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Cath Cheatley of Colavita/Baci Women’s Cycling Team p/b Cooking Light Wins Stage 1 and Overall Lead
In an effort that was nothing short of epic, the Colavita/Baci Women’s Cycling Team presented by Cooking Light triumphed in Stage One of the BMC Cascade Cycling Classic, with the stage win and yellow jersey for Cath Cheatley and a third place finish for Rushlee Buchanan.
Cath, Rushlee, and teammates Kelly Benjamin, Theresa Cliff-Ryan, Andrea Dvorak, Modesta Vzesniauskaite, and guest riders Amber Rais and Kristin Sanders attacked the McKenzie Pass Road Race with everything they had. With a 20-mile climb up McKenzie Pass, followed by a 10-mile climb to the finish at Three Creeks’ Snow Park, the McKenzie Pass Road Race distinguished itself as the hardest stage of any race this season. Colavita/Baci went into the stage with six riders in the top 25 following the opening Prologue and planned to race aggressively from the start to force an early break to set up a teammate for climbing star Cath Cheatley to launch to.
About 15km into the stage, Colavita/Baci’s Andrea Dvorak and Kristin Sanders and 11 other riders were able to pull clear. With all the big teams represented, the break quickly gained time and built up a maximum lead of 2 ½ minutes before Peanut Butter & Co. Twenty12 started driving the bunch in pursuit. Mara Abbott, winner of the Giro Donne, attacked, marked closely by Cath, and the two climbers caught a splintering break. Attacking again, Mara went clear alone with Cath and Webcor’s Katheryn Mattis in pursuit. At the top of Mackenzie Pass, Mara had gained 1.20 minutes over Cath and Kathryn with the remnants of the bunch a further three minutes back.
Working together on the descent, Cath and Katheryn caught Mara. With Team Vera Bradley Foundation working hard in defense of the yellow jersey, the shrunken bunch came within 50 seconds of catching the leaders when the road pitched up again and the climbers widened their lead. On the steepest section of the climb, Katheryn was unable to hold the pace and dropped back as Cath and Mara forged on.
Driving hard to gain as much time as possible, Cath extended the pair’s advantage but still kept enough in reserve to kick around the final corner and take the stage win and the yellow jersey. Teammates Rushlee Buchanan, Andrea Dvorak, and Amber Rais bided their time before attacking to take third, fifth, and sixth on the stage. Colavita/Baci moves into first place in the team rankings and Rushlee retains the lead in the Best Young Rider competition.
Photo of Cath Cheatley and Rushlee Buchanan on the podium after Stage One of the BMC Cascade Cycling Classic is courtesy of Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us
