Women's Tour of California 2016: Stage 2

Welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 2 of the Women's Tour of California team time trial in Folsom.

Start list  |  Stage 2 TTT start times

Welcome to Cyclingnews' special live coverage of the Women's WorldTour team time trial - stage 2 of the Tour of California.

Here is the order for the teams today:

1 Visit Dallas DNA Pro Cycling 10:30:00
2 Hitec Products 10:34:00
3 Canyon SRAM Racing 10:38:00
4 Drops Cycling 10:42:00
5 Weber Shimano Ladies Power 10:46:00
6 USA National Team 10:50:00
7 Bepink 10:54:00
8 Podium Ambition Pro Cycling 10:58:00
9 Colavita - Bianchi 11:02:00
10 Rally Cycling 11:06:00
11 Team Tibco - Silicon Valley Bank 11:10:00
12 Cylance Pro Cycling 11:14:00
13 Raboliv Womencyclingteam 11:18:00
14 Unitedhealthcare 11:22:00
15 Hagens Berman - Supermint 11:26:00
16 Twenty16 - Ridebiker 11:30:00
17 Wiggle High5 11:34:00
18 Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam 11:38:00

Visit Dallas-DNA were the first team off, and the first to finish - in with a 29:58 for the 20.3km course.

9 teams have started, and 5 are through the first check, where Canyon-SRAM lead Hitec by 29 seconds.

It's blustery for a team time trial - while the sun was out, clouds have begun to roll in. There's a chance of rain in the forecast this afternoon, which might affect some of the later starters in the men's field.

Hitec Products has come through the line with a 28:41 for the new fastest time. The women are starting four minutes apart, so we have some time to wait for the next team.

@podiuminsight Fri, 20th May 2016 17:45:02

Canyon-SRAM, which is sort of the world champion team of 2015, has come in with the new fast time of 28:09, former world ITT champion Lisa Brennauer powering the way.

Canyon-SRAM formed out of the remnants of the Velocio-SRAM programme, which have been undefeated in world championships. Three of the six riders here were part of last year's World Championship team: Brennauer, Barbara Guarischi and Alena Amialiusik.

Canyon-SRAM formed out of the remnants of the Velocio-SRAM programme, which have been undefeated in world championships. Three of the six riders here were part of last year's World Championship team: Brennauer, Barbara Guarischi and Alena Amialiusik.

Mandy Heinztz (Visit Dallas) had a very brief visit to the hot seat before Hitec came through. She spoke to our reporter Ted Burns before the start:

"We are feeling pretty good, yesterday was pretty intense, got a lot of factors out there. But we definitely have the legs and the power today, it's to our advantage that we are on road bikes because we are a pretty solid team as road cyclists. We are looking to put that together and prove that today."

Marianne Vos' Rabo-Liv squad is out on course now. The former multi-time world champion and Olympic champion is just making her way back to top form after a year out of competition.

She's fifth on the general classification:

1 Megan Guarnier (USA) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 3:04:57
2 Emma Johansson (Swe) Wiggle High5 3:05:07
3 Kristin Armstrong (USA) Twenty16 - Ridebiker 3:05:15
4 Evelyn Stevens (USA) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 3:05:19
5 Marianne Vos (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 3:05:19
6 Rossella Ratto (Ita) Cylance Pro Cycling 3:05:25
7 Coryn Rivera (USA) UnitedHealthcare Women 3:05:25
8 Shara Gillow (Aus) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 3:05:27
9 Tayler Wiles (USA) USA National Team 3:05:27
10 Katie Hall (USA) UnitedHealthcare Women 3:05:27

We're hearing reports that the US champion team Rally Cycling had a crash out on course. Hopefully everyone is OK and back riding.

@podiuminsight Fri, 20th May 2016 18:10:20

The USA National team came through with the third fastest time, while BePink slotted in just behind our first starters, Visit Dallas.

Standings so far:

1 Canyon SRAM Racing 0:28:09
2 Hitec Products 0:28:41
3 USA National Team 0:29:30
4 Visit Dallas Dna Pro Cycling 0:29:58
5 Bepink 0:29:58
6 Drops Cycling 0:30:22
7 Colavita - Bianchi 0:30:23
8 Weber Shimano Ladies Power 0:30:50

Podium Ambition has slotted into the fourth fastest position, clocking a 28:45. Solid ride for the British team.

Their rider Sarah Headley said she was listening to a mix of Kanye West and Arnold Schwartzenegger in her warm up playlist.

"We are feeling pretty confident, we have a really strong team here. Sarah [Storey] showed her strength yesterday and she's recovers led and ready to rock today."

No sigh of Rally yet - it's terrible that they should crash when they were within shouting distance of best young rider with Sara Poidevin. They came through the intermediate check 3:13 down on Canyon-SRAM.

Intermediate splits so far:

1 CANYON SRAM RACING 15:18
2 TEAM TIBCO - SILICON VALLEY BANK 07
3 PODIUM AMBITION PRO CYCLING 17
4 CYLANCE PRO CYCLING 19
5 HITEC PRODUCTS 29
6 USA 38
7 COLAVITA - BIANCHI 47
8 BEPINK 59
9 VISIT DALLAS DNA PRO CYCLING 01:14
10 DROPS CYCLING 01:16
11 WEBER SHIMANO LADIES POWER 01:30
12 RALLY CYCLING 03:13

We had a correction to Colavita - they came in with a 29:24 for fourth place so far.

So far some teams had disc wheels, other teams have not. The riders are not allowed to use their TT bikes, only road frames, but there was some debate on how much aero gear they could use.

Colavita-Bianchi had regular wheels, Team TIBCO-SVB are also using no discs, but have full aero helmets.

@Lex_Albrecht Fri, 20th May 2016 18:34:30

Wow - we had some fast teams come through the check! Rabo-Liv shot in with a time 5 seconds quicker than Canyon-SRAM, but then UHC surpassed them by another 9 seconds.

Rally came in five minutes down on Canyon - gutting.

But Tibco-SVB shot in with the second fastest time, only 19 seconds down on the German squad.

1 Canyon SRAM Racing 0:28:09
2 Team Tibco - Silicon Valley Bank 0:28:28
3 Hitec Products 0:28:41
4 Podium Ambition Pro Cycling 0:28:45
5 Colavita - Bianchi 0:29:24

Boels-Dolmans are on course, so all of our teams have started now. 15 have comce through the time check.

Hagens Berman-Supermint are doing a respectable ride, 51 seconds down on the powerhouse teams for the elite squad at the check.

Cylance have come through with 29:25 - pushing the US national team down a rung.

Twenty16-RideBiker are crushing this TTT - powered by defending Olympic champion Kristin Armstrong and Junior world champ Chloe Dygert, they've taken the fastest split by 12 seconds.

Rabo-Liv are now in with the fastest time! 28:07 - but will that hold with such quick teams still out on course?

Wiggle-High5 have come through the check 25 seconds slower than Twenty16.

Intermediate splits:

1 Twenty16 - Ridebiker 14:52
2 Unitedhealthcare 12
3 Raboliv Womencyclingteam 21
4 Canyon Sram Racing 26
5 Wiggle High5 25
6 Team Tibco - Silicon Valley Bank 3
7 Podium Ambition Pro Cycling 43
8 Cylance Pro Cycling 45
9 Hitec Products 55
10 Hagens Berman - Supermint 1:03
11 USA 1:04
12 Colavita - Bianchi 1:13
13 Bepink 1:25
14 Visit Dallas DNA Pro Cycling 1:40
15 Drops Cycling 1:42
16 Weber Shimano Ladies Power 1:56
17 Rally Cycling 3:39

Unitedhealthcare in with the fastest time - 27:58 - the first team to break the 28 minute barrier.

Woah! Boels-Dolmans crush that intermediate check into the ground. They're quicker even than Twenty16-Ridebiker by 6 seconds. Can they hold that pace?

All of the riders have come through the first check now, with race leader Megan Guarnier's Boels Dolmans team trying to pad her advantage over Emma Johansson (Wiggle-High5) and Twenty16's Armstrong.

27:33 for Twenty 16! What a ride!

Standings with Wiggle and Boels yet to finish:

1 Twenty16 - Ridebiker 0:27:33
2 Unitedhealthcare 0:27:58
3 Raboliv Women Cycling Team 0:28:07
4 Canyon SRAM Racing 0:28:09
5 Team Tibco - Silicon Valley Bank 0:28:28
6 Hitec Products 0:28:41
7 Podium Ambition Pro Cycling 0:28:45
8 Colavita - Bianchi 0:29:24
9 Cylance Pro Cycling 0:29:25
10 USA National Team 0:29:30
11 Hagens Berman - Supermint 0:29:38
12 Visit Dallas DNA Pro Cycling 0:29:58
13 Bepink 0:29:58
14 Drops Cycling 0:30:22
15 Weber Shimano Ladies Power 0:30:50
16 Rally Cycling 0:33:23

Can Wiggle-High5 pick up the pace and keep Johansson in a podium position?

@tgrevatt Fri, 20th May 2016 19:00:33

Wiggle come in with 0:28:31 - 58 full seconds down on Armstrong's Twenty16 team. That's bad news for Johansson.

We could see Evelyn Stevens moving up into the top three over Johansson, if Boels Dolmans keeps the pace up.

If you're enjoying our live coverage of the women's race, please take a moment to drop a line to cyclingnews@cyclingnews.com and let us know.

And Boels Dolmans faded! They come in 6 seconds slower than Twenty16 - who are our stage winners!

Here are the stage results
1 Twenty16 - Ridebiker 0:27:33
2 Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam 0:27:39
3 Unitedhealthcare 0:27:58
4 Raboliv Women Cycling Team 0:28:07
5 Canyon SRAM Racing 0:28:09
6 Team Tibco - Silicon Valley Bank 0:28:28
7 Wiggle High5 0:28:31
8 Hitec Products 0:28:41
9 Podium Ambition Pro Cycling 0:28:45
10 Colavita - Bianchi 0:29:24
11 Cylance Pro Cycling 0:29:25
12 USA National Team 0:29:30
13 Hagens Berman - Supermint 0:29:38
14 Visit Dallas DNA Pro Cycling 0:29:58
15 Bepink 0:29:58
16 Drops Cycling 0:30:22
17 Weber Shimano Ladies Power 0:30:50
18 Rally Cycling 0:33:23

Johansson drops down possibly outside the top 10, as Guarnier keeps her race lead. She's lost some time on Armstrong, who's now second.

We've calculated a provisional GC, but of course it depends on where the riders finished with respect to their team.

General classification after stage 2

1 Megan Guarnier (USA) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 3:32:36
2 Kristin Armstrong (USA) Twenty16 - Ridebiker 0:00:12
3 Evelyn Stevens (USA) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team 0:00:22
4 Alison Jackson (Can) Twenty16 - Ridebiker 0:00:37
5 Leah Thomas (USA) Twenty16 - Ridebiker 0:00:44
6 Coryn Rivera (USA) UnitedHealthcare Women 0:00:47
7 Katie Hall (USA) UnitedHealthcare Women 0:00:49
8 Marianne Vos (Ned) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 0:00:50
9 Chloe Dygert (USA) Twenty16 - Ridebiker 0:00:53
10 Shara Gillow (Aus) Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team 0:00:58

If any of these riders want to push Guarnier, Armstrong and Stevens off the podium, they're going to have to do it tomorrow - on the 111km loop from Santa Rosa. There won't be much time to be gained in the Sacramento Criterium, which is flat and fast.

The men will be up next for their stage 6 individual time trial - the first rider heads off at 12:53 local time.