On March 12, the Schick Razor-sponsored TARGETRAINING Women’s Professional Cycling Team headed to El Salvador for the UCI C-1.2 Grand Prix de Santa Ana and UCI-C2.2 Vuelta Ciclista Femenina a el Salvador. Kathleen Billington, Megan Elliott, Hiroko Shimada, Anna Milkowski, Andrea Myers and Mandy Lozano toed the line for the races, and showed impressive early-season form with top-10 results nearly every single day.

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In a warmup for La Vuelta, the 1-day, 94 km Grand Prix de Santa Ana had Kathleen overcoming a 24-hour stomach virus to score a top-10, with Anna, Hiroko and Andrea close behind in 12, 13 and 14th; respectively.

The 6-day, 7-stage Vuelta Ciclista Femenina a el Salvador attracted the best bike racers in South and Central America to El Salvador, as well as World Champion and Olympian Jeannie Longo. The Schick-TARGETRAINING ladies were ready and willing to battle it out with the peloton in the heat and humidity.

The prologue stage, a 4.2 km out-and-back uphill/downhill time trial had Anna with an impressive 8th place, tying the time of 7th-place Longo; just 23 seconds off the leader.

92 km Stage I departed from the seaside village of La Libertad after a late lunch and musical entertainment. The rolling terrain, oppressive heat, and incessant attacking by Schick-TARGETRAINING and Brazil whittled the field to 35 going into the final climb to Nahuizalco. At the top of the mountain, Anna came in 11th, just 9 seconds shy of a top-10, with Hiroko and Kathleen close behind.

111 km of Stage II were duked out on El Salvador’s roads between San Salvador and Santa Ana. Megan attacked from kilometer 4, and played the role of tireless domestique all day while Kathleen and Anna, the two highest GC riders, sat safely in the field. By the decisive climb, Anna, Hiroko, Andrea and Kathleen were ready for the ascent. The field sprint saw Kathleen securing 9th with Anna a strong 10th. Sadly, Megan’s hurclean efforts ended in hospitalization, as heat, dehydration and stomach cramps took their toll on her body.

Stage III’s treacherous 10.2 km time trial wove through San Salvador’s busy streets, and Anna’s blistering time of 10:48 garnered 5th place, moving her GC position up to 9th going into the afternoon circuit race.

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In the Stage V 61.2 km circuit race, the field played it cool during the first lap. When Mandy attacked through the start-finish at the conclusion of Lap 1, it set Andrea up for a counter that would take 4 riders with her. They worked to gain an advantage on the field, with the Schick-TARGETRAINING women controlling the rest of the chasing peloton. At the conclusion of the race, Andrea mixed it up in the sprint and took 4th; an impressive result for a young lady in her second year of racing.

Stage V unfurled an atypical net elevation loss for the 102 km course. Setting out from a local airforce base to the tune of a brass band, the peloton rode at a leisurely pace through the El Salvadorian countryside. A harrowing descent halfway through the race into a small village, followed by a few criterium—style corners (which the Schick-TARGETRAINING women reslished) divided the field. Kathleen, Hiroko, Andrea and Mandy made the selection; and Andrea and Mandy began attacking the field in earnest.

In the slightly-uphill drag to the finish in San Luis Talpa, Andrea sprinted to 8th with Kathleen close behind in 10th; Hiroko in 12th. Anna, valiantly battling the ill-effects of unfamiliar bacteria, rolled in 22 minutes later to the cheers of her teammates.

The queen stage of La Vuelta doesn’t look intimidating on paper: just 52.2 kms. However, the 13k finishing climb to the top of the San Salvador’s El Boqueron volcano was not to be taken lightly (the stage-winner climbed it in just under an hour). Anna attacked from the gun, taking a Brazilian with her. About 6 miles from the climb they were caught, with Mandy and Andrea countering Anna’s move. As the road pointed upward, Kathleen and Hiroko sat comfortably in the field. Kathleen rode the ride of her life, nearly falling off her bike a few times due to the steep pitches. Her 8th place for the stage moved her into 8th overall.

The team’s GC placings of 8th (Kathleen), 12th (Hiroko, despite battling a weeklong stomach sickness), 21st (Andrea), 24th (Mandy), and 25th (Anna) garnered a well-earned 3rd place in the team GC. With their newfound racing legs, the team is sure to make a huge impact on North American racing in the months to come!

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