Congrats to Team BMW-Bianchi

Taken from the official BMW-Bianchi website-

Weislo Captures State Title in Individual Pursuit

The sunny, clear blue skies that shone on Asheville over the weekend of August 16th and 17th proved a perfect backdrop for the North Carolina State Track Championship events. In preparation for the Masters National Championships in San Jose, CA September 2 - 7, Laura Weislo brought her A game, securing multiple podium spots and clinching the gold in the 3000 meter individual pursuit event.

The following weekend, August 23 & 24, Cora Olson and Jen Petosa travelled to Chattanooga, TN to compete in the challenging River Gorge Omnium, hotly contested by many of the Southeast's top riders. Both women rode their tails off as they raced in and around the scenic mountain town. Solid top 10 finishes of 8^th, 9^th and 7^th in the road race, criterium and time trial, respectively helped place Olson in 9^th in the omnium, with Petosa in 12th after 17^th in the road race and 7^th in the criterium.

The BMW-Bianchi team will continue its road racing campaign over the next few weekends, traveling to Walnut Grove, SC for the SC State Road Race Championships on August 30 and Atlanta, GA for the National Race Calendar US 10k Classic on Labor Day. More racing in the Carolinas will follow as September progresses!

BMW-Bianchi Dominates Crossroads Classic with Victories at Lenoir, Morganton and Harrisburg

On Saturday, July 26, pursuant to the Team's 2009 recruiting efforts, the squad welcomed Carla Swart, Lees McRae collegiate cyclist, as a guest rider for the weekend. The criterium in Lenoir was a fast, short 0.5-mile circuit, suiting the strengths of the BMW-Bianchi team. Christy Blakely followed a first-lap attack by Forest Acres' Casey Gale to attempt a breakaway and pressure opponents in the field to work hard early to bring the move back. Once the break was caught, Swart counter-attacked, taking advantage of the competition's distress from chasing the early break. Faithful teammates Tonya Lail, Cora Olson and Melinda Presson patrolled the field, blocking and covering moves that tried in vain to ride across to Swart or to bridge the field up to her. The Team was effective at holding back the field and Swart road away to a solo victory. Lail joined Swart on the podium for 3rd, with Olson 5th, Blakely 10th and Presson 15th on the night.

The Team returned the following afternoon, July 27^th, determined to have a repeat performance. Although the Morganton course was twice as long and more technical than the night previous' effort, the BMW-Bianchi women found themselves to be equally effective by riding aggressively and as a disciplined, cohesive squad. Several opponents launched attacks early in the race causing the field to splinter several times. Finally, a strong attack and quick organization gave way to the successful break of BMW-Bianchi guest rider Carla Swart, Tanya Nestvogal of Vantaggio-Specialized and Forest Acres' Casey Gale. At the instance of seeing the quality of the break, Olson, Lail and Blakely immediately defended all attempts that the field made to bring the break back. The persistence of Swart powering the break and the relentless defensiveness of Olson, Lail and Blakely continued to wear down the Team's opponents. With five (5) laps to go, Lail launched a series of crippling attacks in effort to further diminish the top-10 contestants in the remaining field. At the finish, Swart won the sprint of her breakaway group, making it her, and BMW-Bianchi's, second victory in as many days. Blakely won the field sprint for 4th place, with Lail not far behind in 6th and Olson 9th to take top-10 honors. Melinda Presson represented BMW-Bianchi on the Women's Category 4 podium with a strong 3rd-place finish.

The week passed giving many riders a chance to rest, and at the August 2 Harrisburg Criterium the Team came out with guns a'blazing. Laura Weislo attacked when the flag was dropped, and soon after being brought back to the field Amy Slater countered and stayed away. Despite repeated attempts, the strength of the team effort neutralized the field and allowed Slater to remain off the front.

After thirty minutes of solid effort, Slater worked her way to the back of the field, eventually gaining a lap and effectively securing her win. At that point Weislo attacked, and thanks to the effective blocking by Lail, Slater, and Olson, was able to stay away to claim the second step on the podium. After all the hard work
patrolling the field Lail was able to take 3^rd in the field sprint for 5th place.