at the top of Heavenly Valley Ski Resort high above the riders on the final climb of Women’s Stage Two, South Lake Tahoe, 2018 Amgen Tour of California cycling race (Photo by Dave Richards, daverphoto.com)
Wiles commented, “It was pretty good up Kingsbury. It was a little different than last year because we had Boels (Dolmans Cycling Team) here last year, and Boels kind of dictated the pace from the bottom. So it was a little different this year, but with 5k to go, attacks started to go, and people started to shed, and I looked at the back of Katie’s wheel and held on for dear life.”
Presented by Visit California, Stage 2 (W) was a 67.1-mile climb-centric day in South Lake Tahoe. The day included the 7,740-foot summit of Luther Pass and the grueling HC climb up Kingsbury Grade, a monster of a climb at 8 miles in length, 2,600 feet elevation gain, and an average 6% grade.
Hall’s ride earned her the Lexus Queen of the Mountain Jersey as well as the Visit California Sprint Jersey. Hagens Berman | Supermint Pro Cycling’s Lily Williams (USA) earned the Breakaway from Heart DiseaseTM Most Courageous Rider Jersey for spending a portion of the day in a solo break, and the TAG Heuer Best Young Rider Jersey goes to Rally Cycling’s Sara Poidevin (CAN).
Stage 2 Podium
Katie Hall (USA), UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team (USA) 3h06’41”
Tayler Wiles (USA), Trek-Drops (GBR) +25″
Kasia Niewiadoma (POL),CANYON//SRAM Racing +1’01”
Jersey Winners after Stage 2:
Amgen Race Leader Jersey – Katie Hall (USA), UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team (USA)
Breakaway from Heart DiseaseTMMost Courageous Rider Jersey – Lily Williams (USA), Hagens Berman | Supermint Pro Cycling (USA)
Lexus Queen of the Mountain (QOM) Jersey –Katie Hall (USA), UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team (USA)
Visit California Sprint Jersey – Katie Hall (USA), UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team (USA)
TAG Heuer Best Young Rider Jersey – Sara Poidevin (CAN), Rally Cycling (USA)
Stage 2 Results:
STAGE CLASSIFICATION 2
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE – SOUTH LAKE TAHOE
FRIDAY, MAY 18, 2018
Pl Bib Name First Name Team Nat B P Split Pl Bib Name First Name Team Nat B P Split