Primal/MapMyRIDE Pro Women's Team Dominates at Valley of the Sun Stage

2/17/11 - Primal/MapMyRIDE Professional Women's Racing powered by BH Bikes kicked off its inaugural season with a dominant performance at the 19th Annual John Earley Memorial Valley of the Sun Stage Race in Phoenix, Ariz. last weekend. The three-day event was the first race of the fledgling team's season.
 
Primal/MapMyRIDE's Emily Kachorek won the road race stage on the race's second day in a thrilling sprint finish and teammates Nicky Wangsgard and Tiffany Pezzulo finished one-two in the criterium on the third and final day of the event. Nicole Evans was the top general classification finisher for the team, taking seventh place overall, with Kachorek rounding out the top 10 in 10th place.
 
The goal of the week was get the new team together and learn the strengths of all the riders. There are some amazingly strong women on the team with years of experience," said team director Susannah Gordon. "The ladies of this amazing squad worked brilliantly together, executing team tactics to basically take control of the road race and crit. It was a learning experience for everyone, and one that paid off."

 
The Primal/MapMyRIDE Pro Women's Team members took top honors in road race
and criterium stages during their inaugural outing at the Valley of the Sun Stage Race.
photo © primalwear.com

The eight-member team features riders from California, Colorado and Utah and aims to support professional women's cycling and create an avenue for better feedback on the development of women's specific technologies. BH Bikes is sponsoring the team with its women's specific Cristal road bike, a top-level road bike with geometry and sizing based on the company's European design experience, input from high-end bicycle retailers and fitters, and customer feedback. Team members will also use SIDI's women's specific Genius 6.6 shoes, clothing from Primal's women's line, and will be involved in future product development with all of the team's sponsors.
 
Additional support of Primal/MapMyRIDE is provided by Nique, FSA, Retül, Reynolds, SIDI, Smith Optics, and Vittoria as second tier sponsors, and third tier sponsors are Breeze Bars, Enzo's Cycling Products, Giro, GU Energy, Lizards Skins and Treads.com.
 
Over the course of the training season, team members will also be using the iMapMyRIDE smartphone application which tracks and broadcasts speed, distance, and heart rate to the team's group page on mapmyride.com and on the team's main site www.primalprowomensracing.com. Cycling fans and potential racers will be able to learn from team members' training regimes by monitoring that data, reading team members' blog posts and interacting with them by using the site's social media tools.
 
The Primal/MapMyRIDE team's next race will be the Redlands Bicycle Classic in Redlands, Calif. March 31-April 3, 2011.
 
For more information about Primal/MapMyRIDE Professional Women's Racing powered by BH Bikes, go to www.primalprowomensracing.com.