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 on Saturday morning.
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. Not a single rider had dropped off the pack yet, but that soon changed as the climb took its toll.
Teammates Payer and Aggeler were side-by-side up Shalona, setting a pace that cut the 22-rider pack in half. By the time they reached the top of the climb, only seven riders were left in the lead group: Harris, Aggeler, Payer, Chloe Fraser, Ruby Ryan (last year’s fourth-place finisher), Tabor Hemming and Szuch, last year’s second-place finisher.
Harris took the lead and began pushing the pace again as the leaders passed Glacier Club, gapping the chase pack. Szuch, Aggeler and Payer all took turns at the front as the Haviland climb began.
Hemming took the lead from Aggeler and kept it while the riders climbed toward Electra Lake. She was in the lead for almost half of the Haviland climb, doing the vast majority of the work as the riders passed Electra and continued climbing toward Needles. The six-rider pack stayed tight behind Hemming.
The pack stayed tight as they passed Cascade village, with Ryan and Szuch at the front and the chase pack about a minute behind. Harris took the lead again as the Coal Bank Pass climb began and immediately set a punishing pace.
Hemming paid for the Haviland climb as she dropped off to about a 10-second gap. Ryan was the next to drop off, about a mile up Coal Bank. The lead pack was now down to four riders – Harris, Aggeler, Szuch and Payer. Harris continued to lead.
Only a minute later, Harris’ pace proved too much for Aggeler, who dropped just under four miles from the top of the pass. Payer dropped back with her teammate, perhaps to try to help Aggeler get back in the race.
The lead pack would shortly be only one, as Szuch also dropped. Harris was alone at the front two miles from the top of Coal Bank Pass, with Szuch about 20 seconds back. Payer gradually closed the gap on Szuch to make a two-rider chase pack.
Harris continued to increase the gap as she hit a mile and a half to go on the pass and the 10,000-foot elevation mark. Szuch and Payer were attempting to close the gap on Harris, with Aggeler only a few seconds behind the chasing duo.
Payer took the lead in the small chase group, with her and leader Harris each responding to the 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, meant she 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 caught 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 looked strong and began reeling Harris in. The gap was down to about 20 seconds halfway up Molas. Szuch was about 10 seconds behind Payer in third, with fourth-place Aggeler 20 seconds back.
Harris sensed the gap closing and buckled down, increasing it again to just over 30 seconds with about a mile to the top, near Andrews Lake. Payer perhaps used too much energy on her chase-down effort, as Szuch caught up to her.
At the top of Molas, Payer went for it, 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. Harris had open road as she passed the Molas Lake campground, but kept looking back and made sure to leave no doubt as she increased the gap to over a minute in the last non-downhill segment of the race.
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.
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.
This article will be updated shortly with more information.
ajbonanno@durangoherald.com
