March 5, 2006 — In her first race of 2006, Audrey Lemieux finished 17th in Stage 1 of the McLane Pacific Classic in Merced, California. Laura Charameda (McGuire Cycling Team) won the criterium and the pack finish meant that Lemieux, now riding for Colvita Cooking Lite, had the same time.

The race became a crash course about twenty minutes before the finish and Lemieux got tangled up in the melee despite her best efforts. “I was in good position during the entire race, and luckily when I fell I didn’t get hurt. But I was really annoyed — so mad I didn’t even take my free lap — I just rode back to the pack as fast as I could,” said the feisty Lemieux.

In her first race with her new team, Colvita Cooking Lite’s major sprinters are currently in Oceania having recently finished the Tour of Geelong, round two of the UCI Women’s Road World Cup. “We really didn’t have the chance to plan any strategy for the end of the race. As a result, it was everyone for themselves, so I tried to put myself in a solid position however my legs are missing a bit of speed right now,” added Lemieux, who recently won the Best Canadian Athlete 2005 award at the Sports Quebec gala.

Stage 2, a 115K road race, is on Sunday.