Joe Martin Stage Race

The first stage of the Joe Martin Stage race was a 112km point-to-point road race starting at Natural Dam and finishing in the centre of Fayetteville.

Our race got underway at 2.30pm. The race started out quite slowly which was partially due to the heat as well as the 4,500ft of climbing that lay ahead. We had a little rain as we made our way to the base of the climb but it disappeared as quickly as it came, with the roads soon becoming completely dry again.

At the 50km mark the road started to climb steadily. Just as the climb started, I got to the front and drove it. I looked back and the peloton was one long thin line. I kept driving it for about 5 minutes and then Katheryn took over. My legs felt blown and I sucked in air trying to recover. The group was reduced to about 30 riders. With such a strong headwind it was more difficult to shatter the field. I managed to jump back in but after 5 minutes wasn't able to hang on to the pace set by my team mate.

I sat up and waited for the next group. I rode easy with them and was happy to just tick the legs over as I had 4 team mates up the road. After a long descent, the road was generally undulating with a strong cross wind. Our group soon caught the front group. There was a solo Minikini rider off the front by 2mins. After chasing her down with Cheerwine and Aaron's, the stage came down to a bunch sprint.

We started our lead out way too early and were all blown with 1km to go. Ophs. We had the right intentions but just misjudged the final 5km. There was no 5km and 1km to go signs so it was difficult to anticipate the finish. Rach finished 7th whilst the rest of us were safely in the bunch.

Stage 2

12 May

110km (69 miles) road race

Conditions: Overcast, humid 20C

Today's road stage started at 8am and after finishing yesterday's race at 6pm we didn't get a lot of recovery. However, I woke up feeling fresh and ready for two hard stages.

The 110km road course started and finished in Fayetteville. We headed 18km out of town on old highway 71 into a block headwind before turning left onto a 37km circuit. We rode two laps of this circuit, which included 1,500ft of climbing per lap, and then returned to Fayetteville on highway 71 again.

Most riders were very conservative, thinking more about the afternoon uphill TT and not wanting to expend additional energy. Typically GC in this tour has been decided by the ITT. As such, all attacks were contained and it came down to a field sprint. This time our lead out worked perfectly. I negotiated traffic in the final 10km with Katheryn glued to my wheel. Amber was on Katheryn and Rach was our designated sprinter.

I opened it up with about 1200m to go. I took my turn over a small climb and with 800m to go pulled over and let Katheryn rip it up. Amber then took Rach to 300m to go and dropped her off onto Laura Van Gilder's (Cheerwine) wheel. Van Gilder is a renowned sprinter and held on to take the stage. Rach finished 3rd and again the rest of us rolled in with the main field.

Due to time bonuses, Van Gilder wore the yellow jersey heading into the afternoon time trial.

Stage 3

12 May

4km (2.5 miles) Individual Time Trial

Conditions: Overcast, humid - 30C

After a few hours rest we drove for an hour in warm humidity to the start of the uphill time trial. I opted for a short intense warm up to get the system fired up.

We had pre-driven the time trial course on our way to Fayetteville so we all knew the course in detail. The gradient of the climb according to our race bible was 6.8% however it was less steep in some sections and more steep on a few of the corners.

Katheryn rode exceptionally well to finish 2nd, only 1sec off a stage win. I had a reasonable ride but felt like I couldn't really hurt myself. I finished 1min 15sec down on the winner, Alex Wrubleski (Colavita). Amber finished 15sec down and Rach was 17sec behind.

So heading into the final stage, Katheryn lies 2nd in GC, with Kat Carroll (Aaron's) now leading the tour.

Stage 4

13 May

60 minute criterium

Conditions: Sunny and not humid 25C

The criterium course was a 1.5km anti clockwise loop with 12 corners and 3 climbs per lap. The final climb to the start/finish was 300m at roughly 6%.

Our plan was to go hard from the start and shatter the field. Hopefully we could get then launch Katheryn, Amber or Rach into a break and try to get a 12-18sec time gap plus the time bonus at the finish to win the tour.

I attacked on the first lap and Aaron's immediately started chasing. I had a 10sec gap for a lap but they caught me into the second lap. Laura attacked next and again Aaron's chased. Cheerwine were also patrolling the front and not letting anything go.

Several laps later a dangerous break went that caused Katheryn to worry. I got to the front and drove it hard, bringing it all back together by the start of the next lap. My job was finished and with nothing left in the legs I pulled out and watched the finishing 6 laps.

The next lap, Katheryn over-cooked it on a downhill corner, and came down hard. She popped her shoulder out and took off some skin. Without even thinking anything of it, she rode to the pits, did a quick bike change and jumped back in the following lap.

With 3 laps to go Chrissy Ruiter (Cheerwine) attacked hard and hovered 15sec ahead of the chasing peloton. Amber tried to bridge to her at the start of the final lap but was quickly followed by Aaron's and Cheerwine. The final sprint was exciting with the tour winner, Kat Carroll winning the criterium and showing that she was a deserving winner of the overall tour. Sarah Caravella (Aaron's) finished 2nd, Nichole Wangsgard (Vitesse) 3rd and Amber (Webcor) 4th.

Katheryn finished 3rd in the general classification, Amber 6th and Rach 7th. Now I am heading to Madison, Wisconsin for a few days rest and to enjoy some down time with Bob, before he flies back to Australia.

Final General Classification:

1 Katharine Carroll (USA) Aaron's Pro Cycling Team 7.08.18
2 Alex Wrubleski (Can) Colavita/ Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light 0.22
3 Katheryn Curi (USA) Webcor Builders 0.31
6 Amber Rais (USA) Webcor Builders 0.36
7 Rachel Heal (GBr) Webcor Builders 0.41

Webcor visited Orbea Headquaters in Little Rock on their way to Fayetteville, Arkansas.