Leah Kirchmann wins Stage 2 of Tour of California

On Saturday, Leah Kirchmann, Canada’s national road, time trial and criterium champion, won the second stage of the inaugural Tour of California women’s race empowered with SRAM. The day’s racing was at South Lake Tahoe and featured two laps of a 40-km circuit. The uphill run-in to the finish at the  Heavenly Mountain Resort would hit a grade of 18 per cent.

“I think the team had a lot more confidence in my chances on such a tough finish than I had in myself,” Kirchmann said. “I knew that if I could just stay in contact with the front group over that first steep pitch, that I would have a few seconds to recover and could put in a good sprint to the line. I definitely surprised myself with the win here today.” Kirchmann was just able to hang with the leaders on the steepest parts of the climb. She recovered in the final 500 m and was ablet to launch her sprint.

Kirchmann’s performance director, Patrick McCarty of Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies, had confidence in his rider. “Leah and Lex Albrecht were the go-to finishers today,” McCarty said. “I knew they would both have to be on good days, and have some luck with positioning at the bottom of the climb to win, but I knew one of them could win. For a strong sprinter like Leah, the effort had to be timed perfectly. She did just that today, and delivered a fantastic sprint. Lex was also there on the climb, ready to jump in case Kirchmann ran out of steam. Is was a great one-two punch.”

Albrecht finished in eighth place. Kirchmann, with her finish and a 10-second bonus for the win, moves into fourth overall, 12 seconds behind race leader Lauren Komanski. Kirchmann also takes the Visit California sprint leader’s jersey.

Kirchmann enjoyed the day and looked forward to the final stage of the race in Sacramento. “It felt incredible to be on the top step of the podium today,” she said. “The Tour of California is the most prestigious American race, so it means a lot for them to step up their support for women’s cycling with four internationally sanctioned days of racing this year. South Lake Tahoe is a stunning race venue, and the crowds here are enthusiastic and welcoming. I’m looking forward to battling for the overall GC in the streets of Sacramento tomorrow.”

Full Stage 2 of the Tour of California results.