The race is taking place in the Snowy Mountain Region, not far from
Canberra.Today we started out at 9:30am from Tumut for a 42km race to
Talbingo.  It was a nice race to start the season off, as for many of us
from across the ocean...this was to be our first race.  There was a  Cat 2
Mountain Sprint approximately 6k long just 8k into the race.  It was won by
 Australian,Tracey Gaudrey.

The pack split up on the climb.  There were a few attacks and one crash
bringing down a fair number of riders in the main peleton; however, the
race ended with a relatively large group of riders sprinting for the
finish. The first stage was won by Mirjam Melchers of the Netherlands,
second was American Mari Holden, third was Australian  Anna Wilson.

After a BRIEF cool down, the riders began the second stage of the Tour de
Snowy, an 8.4km time trial, half of which was climbing!!  The winner was
Mari Holden (USA), second was Great Britain's Yvonne McGregor, and third
was Karen Kurreck (USA). 

Overall GC: Mari Holden

Tomorrow brings a 110km race  from Khancoban to Cabramurra ending with a
10km climb...yahoo!!!
 

Day Two: Stage Three 110k (Tons of climbing!!!!)

Today's 110km race promised to be a climbers dream with a Category 2 and a
Category 1 climb...little did we know, the entire race was filled with
climbing!  The group stayed together until the first climb...from then on,
it was a race of attrition.  The Australians were quite aggressive, sending
off riders one after another.  My plan for this race was to wait  until the
last climb to take any action.  As predicted, the final climb was VERY
steep, the kind I love.  After the first 5km, myself and Susy Pryde set
tempo until  the QOM  (Queen of the Mountain) sprint.  I then stayed up
front as we continued to climb, keeping the tempo up so that my teammate
Karen Kurreck could take the leaders jersey from Mari Holden.  The plan
worked perfectly, with Karen sprinting for 1st place, and myself taking 5th
place. 

1st Karen Kurreck (USA) 4:06:44
2nd Susy Pryde (USA)    st
3rd Lenka Ilavska (Slovakia)    st
4th Barbara Heeb (Switzerland)  st
5th Leigh Hobson (Canada)       st
6th Sara Saarelainen    (Finland)       st

GC
1st Karen Kurreck (USA) 
2nd Lenka Ilavska (Slovakia)    0:00:11
3rd Susy Pryde (USA)    0:00:26
4th Mari Holden (USA)   0:00:59
5th Sara Saarelainen(Finland)   0:01:11
6th Leigh Hobson (Canada)       0:01:11
7th Barbara Heeb (Switzerland)  0:01:11
8th Yvonne McGregor (GB)        0:01:14
9th Tracey Gaudrey (Australia)  0:01:22
10th Gunn Rita Dahle    (Norway)        0:01:37

QOM

Lenka Ilavska (Slovakia)

Day Three: Stage Four (83.6k road race)

Today's race was relatively short and flat in comparison to
yesterday...only 83.6km in 2:14 minutes!  Karen Kurreck, Anne Samplonius
and myself have agreed to work together to help keep the leaders jersey. 
Today the goal was to keep a close eye on the riders in the top ten and
conserve our energy for tomorrow's VERY hilly stage.  Fortunately for us, a
safe break went off the group after about 25km.  The riders were low enough
on GC that we could relax and let their teammates control the peleton.  The
race ended  with Elizabeth Tadich and Sarah  Symington gaining 1minute and
40seconds...the rest of us roared down a large hill finishing in Jindabyne,
a field of 27 riders, with Anna Wilson taking the sprint for 3rd place.

Results:

1st Elizabeth Tadich (Australia)                2:14:16
2nd Sarah Symington (GB)                st
3rd Anna Wilson (Australia)             0:01:40
14th Leigh Hobson (Canada)              0:01:40

GC: No Changes to yesterday...

1st Karen Kurreck (USA) 
2nd Lenka Ilavska (Slovakia)    0:00:11
3rd Susy Pryde (USA)    0:00:26
4th Mari Holden (USA)   0:00:59
5th Sara Saarelainen(Finland)   0:01:11
6th Leigh Hobson (Canada)       0:01:11
7th Barbara Heeb (Switzerland)  0:01:11
8th Yvonne McGregor (GB)        0:01:14
9th Tracey Gaudrey (Australia)  0:01:22
10th Gunn Rita Dahle    (Norway)        0:01:37

QOM
1st Lenka Ilavska (Slovakia)

Points
1st Elizabeth Tadich (Australian)

Day Four: Stage Five (112km road race)

Today we lost the leader's jersey ;-(...it was a tough race with 7 mountain
sprints...all of which had time bonuses.  Karen and I covered as many
attacks as we could; however, Tracey  Gaudrey got away after about 25km
into the race and stayed away, taking over the lead.  We worked hard to
keep the time gain down, but with the time bonuses (up to 10 seconds for
each mountain sprint)...we had a lot of work to do between the two of us.

All is not lost.  Tomorrow there are two more stages, a 60km road race and
a 30km criterium.  Karen is now in second and I'm in 6th GC.  We plan to
race aggressively and see where that takes us. 

P.S. Congrats for the team on the street sprint victory!!! ;-)

Results: Stage Five 112km Jindabyne-Charlotte Pass-Thredbo

A daunting race with 7 mountain sprints!  We climbed 10km before the first
sprint and then began a series of ups and downs along the top of Charlotte
Pass...Once we reached the summit, we turned around and came back
down...just for the pleasure of doing the climbs both ways!!!!  Those
Aussies!! ;-)

Stage Placing:
1st Tracey Gaudrey (Australia)  3:42:32
2nd Elizabeth Tadich (Australia)        0:01:05
3rd Kathy Watt (Australia)      0:01:06

GC:
1st Tracey Gaudrey (Australia)  0:00:00
2nd Karen Kurreck (USA) 0:02:06
3rd Lenka Ilavska (Slovakia)    0:02:17
4th Susy Pryde (NZ)             0:02:43
5th Mari Holden (USA)   0:03:08
6th Leigh Hobson (Canada)       0:03:23
7th Barbara Heeb (Switzerland)  0:03:25
8th Sara Saarelainen (Finland)  0:03:28
9th Yvonne McGregor (GB)        0:03:30
10th Anna Wilson (Australia)   0:03:43

Queen of the Mountain (QOM)

1st Tracey Gaudrey (Australia)  57 pts.
2nd Lenka Ilavska (Slovakia)    26 pts.
3rd Kaaren Kurreck (USA)        25 pts.

Points Leader

1st Elizabeth Tadich (Australia)        13 pts.
2nd Susy Pryde (NZ)             7 pts.
3rd Mirjam Melchers (NED)       5 pts.

Day Five: Stage Six and Seven (61k road race and 30k criterium)

Today started with a 61k road race and ended with a 30k criterium...both of
which were extremely fast!!  The road race was attack after attack...one
break that stayed away had Liz Tadich, Yvonne McGregor, and Mirjam
Melchers.  After the sprint spot, Kathy Watt and myself attacked...caught a
solo Australian rider, stayed away for about five minutes and then were
caught by the peleton.  It was then Anna Wilson took the opportunity to
bridge up to the break of three.  From then on it was a chase to the finish
to keep the time gap down...the lead group ended up with 28 seconds...with
the time bonuses Anna Wilson and Yvonne McGregor move up into 5th and 6th
GC respectively.  I took fourth in the group sprint and moved into 8th GC.

After about 4 hours rest, we began the criterium...the pace was fast with
half the peleton getting lapped at ten laps to go.  Some attacks were made,
but nothing stayed away. The sprint was won by Karen Kurreck (USA)!  I
stayed safe and held onto 8th GC.

Overall, the Tour de Snowy was an excellent first season race...the courses
were challenging, the accomodations were first class and the people were
fantastic!!

Results: Stage Six 61k road race

1st Anna Wilson (AUS)   1:30:00
2nd Elizabeth Tadich (AUS)      st
3rd Yvone McGregor (GB) st
7th Leigh Hobson (CAN)  0:00:28

Results: Stage Seven 30k Criterium

1st Karen Kurreck (USA) 0:45:30
2nd Anna Wilson (AUS)   st
3rd Chantal Beltman (NED)       st

GC Overall Tour de Snowy

1st Tracey Gaudrey (AUS)        0:00:00
2nd Karen Kurreck (USA) 0:01:39
3rd Lenka Ilavska (SVK) 0:02:11
4th Susy Pryde (NZ)             0:02:34
5th Anna Wilson (AUS)   0:02:35
6th Yvonne McGregor (GB)        0:02:46
7th Mari Holden (USA)   0:02:55
8th Leigh Hobson (CAN)  0:03:19
9th Gunn Rita Dahle (NOR)       0:03:50
10th Elizabeth Emery (USA)      0:05:51

Mountain Sprints

1st Tracey Gaudrey (AUS)        57 pts.
2nd Lenka Ilavska (SVK) 32 pts.
3rd Karen Kurreck (USA) 28 pts.

Points Jersey

1st Elizabeth Tadich (AUS)      21 pts.
2nd Anna Wilson (AUS)   12 pts.
3rd Karen Kurreck (USA) 10 pts.

 As the peleton relaxed,  the hills and the wind began to take its toll. 
After about 9 laps, the peleton split, proving once again the necessity of
riding at the front!  Twelve riders split away maintaining a gap as low as
20 seconds and as high as 3 minutes and 23 seconds.  As most teams were
represented in the break, no significant chase happened.  Attacks were made
but none that could bridge up to the break. 

The race ended with Anna Wilson (AUS) taking the sprint for 1st place,
followed by Hanka Kupfernagel (GER) 2nd, and Sarah Symington (GB) 3rd. 
The remaining group of 42 riders came in together 3:23 down from the break.
 In total only 56 riders completed the race, as any lapped riders were
immediately pulled from the course.  Another teriffic day for the
Aussies!!!

Overall Results:

1st Anna Wilson (AUS)   0:00:00
2nd Hanka Kupfernagel (GER)     st
3rd Sarah Symington     (GB)    st
4th Susy Pryde (NZ)             st
5th Alessandra Cappellotto (ITA)st
6th Karen Kurreck (USA) st
7th Gunn Rita Dahle (NOR)       st
8th Chantal Beltman (NED)       st
9th Sanna Lehtimaki (FIN)       st
10th Yvonne McGregor (GB)       st

Canadians
27th Anne Samplonius    0:03:23
30th Leigh Hobson               0:03:23