Women's news shorts: Kirchmann, UnitedHealthcare win NRC overall titles

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Kirchmann, UnitedHealthcare win NRC overall titles

Leah Kirchmann (Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies) and the UnitedHealthcare women’s team earned respective individual and team USA Cycling National Racing Calendar titles when the women’s series concluded at the Philadelphia International Cycling Classic on June 7.

Kirchmann finished seventh in Philadelphia, the sixth round of the women's UCI World Cup, for an overall point total of 664, which edged 2014 overall winner Lauren Stephens (Team TIBCO-SVB), whose 13th-place result gave her second-place 642 points. Mara Abbott (Wiggle-Honda) held on to third with 570 points despite not recording any points at the final race. Katie Hall (UnitedHealthcare), who finished 24th in Philly, brought her point total to 486 to just edge Amber Neben (Visit Dallas-Noise4Good) into fifth place at 484 points.

UnitedHealthcare hung on to take the women’s team win with 1694 points on the heels of Coryn Rivera’s fifth-place effort in Philly, while Optum, which had three top-10 finishes in Philly, moved into second with 1574. Twenty16-Sho Air finished third with 1056 points, while Visit Dallas-Noise4Good and Tibco-SVB recorded 826 and 810 points, respectively, to round out the women’s team top five.

Final Individual NRC Standings:

Final Team NRC Standings:

Canadian champion Leach Kirchmann topped the final 2015 USA Cycling NRC individual standings.

Armitstead leads UCI World Cup after win in Philadelphia

Boels-Dolmans’ Lizzie Armitstead has moved back into the lead of the UCI World Cup series after winning the sixth round in Philadlephia on Sunday. The Briton is the overall defending champion of the series. She was briefly in the lead after she won the second round in Cittiglio, Italy, in April, but had slipped to fifth after the fifth round held in Chongming Island, China last month.

Armistead told Cyclingnews following her win in Philadelphia that defending the overall World Cup title is not a top priority. "I already won the World Cup last season," Armitstead told Cyclingnews. "I've ticked that off my career and I'm happy with that. I don't want to chase it. It's been a different season this year, I've had ups and downs with injury, and I don't want to force my form all season long."

UCI World Cup series top 10 after Philadelphia:

Glaesser's breakaway leads to Philadelphia QOM win

Optum Pro Cycling’s Jasmin Glaesser won the overall QOM competition at the Philadelphia Cycling Classic's World Cup after being in a solo breakaway for much of the day’s 115km race. The Canadian opened a strong point lead during her time off the front of the peloton and then continued to pick up additional points even after she was brought back into the fold. She ended up winning the QOM overall with a total of 34 points ahead of the day’s World Cup winner Lizzie Armitstead’s (Boels-Dolmans) and Hannah Barnes (UnitedHealthcare).

Optum Pro Cycling also placed three riders in the top 10: Leah Kirchmann in seventh, Lex Albrecht in eighth and Ariane Horbach 10th.

"Today we showed the quality of our team at a World Cup event," said the team’s director Patrick McCarty. "We stayed in contention throughout the race, winning the QOM and launching a decisive attack in the last 500 meters, putting three riders in the top 10. Everyone wanted a better result in the finale, and we can critique the performance but we can’t complain - ultimately, I’m happy with how we rode today."

Wild leads out Morberg to win sprint competition in Philadelphia

Hitec Products' Emilie Moberg benefitted from a strong series of lead-outs from Kirsten Wild at the Philadelphia International Cycling Classic World Cup to win the event’s sprint competition. The pair secured the top two places in the competition with Moberg earning 23 points and Wild taking 10. Lotta Lepist (Bigla) was third with six points.

Bronzini to lead Wiggle-Honda at Aviva Women's Tour

Former double world champion Giorgia Bronzini will lead Wiggle-Honda at the Aviva Women’s Tour held from June 17 to 21 in Britain. The Italian sprinter returns to the race hoping to improve on her performance last year, which included three podium places in stage 3, 4 and 5, and fourth overall. She has also shown top form after winning the Chongming Island World Cup in May.

The team will also include track specialist Dani King, Ronde van Vlaanderen winner Elisa Longo Borghini and Ronde van Drenthe winner Jolien D’hoore. The final two riders to complete the team at the Aviva Women’s Tour will be announces shortly.

Batty carries Pan Am Games torch through Oro-Medonte mountain bike venue

Mountain bike Olympian Emily Batty was a part of the 41-day 2015 Toronto Pan American Games torch relay, carrying it through Oro-Medonte’s Hardwood Ski and Bike, north of Barrie, Ontario, on Wednesday. The Pan Am Games will be held from July 10 to 26 followed by the Parapan Am Games from August 7 to 15.

Hardwood Ski and Bike is the venue for the mountain bike events held on July 12. "I've never felt so much energy in our community. With the torch, it's a grand reunion," Batty told Simcoe.com. "I've been racing here since I was 10. It's so nice to be home.”

The stop at Hardwood Ski and Bike is the 12th day of the torch relay. Astronaut Chris Hadfield lit the first cauldron in Toronto and the torch began its 5,000km travel across Canada before it arrives back in Toronto for the start of the games on July 10.

Cycling Canada announced the roster for the Pan Am Games cycling events, and Batty will participate in the women's cross-country race.

Astana-Acca Due O to Slovenia

Astana-Acca Due O will field a small three-rider team at the upcoming UCI 1.2 Ljubljana-Domzale-Ljubljana time trial held on June 12 in Slovenia. The team has high hopes for their young rider Kseniia Dobrynina. She will be joined by teammates Larisa Pankova and Yekaterina Yuratis.

The time trial will be held on a 21.18km course. "A 4 kilometers uphill prologue is very different from a long time trial like this one," said Dobrynina, who was recently fourth place in the prologue of Tour of Adygeya, "so it's difficult to make any prediction. I'm quite well, my form is improving and I'll try to do my best."