by Liz Seward

All this talk about how “we don’t know anything about women’s racing”? There’s 35 of us on a good day, and all of what, four? five? women-only teams. We can understand how y’all would get confused. So, in an effort to make the women’s peloton less of an undifferentiated mass to you when you’re marshaling, and to give the rest of the girls a heads up, we offer you the….

2006 CRCA Team Cup Preview—Women’s Field

Based purely off of unsubstantiated gossip, a quick review of the CRCA membership list and review of the ’05 results. The women’s field did lose several riders to a new team in NJ, but just as many are returning from maternity leave with the high-powered blood of the new mother. Could be an interesting year…

@##=#<14,L>@##=#Comedy Central

The 800-pound gorilla of the women’s peloton, these girls* have the experience, the legs and the numbers to take home pretty much whatever they want. The Cup is theirs to lose. That being said, they won the 2005 Team Cup based on consistently high finishes, not wins. Having picked up Becky Koh and Caryl Gale, they’re the ones to beat if they can avoid shooting themselves in the foot or attending to big out of town races.

Look for: navy uniforms with orange and green accents, Sarah Sauvayre and Koh in the breaks, Gale in the sprint, Karen Ulrich for the time trials.

@##=#<12,r>@##=#Bicycle Workshop

Hard to fly under the radar for three seasons in a row—and after coming surprisingly close to Comedy Central in the Cup competition last year, they’re unlikely to be underestimated this year. With a traditional weakness in time trialing, the race schedule revisions may suit them. Only time will tell how the loss of Emma Nelson to NJ’s Advil/Chapstick will play out against the addition of Margaret Shirley and Alison Lonshein.

Look for: red and black kits, Shirley and Liz Seward working the moves, Andrea Urist on the hills.

@##=#<16,l>@##=#Radical Media

Hard hit by defections to Advil/Chapstick (Reem Jishi and Julie Reid), Comedy Central (Koh) and other states (Leslie Jennings), Radical is the dark horse of 2006. Another team without TT specialists, Radical Media has relied on sprint finishes and breakaways for the past few years. Sprinting powerhouse Kimille Taylor is fierce, but will the team be strong enough to get to her to 200 meters?

Look for: yellow and red kits, Taylor in the sprints, and unlikely partnerships

@##=#<13,r>@##=#Sanchez/Metro

Two of the strongest, most consistent riders in the club make for the likeliest spoilers. Hannah Long’s a killer combination of time trialist and sprinter, and when she’s on, she’s on. Assuming Anne Marie Miller returns from her GMSR injury, the two of them can take on pretty much the rest of the field. Fewer time trials may hurt them, but not as much as inter-team bad blood could. Long is an almost sure shot for the Boyd award thanks to her focus on park racing.

Look for: blue and yellow kit, Long against Gale at the finish, Marie DeRosa in the time trials

Lipton

The loss of Gale to Comedy probably means the local version of this now national powerhouse team is a completely unknown quantity—as in, we don’t even know if they’re racing or not. But the experience is there, so don’t count them out quite yet.

Look for: the brightest yellow uniforms

@##=#<15,l>@##=#Deutsche Bank

Got me. Nina Strika’s got the legs and the new mom blood, but will she bring ‘em out? Unlikely to see a lot of these girls, but they could easily throw a wrench into the TT’s.

Look for: blue and white kit, and lots of talking

* Yes, girls. We can say it. You can’t. Deal.