St. Salvy, France – Two-thirds of Team TIBCO’s Tour de l’Aude squad took the start of the St. Salvy de la Balme race in France today. They also took the finish, as Ruth Corset and Brooke Miller slipped away from the field early and help on for 1st and 2nd respectively, while Emma Mackie also got away late to take 3rd place. Joanne Kiesanowski won the bunch sprint for 4th place.

Miller attacked the first time up the KoM, on the first of 10 laps on a hill 7.5km circuit that saw the field cover over 1,000 meters of climbing during the race.

“I attacked over the climb and onto the descent and got a good gap,” Miller said. “I figured Ruth would attack the second time up the climb and bridge up to me.”

Which she did. The duo began working together, with Corset leading up the climbs, and Miller taking them through the descents and flat sections.

“We went full gas the first couple laps to open a gap,” Miller said. “I could barely hang on to her wheel.”

Behind the duo, Mackie and Kiesanowski were patrolling the pack, either covering moves or trying to bridge up themselves, but they were both closely watched by the field. Finally, Mackie was able to slip away on the main climb and solo in for 3rd place. Despite all her work to get away as well, Kiesanowski still had enough in the tank to take the sprint for 4th.

“It was a really hard race, but I think it shows we’re looking good for l’Aude,” Miller said.

Strong day for Team TIBCO keeps Starnes, Miller 3rd and 4th overall at Joe Martin.

Fayetteville, AR – Team TIBCO/To the Top put in a strong, aggressive effort in today’s Stage 3 of the Joe Martin Stage Race, narrowly missing the podium in the sprint finish, as Meredith Miller took 4th, which follows Alison Starnes’ 4th place in yesterday’s stage.

Starnes and Miller continue to sit 3rd and 4th overall respectively, with Starnes at 0:15 behind race leader and defending champion Alison Powers (Vera Bradley), while Miller sits 0:30 back. Amanda Miller of Team TIBCO has maintained the 6th overall spot she earned in Thursday’s opening prologue. 0:33 behind.

“The whole team raced really well today,” said team directeur sportif Emma Rickards. “The last 11 miles, we tried to be aggressive and shake things up a bit. Megan (Guarnier) and Devon (Haskell) both put in good attacks, and Meredith got a good gap for a bit with an attack, as well.”

The JMSR finishes with a hard criterium Sunday that has the potential to shake up the general classification. “It’s a technical, 12-corner course, “Rickards said. “There’s also a potential for rain tomorrow which could further complicate things.”

Notes

Team TIBCO/To the Top currently leads the team overall competition by 0:07 over Team Vera Bradley.