St. Paul, Minn. – Alison Powers of Team Type 1 isn’t about to watch Kristin Armstrong soft-pedal her way to a fourth title at the Nature Valley Grand Prix.

Powers, the U.S. national time trial champion, only conceded 13 seconds to Armstrong (the Olympic and past world time trial champion) in Wednesday morning’s St. Paul Riverfront Time Trial. The six-mile (10 km) race against the clock was run in cool, damp conditions with sporadic rain showers.

“I’m super pleased with my ride,” Powers said. “My new Shimano PRO disc wheel and my new skinsuit from Louis Garneau that our sponsors, Lantus and Apidra, allowed me to have was so awesome. I felt so special and well taken care of by the team. It was cool.”

Armstrong (Cervélo TestTeam) stormed up the half-mile finishing climb to stop the clock at 13:48. After Powers, Erinne Willock (Webcor Builders), was third-best on the day, a further 48 seconds behind (14:36).

Powers said she was ecstatic that Armstrong didn’t pass her, despite starting only 30 seconds behind her. At the SRAM Tour of the Gila in late April, Powers conceded nearly two minutes to Armstrong in a time trial that was a little more than twice the length of Wednesday’s race (16.1 miles).

“When I saw her at the turnaround, I expected her to pass me,” Powers said. “But that’s a big motivation when you don’t want to get passed.”

In Wednesday night’s Downtown St. Paul Criterium, Powers pulled one second closer to Armstrong by grabbing third place in one of the time bonus sprints. Kirsty Broun (Riverstone CDA) took the stage win in a field sprint.

Powers will trade the orange Wheaties Sprint jersey she earned in the time trial for the green Jelly Belly Sport Beans climbing jersey in Thursday’s Stage 3 Cannon Falls Road Race. She lies second in the climbing competition, but classification leader Armstrong is already wearing the yellow jersey of overall race leader.

Team Type 1’s Morgan Patton, the only rider in the women’s field with Type 1 diabetes, was one of 10 riders eliminated by time cut on Stage 2.

In the men’s race at Nature Valley, Michael Creed is Team Type 1’s best-placed rider in eighth. The Boulder, Colo., resident finished sixth in Wednesday morning’s time trial and 15th, just ahead of teammate Aldo Ino Ilesic, in the evening criterium in Downtown St. Paul.

Ilesic appeared headed for a top five finish in front of the massive crowd when a water bottle in the road nearly caused him to crash.

“I felt very good at the end,” he said. “But when that bottle rolled in front of me, I almost had to stop. I lost my speed. I lost my position. That was it for today. I had good legs and I was confident for the sprint. But that’s how it is. That’s cycling.”

Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Colavita-Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light) overtook the solo break of Thomas Soladay (Team Mountain Khakis-presented by EP-NO) in the final 20 meters to win the race.

Thursday’s Cannon Falls Road Race is a 60-mile (96 km) race for both the men and women that winds through scenic Goodhue County before finishing on a circuit in downtown Cannon Falls, Minn. This stage was the decisive one of the 2006 edition of this race, with small groups gaining several minutes on the field in both the men’s and women’s races.

The Nature Valley Grand Prix, a National Racing Calendar and Women’s Prestige Cycling Series event, continues through Sunday.