Lucy Harris didn’t come all the way from Oxford, England, to sit in the pack and let other riders do the work at the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic women’s pro race May 23.
She was out front even while the peloton was together and didn’t look back, winning dominantly with a time of two hours, 40 minutes and 33.5 seconds, which was 55 seconds ahead of second place.
“I know what kind of pace is going to hurt me and what pace I can sustain pretty much indefinitely,” Harris said. “I was always trying to be aware of how many people were on my wheel ... when I felt (riders start to fade), I’d just kick it up just enough to be like ‘I can keep going, can you?’ Ask the question, see who answers.”
The race got underway at 7:18 a.m., and once the peloton had settled in, Harris was at the front. Durango native, 2024 champion, and last year’s fifth-place finisher Lauren Aggeler settled in behind her, with the rest of the riders in a single file line as they made their way across the valley.
Harris tried a couple of times to drop back into the pack, but each time ended up at the front again as other riders, especially Aggeler, seemed reluctant to take the lead.
As the first climb approached in Shalona Hill, the peloton spread out across the road and new leaders emerged, including third-place finisher Alayna Szuch. Teammates Kira Payer and Aggeler were side-by-side up the pass as the climb took its toll, thinning the 22-rider group to a seven-rider lead pack: Harris, Aggeler, Payer, Chloe Fraser, Ruby Ryan (last year’s fourth-place finisher), Tabor Hemming and Szuch, who took second last year.
As the leaders passed Glacier Club, Harris took the lead and began pushing the pace again, gapping the chase pack. Szuch, Aggeler and Payer all took turns at the front as the climb toward Haviland Lake began.
Hemming took the lead from Aggeler and did the vast majority of the work as the tight group of six riders (Fraser dropped during the climb) passed Electra Lake and continued toward Needles.
The pack stayed tight as it passed Cascade village, with Ryan and Szuch at the front and the chase pack about a minute behind. Harris took the lead back as the Coal Bank Pass climb began and immediately set a punishing pace.
“I just wanted to ride a climb at my own pace,” Harris said. “I found my way to the front, and I could hear people falling off the wheel behind, so I just kept pushing it and pushing it and found myself on my own. I don’t know the descent, so I’m going to take it cautiously, so I wanted to eke out every second I can on the climb.”
Hemming dropped, feeling her effort earlier in the race, with Ryan following about a mile up the pass and Aggeler doing the same only a minute later. Payer dropped with her teammate, perhaps to try and help Aggeler get back in the race.
While Szuch held on longer than the other riders, she too fell victim to Harris’ relentless effort up the climb. Payer gradually closed the gap on Szuch to make a two-rider chase pack about 20 seconds back of Harris as they hit the halfway point of the Coal Bank ascent.
Payer took the lead in the chasing trio of her, Szuch and Aggeler (who was a few seconds back). She and leader Harris responded to each other’s moves to maintain a 30-second gap. Harris’ responses eventually proved stronger, as the gap was up to a minute at the top of Coal Bank.
Harris, being a first-time IHBC participant, didn’t take the Coal Bank descent as fast as she could have. This gave the more experienced chasers a chance to close the gap, but none of them were able to take advantage and the gap stayed at a minute. Payer had passed Szuch, who was now about 10 seconds back in third. Aggeler was in fourth, about 45 seconds behind Szuch.
As the riders got further into the Molas ascent, Payer buckled down and began reeling Harris in. The gap was down to about 20 seconds halfway up Molas.
Harris responded, increasing the gap to 30 seconds again with a mile to the top of Molas. Payer perhaps used too much energy on her chase-down effort, as Szuch caught up to her. Payer said she was in a serious crash a week before the race, which affected her mentally and physically coming into the Iron Horse.
At the top of Molas, Payer went for a last-ditch move, standing up and starting to sprint just before she completed the ascent. It wasn’t enough, as Harris had done too much work on the climbs for Payer to be able to catch her.
“I could just tell I didn’t have the legs to do her pace at Coal Bank, so I kind of backed off and tried to settle in on my own,” Payer said. “I gave an attempt to catch back up on the descent, but she was gone.”
Once the final descent into Silverton began, there was no doubt that Harris would be the winner. Still looking back all the way down, Harris negotiated it perfectly and had no other riders in sight as she crossed the finish line.
“It’s just unreal, it’s beautiful,” Harris said. “I was very focused on trying to keep the lead, more than admiring the scenery. But when you’re descending and you see the first glimpse of the town ... it’s unreal, it’s so cool. It’s a really cool event ... the vibes in the women’s peloton were super good, we were just looking out for each other which was really nice.”
Payer finished second in 2:41:29.2, Szuch took third in 2:42:03.3, Aggeler was fourth in 2:42:30.1 and Ryan was fifth in 2:44:57.7.
Harris said she will be competing in the LaStrada La Plata Gravel Race, which begins on Sunday at 8 a.m. at Steamworks Brewery.
ajbonanno@durangoherald.com
