Denver, Colorado (August 23, 2015) – Kristin Armstrong (USA) of Twenty16 p/b Sho Air team showcased her Olympic two-time Gold medal strength, winning the first-ever USA Pro Challenge in downtown Golden, Colorado. Armstrong defeated fellow American Tayler Wiles, who had arrived from Europe only 48 hours before the start of the race this past Friday, who placed second.
The first year of the women’s race was built on the foundation to have a little bit of something for everyone. It was Armstrong’s lung buster Time Trial (her specialty) in Breckenridge, which gave her an advantage over her competitors.
“This is the beginning of the new U.S. women’s cycling,” Armstrong said. “This is hopefully going to be contagious across the nation, across the world, because this is what we deserve.”
The stage 3 winner of the Women’s USA Pro Challenge went to Coryn Rivera (USA) of UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling team.
“It was a really fast finish,” said Rivera. “I had a feeling I wanted to be first out of the last corner as I know it was going to be fast and it was off camera. I wanted to take that risk without anyone near me. I took the last corner on my own and let it all out.”
The second overall winner went to Tayler Miles (USA) of DNA Cycling Team who resides in Utah.
When asked about retiring two times and coming back, Armstrong said, “People always ask me why I continue to come back. It’s moments like these that make me come back.”
Boulder’s Mara Abbott, was crowned Queen of the Mountain, also won third overall in the three-day stage race through Colorado. Abbott has been extremely vocal of her support of the race in her home state.
Armstrong beat out Wiles by 29 seconds and Abbott by 51 seconds. Her overall elapsed time for all three stages equaled 3 hours and 50 minutes.
The final stage of racing for the women was set in the mecca cycling city of Golden and the enthusiastic fans were in full force. There was no mere promenade or flat four corner coronation for the current leader. With hills, technical corners, and plenty of time bonuses up for grabs they women had it all on this tight 1.5 mile circuit.
“I looked up that hill today and saw the huge crowds in Golden and tears came to my eyes,” said Sean Petty, Women’s USA Pro Challenge Race Director. “A lot of hard work went into this from the communities Breckenridge, Fort Collins and Golden and they exceeded all of our expectations. Our goal is to continue to grow the race and make it bigger and better every year.”
The winner of the inaugural Women’s USA Pro Challenge also received a new Lexus two-year lease.
Kristin Armstrong (USA) of Twenty16-Sho p/b Sho Air takes the Smashburger Race Leader Jersey. While Coryn Rivera (USA) of UnitedHealthcare took the Lexus Sprint Points Jersey. Mara Abbott (USA) of Amy D. Foundation took the Sierra Nevada Queen of the Mountains Jersey competition. The Colorado.com Best Young Rider Jersey goes to Abigail Mickey (USA) UnitedHealthcare Professional and the Strava Most Courageous Rider Jersey went to Amanda Miller (USA) of Visit Dallas p/b Noise4Good.
