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The Kimberly Bruckner Journal 2004
Like many top riders, 2001 US road champion Kimberly Bruckner has the Athens Olympics in her sights as she returns to racing after surgery for a soft-tissue tumour in her ankle cut short her 2003 season. With her T-Mobile squad in its second year, her diary this year will document the highs and lows of the US' top women's team.
Farewell Petra
Working for the sprinters at the Liberty Classic, June 6 2004
My teammate, Kristin Armstrong, and I flew into Philly late Saturday afternoon for Sunday's race. This is quite uncommon to fly in so soon before a race and fly out immediately afterwards. I felt like quite a little jetsetter! The rest of the team had come down from Montreal, where they had raced the World Cup and the Tour of Montreal the week before. So they'd be in town since Thursday.
The women's Liberty Classic is run at the same time as the men's Wachovia US Pro Championships. It's a 14.5 mile loop running from downtown Philly out to Manayunk and the very steep Manayunk Wall, back over Strawberry and Lemon Hills towards the start/finish line. The men race over 150 miles. The women race just 58. Doesn't seem quite fair, does it?
The men go off at 9am and we shortly follow them at 9:10am. The fanfare is just enormous. Besides the T-Mobile International in San Francisco, this is really the premier race to watch in the U.S. if you're any sort of a cycling fan. The men have a huge motorcade leading them out. There's music playing, a huge-screen TV set up at the finish line that follows the race, and fans on every single part of the course. Manayunk wall is about a 600 meter tough little climb averaging 10 percent but maxing out at 18 percent. The wall is PACKED with fans screaming, drinking, partying, and basically psyching you up so much that the wall doesn't seem half as bad as you expect. Although I can't speak for the men, since they race up it 10 times, and we only race up it 4.
On Lemon Hill, Dave Towle, the infamous race announcer is set up, rousing the crowd and throwing out prizes to the fans. People are bbq'ing and have their picnic tables and blankets set up all along the hill. I'd say maybe 300,000 people are watching the race. And the entire men's race from start to finish is shown on the local Philly station. It's really quite an event.
The Liberty Classic has truly been a showcase event for Petra Rossner, currently of the German Nürnberger team. Before today, she has won this race six times. SIX. Last year, we managed to get a break off the last time up Manayunk Wall, and Petra wasn't in it. That was the only year she hasn't won. The race organization is always happy to bring Petra and her team back each year to this race. Who wouldn't if you've won this race six times in a row? I had seen Petra race at Tour de l'Aude recently in France and had watched her results at the Tour of Montreal and knew she was a woman on form.
The other women to watch were Anita Valen of the SATS team, Alison Wright of the Italian Nobili team, Regina Schleicher of the Italian team Pasta Zara, and the great North American sprinters like Gina Grain, Tina Mayolo-Pic, Laura Van Gilder, and hopefully our own T-Mobile sprinter, Lynn Gaggioli. Most interesting however, was the fact that there were 190 women on the start list! I've never raced in a field that large, especially in the United States. That made the race rather sketchy and I wanted to be nowhere near the back of the field, or even in the middle of the field. I preferred to stay up front and out of trouble.
With just four laps to race, the pressure was on from the gun. There were so many sprinters' teams interested in having it come down to a field sprint, that the pace was fast all day. The first two times up the climb were pretty even keel. No one was really pushing the pace, trying to force a break. And if any lone rider did get off, Nürnberger and SATS quickly went to the front to bring it back. T-Mobile's Lara Kroepsch took a great opportunity and attacked off the front group at the top of the climb the third time and got away solo for almost half a lap. She is a trooper.
Unfortunately, when the field caught her right around the start/finish line, there was a pile-up of riders and Lara was one of them to go down. She skinned her ankle and hit her hip, but was right back up on her bike in an instant. Mari Holden was also really active in this race, trying to force a break and making some great attacks off the front. But it was always the same story - too many teams were interested in a field sprint, and the breaks would be brought right back.
Going into the climb the fourth and final time, it got a little harrowing and Dede got caught in a crash and went down. Luckily she wasn't hurt too badly but we soon heard on the radio from our director, Michael Engleman, that Dede was back in the caravan and not to worry about her. All the top sprinters were right at the front going into the final climb, knowing they had to make it over this time and then it was a clear shot for the finish. We were hoping to get our attacks in after the wall, but the pace was so fast that nothing stuck.
Coming down off the wall, our sprinter, Lynn Gaggioli, and I were in a group behind the front group. I went to the front and helped the Quark team pull so I could get Lynn back up and in contention for the sprint. It was completely strung out going over Lemon Hill, just 1.5 miles from the finish, and it looked like all the sprinters' teams were getting their wish. I could hear it over the loud speaker as I was coming in that Petra Rossner took the win for her seventh time. Anita Valen and Regina Schleicher were so busy trying to put each other down, that Gina Grain and Laura Van Gilder came around them to finish second and third. Mari had put up a great fight in the final kilometre and had really gone for it but got caught and ended up 13th.
At the podium celebration that followed the men's race, Petra tearfully announced that she is retiring from cycling after this year and will no longer be at Philly as a racer. She has had one of the most decorated and successful cycling careers of any woman ever in the sport. I wish you the very best for the future, Petra, and thank you for all that you have taught me. You are an incredible person and a great friend.
After our race, we quickly showered and headed out to watch the final hours of the men's race. I love just being a spectator sometimes. Especially when my husband is racing.
Next on our calendar is the U.S. Olympic trials. Holy cow. I shall see you then!
