Good timing - Canadian Tara Whitten solidifies overall title in the final stage of Tour de P.E.i.

http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?sid=260183&sc=99

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	Canadian Tara Whitten, wearing the leader’s yellow jersey, stays near the top of the pack to win the overall title during the fifth stage of the Tour de P.E.I. international women’s cycling event Thursday in Charlottetown. (Guardian photo by Nigel Armstrong)

Good timing
Canadian Tara Whitten solidifies overall title
in the final stage of Tour de P.E.i.

CHARLES REID
The Guardian

You could say Canadian Tara Whitten had good timing after winning the overall championship of the Tour de P.E.I. women’s cycling event Thursday in Charlottetown.

By race’s end, Whitten expanded her slim three-second edge over Australian Bridie O’Donnell heading into the final stage to five seconds.

Whitten finished the five stages with a total time of 10:41:15, O’Donnell’s was 10:41:20.

But Whitten wasn’t confident of the victorious yellow jersey until she crossed the finish line of the 50-lap circuit of the city’s downtown core.

“It was never really won (until then),” said Whitten, a native of Edmonton, who rides for the Atlantic Cycling Centre in Dieppe, N.B. “I was trying to be aware of the whole race. Stay near the front, pay attention.”

Good thing, too, because the hard-charging O’Donnell and Whitten swapped the yellow leaders jersey twice over the event’s five stages.

Third place overall went to Moriah Jo MacGregor, also of the ACC, in 10:42:00.

The turning point came in lap 30 when Whitten scored a two-second bonus in the first of three sprints in the race.

It set the table and Whitten was glad for it.

“That kind of gave me an extra cushion,” said Whitten, who finished 29th of 76 riders in the final stage.

Stage winner Jenny Trew (1:12:25) is Canadian, too.

She’s a Calgary native and a member of the national women’s cycling team.

She was part of the small leader group well ahead of the larger pack (called a peloton) for the last quarter of the race.

Trew said she smelled victory sprinting down the final stretch after taking the lead between the third and fourth turn in the last lap.

“You sit on for five laps, you should win. It was the most important 300 metres of my cycling career,” said Trew.

Australian national team member Lauren Kitchen finished second behind Trew while Italy’s Alessandra Borchi, riding for Specialized Mazda Samson, crossed in third.

For MacGregor, third is her best finish in the Tour de P.E.I. (sixth in 2007, ninth in 2008), and with two of three podium finishes and two stage winners, the Canucks showed cycling isn’t just for Europeans anymore.

“I’m ecstatic. To have this calibre of racer to compete against, it’s really good for women’s cycling,” said MacGregor. “We have lots of up and coming riders (and are showing we can) go against the big girls.”

Aussie Rochelle Gilmore of team Lotto-Belisol Ladiesteam won the sprint jersey while Carla Swart, riding for Team MTN Energade, won the climbs jersey.

Selle Italia Ghezzi (3:37:37), Specialized Mazda Samson (3:37:49) and the Canadian national cycling team (3:37:49) finished one, two and three in the fifth- stage team competition.

The Australian national team (32:05:26) won the overall team title followed by Atlantic Cycling Center (32:06:13) and Team MTN Energade (32:07:45).

Whitten also earned top Canadian.

Global television will broadcast the Tour de P.E.I. on Aug. 18 and 25 at 1 p.m.

(More results at www.tourdepei.com)