May 11, 2017 (South Lake Tahoe, California) – Lex Albrecht (Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank) led the Canadian charge finishing 7th on the 117km Stage 1 in South Lake Tahoe as the of the Amgen Breakaway from Heart Disease Women’s Race got underway. Megan Guarnier (USA) Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam took the win over Anna Van Der Breggen (Ned) Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam in second with Arlenis Sierra (Cub) Astana Women’s Team in third.

U.S. National Champion Megan Guarnier Climbs to Opening Day Victory
For the second year running, Boels-Dolmans Cycling Team’s three-time U.S. National Champion Megan Guarnier mounted a remarkable climb to a first-place finish at day one of the Amgen Breakaway from Heart Disease™ Women’s Race empowered with SRAM. The result came down to the final climb just as it did on the same South Lake Tahoe route last year, when California’s Bay Area-based Guarnier took the stage and went on to become the overall race champion.

Guarnier is working back from a concussion suffered earlier this season, making today’s victory even more sweet: “They (Guarnier’s teammates) had their work cut out for them today, it was quite aggressive, and they had to keep things together, or be in the breaks….they just let me stay calm and save everything for the finish,” said Guarnier.

The Amgen Breakaway from Heart Disease™ Women’s Race empowered with SRAM kicked off its second year on the UCI Women’s WorldTour when the four-day stage race began in South Lake Tahoe today. The stage, presented by Breakaway from Heart Disease™, began and ended at Heavenly Mountain Resort, featuring two sprints, 5,300’ of elevation gain and two Queen of the Mountain (QOM) climbs. The final climb of the day saw the peloton riding together and working to ensure good positioning for their lead riders contending for the overall win. The final meters saw an attack from Boels-Dolmans’ 2016 Olympic Games road race gold medalist Anna van der Breggen (NED), who came away with second place today after helping boost teammate Guarnier to the line.

Early breaks by Cylance Pro Cycling’s Alison Tetrick (Petaluma, Calif.) and then by two national champions – Mexico’s Ingrid Drexel (Team TIBCO – Silicon Valley Bank) and New Zealand’s Rushlee Buchanan (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling) – were reeled in by a thundering peloton.

As Hagens Berman | Supermint and Boels-Dolmans worked to bring the group back together, Hagens’ Australian rider Lizzie Williams took off the front and grew her solo lead to one minute before being reabsorbed on a climb with just under 30 km to go, coming away with the Breakaway from Cancer® / Breakaway from Heart DiseaseTM Most Courageous Rider Jersey.

Tomorrow’s Stage 2 presented by Visit California is an all-new 67-mile route again hosted in South Lake Tahoe that will include the first Amgen Tour of California climb up the infamous Kingsbury Grade, an 8-mile climb that gains 2,700’ in elevation.

Results (brief)

1. Megan Guarnier (USA) Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam 3:03:48
2. Anna Van Der Breggen (Ned) Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam 0:04
3. Arlenis Sierra (Cub) Astana Women’s Team 0:07
4. Ruth Winder (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:10
5. Krista Doebel-Hickok (USA) Cylance Pro Cycling
6. Lauren Stephens (USA) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank 0:14
7. Lex Albrecht (Can) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank 0:17  
8. Coryn Rivera (USA) Team Sunweb Women 0:20
9. Katie Hall (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
10. Alena Amialiusik (Blr) Canyon SRAM Racing 0:22

11. Kirsti Lay (Can) Rally Cycling    0:25
28. Leah Kirchmann (Can) Team Sunweb    0:58
30. Jasmin Duehring (Can) Sho – Air Twenty20  
47. Karol-Ann Canuel (Can) Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam   1:23
50. Marie Soleil Blais (Can) Team Illuminate    1:33
59. Gillian Ellsay (Can) Colavita – Bianchi 1:37
65. Katherine Maine (Can) Rally Cycling    2:00

GC after Stage 1

1. Megan Guarnier (USA) Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam 3:03:38
2. Anna Van Der Breggen (Ned) Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam 0:08
3. Arlenis Sierra (Cub) Astana Women’s Team 0:13
4. Ruth Winder (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling 0:20
5. Krista Doebel-Hickok (USA) Cylance Pro Cycling
6. Lauren Stephens (USA) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank 0:24
7. Lex Albrecht (Can) Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank 0:27
8. Coryn Rivera (USA) Team Sunweb Women 0:30
9. Katie Hall (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling
10. Alena Amialiusik (Blr) Canyon SRAM Racing 0:32