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Canada’s Leah Kirchmann claims second overall at the Tour of California

Leah Kirchmann
May 11, 2015
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Leah Kirchmann
Leah Kirchmann of Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies wins Stage 2 of the Amgen Tour of California women’s race at South Lake Tahoe. Photo credit: Jonathan Devich/Getty Images

Riding for Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies in the Tour of California, Leah Kirchmann claimed both a Stage 3 victory and a second overall finish for the entire Tour on its final day—the day after an epic second-stage finish.

It was a magnificent enough scene on Saturday. Crowds thundering, Kirchmann burst forward from her position near the front of the stage two peloton—a standing she’d held for most of the day—as the final metres neared. Seemingly feeding off the energy of the erupting crowd of spectators, Kirchmann was able to keep that pace going as the stage’s most challenging grades likely exhausted the energy of other riders. By day’s end, she was both the stage two winner and held fourth overall classification.

Then came Sunday.

Unlike Saturday, with a hard, high-grade grind heading toward the Heavenly Mountain Resort, Sunday’s stage three was a sprinter’s delight. Designed as a swift six-corner circuit around the State Capitol Building in downtown Sacramento, Calif., 65 cyclists blasted through the track’s 55 km of flat, fast terrain—17 laps in all. The race leaders, separated by mere seconds, benefited dramatically from the points awarded in all four of the race’s sprint opportunities. Germany’s Trixi Worrack took the yellow jersey after nailing the first three of those four sprints; Canada’s Kirchmann, meanwhile, walked away with the Visit California Sprint Jersey. At the Tour podium, though, Kirchmann was awarded with stage three’s first place, having catapulted herself through the same powerhouse drive demonstrated by her multiple criterium and time trial championships.

“I’ve had an amazing time racing the Amgen Tour of California this week,” Kirchmann said. “It really means a lot for women’s cycling that the organizers have stepped it up and held an internationally sanctioned race with such a quality field.”